Iran-US war live news updates: Iran escalated its retaliation against the United States on Wednesday, with the Revolutionary Guards saying they struck US bases in Erbil and targeted American forces at Bahrain’s air base with missiles and drones. Explosions were also reported in southern Iran and Jordan as Tehran warned US strikes would tighten its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.
Four commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, down from ten a day earlier and below the 10-day average of around 13, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday.
The four vessels that transited were one very large crude carrier, one Panamax tanker, one Kamsarmax carrier and one intermediate tanker, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0200 GMT.
The figures could change as some ships typically switch off transponders during the voyage.
Oil prices rose nearly 1% in early trade on Wednesday, extending the previous session's surge, as concerns over supply disruption intensified after the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes overnight, dimming hopes for a quick easing of tensions in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures rose 87 cents, or 0.92%, to $95.52 a barrel by 0008 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 80 cents, or 0.89%, to $91.02. Both contracts soared more than $4 on Tuesday, marking Brent's largest gain since July 24 and WTI's largest since July 23.
The United States said it had launched a series of airstrikes against targets in Iran overnight, prompting an Iranian response, in the most serious escalation of the conflict between the two countries in weeks.
"The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region," U.S. Central Command said in a post on X, referring to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
