The U.S. announced that it had intercepted Iranian missiles. Oil prices surged 4%, halting their decline
Iran attempted a "surprise" attack on U.S. military personnel after several days of calm, the U.S. military command reported
The U.S. reported that it had intercepted a "sudden" ballistic missile attack from Iran / Photo: Shutterstock.com
Iran attempted to attack U.S. military personnel in the Middle East with ballistic missiles, according to the U.S. military command.
"Today at 5:45 p.m. Eastern Time [11:45 p.m. CET], forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched several ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempt to carry out a surprise attack on U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East,” the command reported. — All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted.”
Amid news of the Iranian attack, the price of North American WTI crude oil jumped 4.2% to $82.6 per barrel, halting a three-day decline. S&P 500 U.S. stock futures fell 0.2%.
Context
This is the first escalation of the conflict after four days of calm on both sides. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump called off airstrikes against Iran to give peace talks a chance. On Tuesday, Iran announced that it had rejected Oman’s plan to resume shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and put forward its own proposal, which would give Tehran greater control over shipping in this strategically important waterway.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
