Israel launched a new round of strikes on Iran on Monday, threatening retribution against critical infrastructure across the Middle East in a war that has driven the globe into its worst oil crisis in decades.
Iranian media reported explosions in Tehran, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates claimed to be intercepting missiles and drones.
According to International Energy Agency president Fatih Birol, at least 40 energy assets in the oil- and gas-exporting region have been “severely or very severely damaged” in the crisis, which began with Israel-US attacks on Iran and is now in its fourth week.
Tehran has responded to the attacks by launching missiles and drones at Israel and across the Gulf in recent weeks, targeting both energy infrastructure and US embassies. It has also restricted travel in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which one-fifth of global crude oil transits.
With oil prices rising above $100 a barrel due to supply concerns, US President Donald Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iranian power stations if Tehran did not reopen the strait within 48 hours.
The deadline, depending on the time of his social media post, would be 23:44 GMT, or early Tuesday in Iran.
However, Iran’s response was stern, with its powerful parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, saying that important infrastructure across the region would “be considered legitimate targets and will be irreversibly destroyed” if Trump followed through on his threat.
IEA chief Fatih Birol laid out the enormity of the catastrophe before the global economy, stating that 11 million barrels of oil are currently wasted each day—more than the daily volume destroyed during two consecutive oil crises in the 1970s.
“No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction. So there is a need for global efforts,” Birol told journalists in Canberra.
Asian equities fell as oil prices surged again early Monday, with US benchmark crude briefly approaching $100 per barrel.
Iran has recently allowed a small number of vessels from friendly countries to travel through the Strait of Hormuz, while warning that ships from countries that it claims have joined the “aggression” against it would be blocked.
Iran’s parliament is considering imposing charges on ships via the strait, with Ghalibaf stating that maritime commerce will “not return to its pre-war status.”
Trump has presented conflicting timeframes and objectives for the battle, stating on Friday that he was considering “winding down” the operation, just a day before threatening power stations, which would be a substantial escalation.
