US Strikes Iran for Ninth Straight Night, Middle East Heats Up
The United States and Iran are once again engaged in an accelerating series of retaliatory strikes. The US military launched strikes for the ninth consecutive night, as new chaos spreads across the Middle East.
U.S. Central Command announced the latest wave of strikes on Sunday, along with news of the third US military death in the past two days. A US service member in northern Iraq was killed while attempting a controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone. Another service member was reportedly wounded in the incident.
Earlier, two US service members were killed in Jordan in an attack Washington blamed on Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The attack also wounded four others and left one service member missing. With the latest casualties, the US death toll since the US-Israel war against Iran began on February 28 has reached 17.
US President Donald Trump said the latest strikes against Iran were carried out to honor the military personnel who died. He said US troops fought to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Trump also said the US had struck Iran again hard that night.
In the past week, attacks by both sides have gone beyond military targets. Targets have expanded to bridges, utility facilities, ports, and even energy infrastructure. This situation diminishes the chances of a return to the fragile ceasefire signed last month. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said some demands related to Iran's nuclear program may remain difficult to resolve.
Oil prices immediately responded to the escalation. Brent briefly rose nearly 4% before paring some of its gains and remaining above US$90 per barrel, its highest level since mid-June. The U.S. Central Command stated that the U.S. strikes aimed to reduce Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping and punish Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Kuwait was again among those most affected by Iran's retaliatory attacks. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation stated that an oil facility suffered significant material damage, requiring evacuation and causing several injuries. Two power generation and desalination facilities were also hit, triggering fires and severely damaging critical infrastructure.
In terms of market impact, the U.S.-Iran escalation has the potential to keep oil prices high due to increasing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure. If tanker flows from the Gulf continue to decline, the risk of global inflation could intensify again, prompting central banks to be more cautious about policy easing. This could potentially support the US dollar as a safe haven, depress riskier assets like stocks and crypto, and keep gold volatile. (asd)*
Source: Newsmaker.id
