Nyhedsresume:
Oliepriserne fortsætter med at stige kraftigt efter nye angreb og trusler i Mellemøsten, som øger risikoen for alvorlige forstyrrelser i den globale energiforsyning. Brent-olien steg kortvarigt til over 95 dollar pr. tønde.
De iranskstøttede houthi-militser i Yemen oplyste, at de havde angrebet to saudiarabiske olietankere, Encelia og Layla, i Det Røde Hav med missiler og droner. Ifølge houthierne havde skibene overtrådt en blokade. Den britiske søfartsmyndighed UKMTO bekræftede, at et skib var blevet ramt ud for Saudi-Arabiens kyst, og at der var udbrudt brand om bord, men myndigheden identificerede ikke fartøjet.
Angrebene kan åbne en ny front i konflikten. Skibstrafikken gennem Hormuzstrædet er allerede blevet forstyrret, og truslen mod også Det Røde Hav og Bab al-Mandeb-strædet kan yderligere begrænse transporten af olie og andre varer.
USA’s præsident Donald Trump har truet med at ødelægge en iransk bro eller et kraftværk, hver gang Iran angriber et skib i Hormuzstrædet. Han har også varslet et omfattende angreb mod det befæstede iranske anlæg Pickaxe Mountain, som USA og Israel mistænker for at rumme centrifuger til uranberigelse.
Iran afviser, at der foregår atomaktiviteter ved Pickaxe Mountain, og kalder anklagerne et opdigtet påskud for militære angreb. Ifølge Iran er landets atomaktiviteter indberettet til Det Internationale Atomenergiagentur.
Den iranske Revolutionsgarde har samtidig svaret igen med en trussel om at angribe broer, energianlæg og anden infrastruktur i Golfstaterne, hvis USA rammer iranske broer eller kraftværker. Iran signalerer dermed, at amerikanske allierede i regionen risikerer at få afbrudt deres elforsyning og blive direkte inddraget i konflikten.
Iran hævder desuden at have angrebet amerikanskrelaterede mål i Bahrain, Saudi-Arabien og Jordan. I Bahrain skal blandt andet den amerikanske Femte Flåde have været mål, mens amerikanske baser og militærinstallationer i Saudi-Arabien og Jordan også angiveligt er blevet beskudt. Iran hævder, at amerikanske droner og helikoptere er blevet ødelagt eller beskadiget, men oplysningerne er ikke uafhængigt bekræftet.
USA fortsætter samtidig med at flytte fly, tankfly og andet militært udstyr fra Europa til den amerikanske Centralkommandos område. Det øger frygten for en yderligere militær optrapning.
USA’s udenrigsminister Marco Rubio har fremhævet Iran som den centrale destabiliserende aktør i regionen. Han peger på Irans støtte til houthierne, Hizbollah, irakiske militser og Hamas. USA er ifølge Rubio i løbende kontakt med Saudi-Arabien om houthiernes trusler mod skibsfarten i Det Røde Hav.
Samlet tegner teksten et billede af en hastigt eskalerende konflikt, hvor angreb på tankskibe, amerikanske baser og civil energiinfrastruktur øger risikoen for en bred regional krig. Den største umiddelbare økonomiske konsekvens er stigende oliepriser og risiko for alvorlige forstyrrelser i transporten gennem Hormuzstrædet og Det Røde Hav.
Uddrag fra WSJ, IRNA News Agency, Tasnim, Polymarket og Zerohedge
- More Tanker Attacks: Iran-backed Houthi militants said they targeted two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea
- Trump ultimatum: Trump vowed the US will strike an Iranian bridge or power plant after every Iranian attack on shipping.
- Iran responds: The IRGC threatened to hit Gulf energy infrastructure if Iranian infrastructure is attacked, saying it will cut off electricity among US allies.
- Latest Gulf missile attacks: Iran claimed attacks on US-linked targets in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
- Nuclear tensions: Iran denied nuclear activity at Pickaxe Mountain, calling US claims a ‘fabricated pretext’ for attack.
- Oil climbs: Renewed Gulf attacks and shipping threats continued to lift oil prices.
Yes 14% · No 86%
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Oil Climbs After Houthis Attack Two Saudi Tankers in Red Sea
Oil gained after Iran-backed Houthi militants said they targeted two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea, escalating the Middle East conflict and threatening deeper supply disruptions.
Brent spiked above $95 in post-settlement trading.
The Houthis attacked the two vessels with missiles and drones for violating a blockade imposed in the Red Sea, identifying the tankers as Encelia and Layla, the rebel group said.
UK Maritime Trade Operations said a vessel was hit southwest of Saudi Arabia’s Al Shuqaiq, causing a fire on board.
UKMTO didn’t identify the ship.
The first attacks on tankers in the Red Sea opens up a new front in the Middle East conflict, which has snarled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following a flare-up in violence.
Iran Responds to Trump Ultimatum: We’ll Turn The Lights Off In Gulf
A top IRGC official has responded to Trump’s Bridge attack for each shipping attack ultimatum (see below). Iranian IRGC Aerospace Commander Mousavi has threatened that Iran will cut off electricity to America’s Gulf Allies if Iranian bridges or power plants are attacked, Tasnim News Agency.
“If the Americans target an Iranian bridge or power plant, Iran will respond by striking infrastructure and bridges across the region, including energy facilities in which the United States has interests,” the official said according semi-official news agency Tasnim.
“The Americans should by now, after these past ten days, be fully convinced that Iran strikes wherever it decides to strike. Therefore, any such gamble by Trump will once again end in his embarrassment,” the IRGC commander added.
Separately, Iran’s deputy foreign minister briefed 25 European ambassadors and charges d’affaires in Tehran on the status of the conflict. “I reminded them that in the 40-day war, we imposed a severe defeat on the aggressors. In this new round of military aggression as well, we will resolutely defend our homeland and national interests,” Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X.
“These wars have created no strategic gains for America and only endanger regional and global peace and security. I also said that Europe is expected to safeguard the United Nations Charter and international law and to condemn aggression,” he added.
Iran has continued to sound an “eye for an eye” theme, and has not backed down in the face of Trump’s fresh threats…
Meanwhile, Iran is touting that it still possesses a very significant missile stockpile, as it is still producing even as US bombs fall:
Trump: US Will Destroy A Bridge Or Power Plant For Each Iranian Attack On Shipping
More telegraphing of intent from President Trump in the below Truth Social Post… he said the US military will “bomb and destroy” one bridge or power plant – including in Tehran – each time the Iranian military shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. This comes a day after he unveiled the US military plans to conduct a large bombing of Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear complex, which is heavily fortified.
But the Iranians have already long demonstrated they won’t alter course in the face of such threats, especially bluster from Trump over social media, and so this unlikely to be any kind of fix for Washington, as Tehran has vowed to keep control of Hormuz at all costs. The Pentagon has argued that things like bridges are ‘dual use’ as the Iranian military uses them to get supplies from one region to another, while international monitors have highlighted the potential for war crimes. The Iranians have in turn widened attacks on Gulf states to include key civic infrastructure, like water desalination plants (in Kuwait) – each time their own infrastructure gets hit.
Iran: Pickaxe Mountain Rhetoric is ‘Fabricated Pretext’
Amid continued fighting which has included explosions heard in Tehran overnight and in the south, Iran’s leadership has condemned the Trump administration’s “obsessive focus on Kolang Kouh where no nuclear activity is taking place is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage,” according to Foreign Minister spokesman Esmail Baghaei in a post on X, referring to Pickaxe Mountain.
He pointed out that all of Iran’s nuclear activity has long been fully declared to the IAEA, and so the repeat threats out of Washington to mount a major attack on it is a “flagrant violation” of UN charter and international law. Trump had said the day prior that the US military will be hitting Pickaxe mountain “pretty soon very heavily and there is nothing they can do about it.“
Even some supporters have quested why the US Commander-in-Chief would so casually telegraph his intentions, saying the Pentagon loses an operational edge in revealing such plans.
There’s been a lot of sudden focus on Pickaxe Mountain, though it had largely been absent from all prior media coverage of the war, due to Israeli intelligence feeding it to US mainstream press. “Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into tunnels deep inside a mountain last fall, Israeli and U.S. officials say, a development that would heighten concerns that Tehran could reconstitute its nuclear program,” The Wall Street Journal wrote Tuesday.
“Israel passed along the intelligence findings to the U.S., saying the centrifuges were transferred to the Pickaxe Mountain site last fall after the 12-day war in June when American and Israeli strikes pummeled Iran’s three main nuclear sites,” it added.
US Bases in Gulf Under Renewed Attack
And now, by all accounts, more aircraft, refueling planes, and heavy military hardware continue to be transferred from Europe and into the Central Command area of responsibility.
The Iranians might view this as more simply extra targets to be taken out, however, as Gulf countries continue to see inbound attacks. Missile alerts have been sounding Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, and again in Bahrain. ISNA reports (via Newsquawk): Drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia; US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and US base in Saudi Arabia targeted:
- Bahrain has faced almost daily bombardment recently due to hosting the US Fifth Fleet headquarters.
- Saudi Arabia has been pulled into the firing line after the collapse of a previous multi-year ceasefire with Iranian-backed factions.
US Troops Under Iranian Missiles in Jordan
Soldiers in Jordan seem to be prime targets of Iranian ballistic missiles, in an extremely dangerous situation, after several American soldiers already died there in the past week:
Jordan too continues to see significant inbound projectiles from Iran. Iranian state media has newly announced that F-15 warplanes, drone preparation infrastructure and a helicopter storage facility at Prince Hassan and King Faisal bases were targeted in recent ballistic missile launches.
IRNA news agency claimed that eight new American MQ-9 drones were destroyed and two others “severely damaged” in the attack, and in addition two helicopters were damaged.
The fresh Wednesday morning initial reports of potential further inbound missile on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have pushed oil prices higher.
Rubio on Iran-Led Axis of ‘Troublemakers’
Meanwhile Secretary of State Marco says the US is in contact with Saudi officials over the ongoing threat by Yemen’s Houthis to attack commercial vessels and disrupt Saudi shipping in the vital Bab al-Mandeb waterway in the Red Sea. This is squeezing global oil further.
“We’ve been engaged with the Saudis a number of times over the last week in regards to that threat. It’s not a new threat, but it’s one that’s manifested itself in the past,” he told reporters in his latest remarks.
More evidence of serious damage and destruction at American military outposts in Jordan:
In words which Tehran officials will surely not find terrifying or overly threatening, Rubio continued: “At the gist of that issue is the fact Iran is in the middle of it. Talking about the troublemaker of the region, it’s Iran.”
“It’s just another example: the Houthis, Hezbollah, the militias in Iraq, Hamas – this is what Iran spends its money on, not on its people, on supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing actors in the region,” he added in Washington’s characteristic ‘axis-speak’ of ‘rogue actors’.
