As Houthi militants in Yemen attacked ships with missiles and drones in the Red Sea early last year, top U.S. officials gathered at the Pentagon to prepare military options for President Donald Trump. Their meetings repeatedly grew tense.
On one side were Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, then overseeing U.S. operations in the Middle East, and other hawks ready for action. The general was keen on military action not only against the Houthis but also against Iran, which had backed the Yemeni paramilitary group for years with weapons and training, according to people familiar with the matter. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal government deliberations.
On the other side were officials hesitant to launch military strikes so early in the second Trump administration, including the Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who suggested that new U.S. **** sments of what military action might yield would be wise before presenting the president with military options.
That triggered an abrupt response from Kurilla, people familiar with the matter said.
“General,” Kurilla said, “the time for **** sments is over.”

#military #Trump #president #options

The United States warned Saturday that hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthis could "escalate rapidly" after a missile attack targeted Riyadh for the first time since the Yemen conflict resumed.
US President Donald Trump cut short a weekend at Camp David, a secluded presidential complex in rural Maryland, to return unexpectedly to the White House on Saturday.
The White House gave no explanation for the early return, which comes as a new threshold was crossed in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen and are fighting government forces backed by a coalition led by Riyadh.
Loud explosions rang out twice on Saturday in the Saudi capital, where AFP journalists saw a fuel tank bearing the logo of oil giant Aramco on fire near the airport.
"This military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly," the US State Department warned, adding American citizens outside the Middle East should "seriously reconsider travel to and through the region".

#saturday #arabia #riyadh #white

A column of black smoke has been seen near Riyadh's international airport hours after air raid alerts were issued in the Saudi capital.
It was the first time residents had been given an alert and urged to stay indoors since a recent escalation in the conflict with Iran-backed Houthi militants in neighbouring Yemen.
A number of apparent explosions have since been heard in the capital and major problems reported at King Khalid International Airport, with the tracking website FlightRadar24 reporting long delays and cancellations.
One report suggested a fuel tank had been set on fire near the airport. There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities.
An AFP journalist reported that firefighters could be seen trying to extinguish the flames of a burnt-out fuel tank belonging to state oil and gas company Aramco.

#since

Saudi Arabia warned of a "hostile aerial threat" and issued a string of emergency alerts across the kingdom, including in its capital, late Friday and early Saturday.
Also Saturday, Iran's state TV reported that a man was executed after being convicted on charges of spying for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Full coverage is available here.
Saudi Arabia warned of a "hostile aerial threat" after issuing emergency alerts, and at least one explosion was heard in Riyadh.
The alert in Riyadh was the first for the Saudi capital since the latest escalation with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

#arabia #riyadh

Oil prices spiked on Tuesday, climbing back toward recent highs as headlines from the Middle East — in particular, Saudi Arabia — intensified growing pressure on the physical market.
Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international benchmark, picked up more than $2.80 to cross back over $108.50 a barrel and approach the $109 mark seen on Monday. Meanwhile, those on US benchmark WTI crude (CL=F) jumped by roughly $3.50 to trade above $104.50.
Worries about oil exports from the Persian Gulf continued to grow on Tuesday, with Saudi Arabia in focus as market watchers attempt to ****** s damage to the kingdom's oil infrastructure, critical to moving oil out of the Persian Gulf while the Strait of Hormuz remains wracked by the US-Iran conflict.
Saudi Arabia has faced a series of attacks on critical energy infrastructure from the Yemeni Houthi militia group and other Iran-backed proxy forces operating in Iraq, the most pressing of those being strikes that over the weekend forced Saudi authorities to shutter the kingdom's East-West pipeline.
The East-West line carries oil to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, where it is loaded onto tankers that can take oil south through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which runs along Yemen, or north to the Suez Canal and the adjacent SUMED pipeline to the Mediterranean Sea.

#gulf

Brent crude climbed above $108 a barrel on Tuesday as traders grew increasingly uncertain about when Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline would reopen, with fresh Houthi attacks on the kingdom and suspended oil loadings at its Red Sea export terminal adding to supply fears.
By 1:00 p.m. ET, Brent futures had climbed 3% to $108.88 per barrel, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate up 4.7% at $106.12. A close at those levels would mark the highest settlement for either contract in close to four months, according to Reuters. Prices have risen around 20% this month as fighting in the Persian Gulf has escalated.
According to shipping industry sources who spoke with Reuters, crude loadings at the Yanbu terminal on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast had been halted as of Tuesday. Separately, sources told Reuters that Saudi officials had notified European buyers that certain crude shipments scheduled for late September would not proceed.
Saudi Arabia shut down the East-West Pipeline after drone attacks originating from Iraq struck it last week, forcing the kingdom to halt the export route it had been using to bypass the Strait of Hormuz during the U.S.-Iran war. The pipeline can move up to 7 million barrels per day. Saudi officials have described the closure as a precautionary measure but have not provided a damage ******* sment or a timeline for resuming operations. U.K. authorities fear the pipeline may remain mostly shut for six weeks, according to Bloomberg.
Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen carried out additional strikes on Saudi Arabia on Monday. According to a spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, the group fired drones and ballistic missiles targeting the cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Taif. According to Reuters, the Houthis claimed to have struck a military air base in Khamis Mushait, with their stated targets including hangars, radar installations, runway infrastructure, and stores of ammunition.

#west #east

BAGHDAD (AP) — Two deadlines are looming for Iraq at the end of the month: the end of a decades-long U.S. military presence and the disarmament of non-state armed groups.
The U.S. withdrawal is underway, and officials say the hundreds of troops remaining in northern Iraq will be out by the Sept. 30 deadline.
The Iraqi government has linked the U.S. withdrawal to an ultimatum for militias to lay down their weapons. But most have indicated they have no plans to do so.
That leaves major questions about what the day after will look like in Iraq.
Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have struck U.S.-linked targets both inside and outside of Iraq since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. They also have coordinated with Yemen's Houthi rebels to attack Saudi Arabia.

#sept #iranian

CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia accused Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels overnight of trying to attack Islam's holiest city, prompting condemnation from countries in the region but no sign of military support. The kingdom, a key U.S. ally, declared Mecca a "red line" as it slid deeper into the new front of the Iran war.
With the world's biggest oil exporter under fire from the rebels backed by the Saudis' regional adversary, Tehran, the kingdom needs a safe outlet for its crude as well as military ******* istance. A path to either one remains unclear.
A crucial Saudi pipeline has reportedly been shut down for weeks after an attack by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. The Yemen-based Houthis have been targeting infrastructure in the kingdom as well as its shipping on the Red Sea, where they have seized several islands on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. And Iran is still targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices remain above $100 a barrel.
The Houthis denied firing drones toward Mecca, about 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) from Yemen's border. The Saudis said they intercepted and destroyed the drone before it entered the airspace over the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.
The attacks are the first test of a new defense pact among Saudi Arabia, NATO member Turkey and nuclear power Pakistan. But officials from Turkey and Pakistan told The ******* ociated Press they have not received a Saudi request for support in response to the Houthis' escalation.

#arabia #saudis #turkey

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have taken control of a strategic Red Sea coastline, further complicating shipping routes in the region. At the same time, strikes inside Saudi Arabia forced the shutdown of a critical oil pipeline, the country's energy ministry confirmed.

#Iran #houthi #arabia #taken

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's government raced Saturday to contain the fallout after local Iran-backed militias were accused of attacking and shuttering a key Saudi pipeline.
Though an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in Iraq denied their involvement, Iraq's government confirmed the attacks had originated from its territory. The government pledged to investigate and dismissed two senior officials.
The country is under mounting pressure to prevent local militias from aiding other Iran proxy groups across the region. The Iraqi government has set a Sept. 30 deadline for nonstate groups to disarm, but several of the most powerful militias have said they will not comply.
Pressure to disarm the militias is especially acute as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels make an advance across Yemen's west coast in a major setback to the Saudi-backed coalition that risks escalating the war in the region. The Houthis on Friday seized an island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping lane through which around 12% of global trade passes.
Their virtual control of the strait could send global oil prices — already inflated by the six-month Iran-U.S. war — spiraling. The strait has become a vital commercial lane for Saudi oil ever since the Iran war disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

#saudi #across

The desperate pleas for air cover from Yemeni generals started coming mid-morning on Thursday. An advance by the Iran-backed Houthis toward Yemen's strategic port city of Mocha was in full swing, and backup support from chief ally Saudi Arabia was nowhere in sight.
"The Houthis committed everything they had – waves upon waves of fighters … along with their available ballistic missiles and weapons," a senior Yemeni source attached to their military forces told CNN. The source said he contacted the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) and was ******* ured the US was "watching the situation closely and that Saudi air support was coming."
"But the air support never came," the source said. "And Mocha has now fallen."
Hours later, on Friday, the Houthis captured another key coastal ******* et, Perim Island, at the mouth of the Red Sea. The island splits the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in two, giving Tehran de facto control over another key shipping route.
The Houthis' rapid advance amounts to an extraordinary 36 hours in a conflict that had been largely on ice for years. But the kindling for renewed fighting had been laid for months amid the conflict between the United States and Iran, as Tehran seeks to use oil prices – and their impact on the global economy – as leverage.

#saudi

Sept 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called U.S. President Donald Trump twice on Thursday and ‌urged him to launch strikes against the Houthis, Axios ‌reported, citing two U.S. officials.
Trump rejected the request, and U.S. officials said the administration does not intend to take direct military action against the Houthis at this time, the report said.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and Saudi embassy in Washington ‌did not immediately respond ⁠to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
According to Axios, the U.S. is increasingly concerned about the ⁠rapidly escalating conflict in Yemen and is stepping up support for Saudi Arabia while seeking to avoid direct military involvement.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command, traveled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday ‌for urgent coordination talks, according to the report.

#Trump #thursday #axios #officials

Brent crude traded close to $100 a barrel on Wednesday, reaching levels last seen in July as markets ****** sed further military activity in the Middle East and its potential impact on regional oil supplies.
At 0614 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 1.3% at $99.22 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.2% to $94.13 a barrel.
Brent has risen approximately 25% since early August as fighting in the six-month conflict resumed and expectations for a permanent resolution diminished.
The conflict escalated on Tuesday as Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen carried out strikes against several Saudi Arabian cities.
U.S. forces also struck multiple Iranian oil tankers, while Iran targeted a U.S. base in Jordan and attacked vessels.

#iranian #forces #east

U.S. stock futures were little changed to moderately higher on Wednesday as investors ***** sed further military developments involving the United States and Iran, movements in oil and bond markets, developments in artificial intelligence and renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
At 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT), S&P 500 futures were up 6 points, or 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 57 points, or 0.2%. Dow futures were broadly unchanged.
Wall Street equities declined on Tuesday following exchanges of attacks between the U.S. and Iran and strikes against Saudi Arabia by Houthi forces in Yemen.
Technology stocks were also affected by market reaction to OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra model, with software and services companies declining while some AI infrastructure-related companies, including chipmakers and data centre-linked industrial groups, received investor interest.
U.S. government bonds have also come under selling pressure. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was trading just below 5%, close to its highest level in almost two decades.

#points #wednesday #united

By Enas Alashray, Nayera Abdallah and Jana Choukeir
CAIRO/DUBAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthis attacked four cities in the south of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war.
The Houthis, who ‌control most of Yemen's populated areas including the capital, said they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory. They used drones and missiles to strike a ‌Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushair, and targets belonging to Saudi Arabia's state oil company in nearby Abha, Najran on the Yemeni border and Jazan, a major Red Sea port.
Saudi authorities described blazes at the sites and said women and children were among the 73 people hurt. The reports of such large numbers of wounded suggested the attacks were among the biggest carried out against Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February.
Confirmed images of the aftermath of the attacks in the Saudi cities were not immediately available. The Houthis released pictures of an explosion of what they said were trucks from Saudi Arabia they had struck at the border in another area.

#saudi #major #enas

The severe disruption of oil and gas flows out of the Persian Gulf resulting from the war between the U.S. and Israel and Iran, has saddled energy-importing nations with soaring bills, supply uncertainty, and a murky outlook. However, there has been a silver lining: a rush to build alternative conduits for bringing oil and gas out of the Middle East.
The global total energy import bill swelled by $330 billion over the six months between March and August, Finnish climate outlet Centre for Energy Research and Clean Air reported earlier this month. This would not have been the case had the Strait of Hormuz remained open, the outlet noted in its report, highlighting the world's reliance on an energy export corridor vulnerable to adverse geopolitical events and their fallout.
Because of the closure of Hormuz, Persian Gulf oil producers had to idle wells and find ways to slip their stored oil out of the Gulf on tankers with their transponders switched off. Yet they also started working on alternative routes that bypassed the Strait of Hormuz altogether.
Saudi Arabia demonstrated foresight with its East-West pipeline that it used to reroute its export flows from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea in the first weeks of the war, ramping up to some 7 million barrels of crude daily along the pipe that had previously handled much lower volumes. The only major constraint in that rerouting was the capacity of the loading facilities at Yanbu Port.
Later, of course, Saudi Arabia had to discover that the Red Sea is not safe because of the presence of the Yemeni Houthis in the Bab el-Mandeb strait and their affiliation with Iran. So, the Saudis had to reroute again, this time to the Suez Canal, which has an even more constrained tanker passage capacity. In other words, alternative routes are not perfect, but it is a good thing to have them.

#persian #hormuz

CAIRO (AP) — A volley of fire between the Iranian-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia has threatened to upend a 2022 truce in Yemen and open another front in the already expanding war in the Middle East after the collapse of the ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran.
"Yemen today faces a greater risk of renewed large-scale conflict than at any point since the U.N.-brokered truce of April 2022, " U.N. envoy Hans Grundberg warned.
The escalation, he said, risks "jeopardizing the gains of the 2022 truce ... while also drawing the country into a broader regional confrontation, with devastating consequences for its people."
Grundberg said he has engaged in intensive talks with Yemeni parties and regional governments to avert further escalation.
The ***** -for-tat attacks started July 13 with a Saudi airstrike that hit the runway of the airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, preventing the landing of an Iranian flight carrying a high-ranking Houthi delegation.

#saudi

Aug 9 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery, they said on Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
The alliance with Sunni Muslim U.S. allies, ‌Turkey and Pakistan, is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three ‌would be regarded as an attack on all.
It was not clear whether or how either Pakistan or Turkey would join in any Saudi response to the latest attacks.
The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, citing what they said was a Saudi siege on them, an allegation Riyadh denies.
The Saudi energy ministry said a fire had broken out at the refinery but was later extinguished with no injuries and authorities were dealing with the incident, without giving a cause.

#Iran #refinery

The Strait of Hormuz is, by some accounts, named for a Zoroastrian deity destined to emerge victorious after a 9,000-year standoff with an adversary.
Iran's leaders feel their own victory is at hand and won't require the same epic patience.
They are betting that military pressure will ultimately force the United States to accept their control over the crucial waterway for global energy — and that time is on their side.
They know about the diminishing stockpiles of key U.S. weapons such as advanced missile interceptors. They know the war is deeply unpopular with Americans. They know that as long as the strait is largely closed, the price of gas and other goods will stay high ahead of U.S. congressional elections in November. They know that trying to open it by force would be costly and may require American ground troops. They know their Houthi allies in Yemen could widen the war and disrupt another major trade route.
By that logic, U.S. President Donald Trump has no choice but to capitulate.

#united #americans

Oil prices surged more than 7% on Wednesday as renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities and fresh threats to shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb pushed WTI above $84 and Brent toward $90, confronting the Federal Reserve with another inflation shock just hours before one of its most uncertain interest-rate decisions in years.
The rally accelerated after President Donald Trump vaguely told Fox News that the United States would "hit Iran hard" following an attack on a U.S. base in Jordan, while Iran-backed Houthis weighed imposing fees on commercial shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and U.S.-Saudi forces launched fresh strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen.
Brent crude was up 7.06% at 9:29a.m. ET Wednesday, reaching $90.03, while WTI was trading up 6.95%, at $84.77.
The renewed geopolitical premium comes just hours before the Federal Reserve announces its latest interest-rate decision, with markets divided over whether policymakers will leave rates unchanged or deliver the first rate increase since 2023. Investors are also looking for clues from Chairman Kevin Warsh after the Fed abandoned the forward guidance that had shaped market expectations for more than two decades.
June's inflation report eased pressure on the Federal Reserve after lower oil prices helped cool headline inflation during the brief lull in the Iran war, but that relief appears to have been short-lived. With crude prices once again flirting with $90 as fighting resumes, investors are divided over whether policymakers will leave interest rates unchanged or respond to renewed inflation risks.

#Iran #reserve #prices

By Jonathan Saul, Parisa Hafezi, Timour Azhari and Chen Aizhu
LONDON/DUBAI, July 28 (Reuters) - China has held direct talks with Yemen's Houthi movement to enable its tankers to sail through the southern Red Sea without being attacked after the Iran-aligned militia ‌pledged to prevent access to Saudi ports, six sources with knowledge of the matter have said.
The Houthis declared their blockade ‌on July 20, opening a new front against the U.S. and its allies in the Iran war and expanding attacks on tankers carrying energy and other supplies to markets beyond the Middle East.
Beijing has asked the Houthis directly to promise safe passage for its tankers, according to the sources, who included a senior Iranian official.
China was among the first countries to contact the Houthis directly about transits through Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the southern end of the Red Sea with Yemen on its eastern bank, said the sources, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

#tankers

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Sunday blamed former President Biden for the Pentagon being low on munitions but denied that the depletion is negatively impacting the war with Iran.
"We have to take a step back here in that a lot of stockpiles were depleted not only from what we gave Ukraine over the last … four or five years," Waltz told host Kristen Welker on NBC News's "Meet the Press."
Waltz also said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "inherited a depleted situation" from the Biden administration due to U.S. strikes on the Houthis — which the Trump administration carried out for nearly two months last year due to the Yemeni terrorist group targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea.
NBC News reported Friday that U.S. military commanders have been selectively choosing which Iranian missiles and explosive-packed drones to intercept amid an effort to preserve the Pentagon's diminishing supply of weapons that block projectiles from reaching their targets.
Military ***** ysts also ***** s it could take the U.S. four years or more to restock its weapons inventory. But that is only if Congress provides the administration with additional funding for the war.

#four

Oil prices gave up earlier gains on Friday after reports that Pakistan is trying to broker a return to U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations. China is strongly backing the effort as the conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to threaten its energy security and weigh on its economy.
Brent crude for September delivery fell 4.4% to trade at $96.36 per barrel at 1.35 pm ET while WTI crude for September delivery was down 3.6% to change hands at $88.86/bbl.
However, Standard Chartered says the latest pullback may prove temporary as Middle East oil market risk has expanded from one strategic chokepoint to two.
On Monday, Yemen's Houthi militant group imposed a targeted maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, threatening to enforce it by blocking Saudi-linked vessels from transiting the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The group claimed the blockade was a direct retaliation for a decade-long Saudi containment of Yemen as well as a recent Saudi-backed airstrike targeting Sanaa International Airport.
The threat immediately rattled oil markets, prompting multiple Saudi-linked very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to abandon planned transits through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and instead reroute around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, adding up to two weeks to each voyage. Two days later, the Houthis followed through. The group launched ballistic missiles and drones at two Saudi oil tankers on Thursday, damaging both vessels and igniting fires onboard. Brent crude surged nearly $20 per barrel, briefly climbing above $100.

#brent #september

Less than a month ago, **** ysts were warning of a looming glut of crude oil as tanker traffic via the Strait of Hormuz began to recover amid a U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Within days of these warnings, the ceasefire was a painful memory, missiles were flying again, and now Yemen's Houthis are striking tankers in the Red Sea, which makes two blocked oil chokepoints and a very real danger of a global recession.
Brent crude this week topped $100 per barrel on reports that the Houthis had struck two Saudi tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which Saudi Arabia is currently using as the primary outlet for its crude amid the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Soon enough it emerged that tankers that were heading to the Red Sea waterway were making U-turns and heading to alternative routes—which take longer and cost more.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone strikes on the Caspian Pipeline System's terminus on the Black Sea have forced Kazakhstan to suspend most of its oil exports. The target of the drone attacks was the Novorossiysk port on Russia's Black Sea coast, which also happens to be the point of departure of the bulk of Kazakh oil exports to world markets. Bloomberg reported this week that tanker operators were getting nervous about sending their vessels to the port of Novorossiysk because Ukrainian drones were also striking ships at the port.
The Strait of Hormuz used to see average daily oil volumes of some 20 million barrels daily. This has now slowed to a trickle. The Red Sea chokepoint of Bab el-Mandeb has been handling between 4 and 5 million barrels daily of Saudi oil in recent weeks, according to different estimates. Now, this too appears to be almost completely blocked. Add to this the loss of 1.7 million barrels daily in Kazakh flows to Novorossiysk, and the global oil supply picture takes on a rather grim tint. Additionally, the Ukrainian forces continue to target Russian refineries, which has already led to a temporary ban on diesel exports at a time when global fuel inventories are getting strained by the first-wave effects of the Middle East war.
In fact, the situation with refined petroleum products is a major crisis in its own right. "Unlike crude oil, refined products face far fewer mitigation options. Several Middle Eastern refineries remain affected by the ongoing conflict while Russia's diesel export restrictions continue to constrain global availability," Ole Hansen, Saxo Bank's head of commodity strategy, said in an **** ysis earlier this month. "Refining capacity globally also remains relatively limited, preventing crude supply increases from quickly translating into additional diesel and gasoline production," he added.

#daily #exports

Rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran are driving up oil prices and bond yields, increasing borrowing costs for consumers and businesses.
Higher bond yields are raising mortgage rates, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate reaching its highest level since last August.
The rekindling of the Iran war has the bond market worried about inflation again, driving up borrowing costs for homebuyers and businesses alike.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 6.58% this week, its highest level since last August, according to Freddie Mac. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield—a key input into mortgage rates and business borrowing costs—also soared to its highest level this year and breached 4.7% in mid-afternoon trading.
The sharp rise in yields follows hostilities in the Middle East, with the resumption of U.S.-Iran attacks and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen also striking Saudi Arabian oil tankers.

#Iran #bond #yields #august

By Lawrence Delevingne and Marc Jones
July 23 (Reuters) - Oil prices spiked to $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May, while major tech giants knocked U.S. stocks lower and Europe's borrowing costs surged to long-term highs in an unsettling day across markets.
Brent crude settled up 7% at $100.69 a barrel, following attacks on ‌tankers in the Red Sea that choked off a second crucial Middle East artery for global oil supplies, alongside Iran's near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis struck ‌two Saudi oil tankers as part of a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, sending prices higher as the brief cessation of hostilities between Iran and the U.S. receded into the rear-view mirror.
The U.S. military carried out a new round of strikes on Iran, marking a 12th successive night of American attacks, and prompting further Iranian retaliation. The White House has threatened additional attacks on Iranian infrastructure and key locations of its nuclear facilities.

#marc

Some offers on this page are from advertisers who pay us, which may affect which products we write about, but not our recommendations. See our Advertiser Disclosure.
Gold (GC=F) August futures opened at $4,074.60 per troy ounce on Thursday, July 23, 2026, down 1.9% from Wednesday's closing price. The price of gold moved up this morning, trading at $4,086.60 as of 8:08 a.m. ET.
The gold price closed above $4,100 Wednesday and opened lower on Thursday. Two opposing forces are keeping the gold price in a tight range. Investors are weighing the potential for higher interest rates against the likelihood of broader geopolitical and economic instability prompted by the Iran war.
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved up to $95 billion in funding for the war, aid to farmers, and parts of the SAVE America Act. The plan still needs Senate approval, but the move signals support for ongoing activity in the Middle East — where the war may be at an inflection point. Yemen's Houthi rebels are now targeting Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, threatening to disrupt another critical shipping lane.
The potential for higher interest rates tends to encourage lower gold prices, while global unrest can stimulate safe-haven demand for the precious metal.

#interest

By Maggie Michael and Parisa Hafezi
July 23 (Reuters) - Iran flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen this month, according to four sources, in a move that suggests Tehran is seeking to strengthen the ability of its Houthi allies to threaten Red Sea shipping.
Four sources familiar ‌with the matter, including two Iranian sources, Yemen's information minister and a regional security ****** yst, said Iran transferred the IRGC personnel and military-related equipment on a flight from ‌Tehran to Yemen on July 13, a development that has not been previously reported.
The two Iranian sources told Reuters that between 10 and 21 IRGC personnel, including senior commanders, were on the Mahan Air flight.
The plane was originally bound for the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, but diverted to the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah after the airport came under attack by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

#sources #yemen

July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. energy shares rose in premarket trading on Thursday as Brent crude briefly touched $100 a barrel, extending a ‌five-day rally after attacks on two Saudi oil tankers intensified ‌Middle East tensions and heightened concerns over global oil supply disruptions.
Houthi forces in Yemen have widened the conflict by targeting vessels carrying Saudi oil in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, after declaring a naval blockade on Saudi shipments.
The attacks have heightened fears that disruptions to Middle East oil exports could spread beyond the Strait ‌of Hormuz, tightening global ⁠crude supplies and supporting higher energy prices.
Here are more details:
• Brent crude futures rose as much as 6.3% to $100 ⁠per barrel by 1302 GMT for the first time since May 26. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 5.2% at $91.30 per barrel.

#east #strait #attacks

There are new concerns about the future of oil and gas prices after Yemen-based Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea. NBC's Richard Engel reports on the new front in the Middle East conflict and Christine Romans joins TODAY with **** ysis on the economic impact to gas prices in the United States.

#yemen #richard #middle