Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in the Middle East late Tuesday stateside, and U.S. Central Command said every one of them was intercepted. President Donald Trump answered by promising heavy strikes on Iran, and oil climbed as the pause in fighting broke.
Trump said on Wednesday he will order heavy strikes on Iran in retaliation for its surprise attack on U.S. forces overnight, which punctured a multi-day pause in fighting in the Middle East. Speaking to a Fox News reporter, Trump said: "We'll be hitting them hard. They're going to get a beating."
Centcom said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the region, and that all were intercepted. The command did not specify what the missiles were aimed at, but Axios reported the attack was directed at a U.S. base in Jordan, citing U.S. officials.
U.S. and Saudi forces strike sites in eastern Iraq
Centcom later said U.S. and Saudi forces hit multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq on Tuesday stateside, retaliating against more than 30 drone attacks in the past three days by Iran-aligned terrorists. Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said the strikes were carried out in coordination with Centcom, and added the kingdom does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression it faces.
Riyadh had said earlier that drones launched from Iraq by Iran-affiliated terrorist militias attempted to target petroleum facilities in Saudi Arabia. The Iran-backed Iraqi Mobilization Forces said at least 20 of its members had been killed in the strikes and 32 had been wounded.
Oil rises as the two-day pause collapses
Tensions escalated after a two-day pause in hostilities between Washington and Tehran, sending oil surging after prices declined for three straight days. Iran had indicated it would halt attacks as long as the U.S. refrained from striking, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing a senior Iranian official.
Before the attack, Trump had set aside plans to escalate the war against Iran amid worries over diminishing stockpiles of Patriot interceptors and other air defense munitions in the Middle East, The New York Times had reported. Trump had dismissed concerns over stockpile depletion.
Red Sea shipping and crypto sanctions widen the front
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported suspicious activity in the Red Sea, saying the master of a tanker heard an explosion while transiting the southern Red Sea. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a critical export channel for Saudi oil diverted from the Strait of Hormuz and a choke point for commercial shipping traffic, and experts have warned that closing it would block in those barrels, exacerbating the oil disruption triggered by Iran's attacks on tankers in Hormuz.
Washington is pressing a financial front as well, with the conflict spilling into cryptocurrency markets. Crypto Briefing reported that the U.S. Treasury has frozen over $130 million in digital assets tied to Iran's central bank. Washington has started designating major Iranian exchanges — including Nobitex, Wallex and Bitpin — under counterterrorism authorities, naming their executives individually as well.
Sources: CNBC, Crypto Briefing
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