Oil prices rose in early ‌trade, extending the previous session’s surge, as concerns over supply disruption intensified after the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes overnight, dimming hopes ⁠for a quick easing of tensions in the West Asia.

Brent crude futures rose 75 cents, or 0.8%, to $95.40 a barrel by 0345 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed ‌44 cents, or 0.5%, to $90.66.

“Developments in recent days brought risks to regional oil supplies back into focus…We’ve seen oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz despite the stalemate between the US and Iran, but rising tensions ‌clearly put crossings at risk,” said ING analysts in a client note.

-Reuters

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) accused Iran of firing two ballistic missiles at its territory, marking the first time the Defence Ministry detected a barrage aimed at the country in months.

“UAE air defences detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the country, with the first falling outside the country’s territorial waters, while the second fell within the territorial waters,” said a statement posted by the Defence Ministry on X.

But Iran denied launching missiles towards the United Arab Emirates.

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The UAE accused Iran of targeting a tanker belonging to its state-owned oil company in the Strait of Hormuz, even as both Iran and Oman suggested talks on administering the vital waterway were progressing.

Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait and wants to charge users for passage, repeatedly attacking ships it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred route.

The U.S. vehemently opposes any Iranian tolls in the strait, though a June deal struck by the warring parties does allow Tehran to hammer out arrangements for the “future administration” of Hormuz in conjunction with fellow coastal state Oman.

Continued attacks in the strait, which was free to transit before the war, led to the collapse of an April ceasefire, and mediators have since urged both sides to return to the terms of the June memorandum.

-AFP

The U.S. military yesterday said it had launched a new wave of attacks against Iran, after renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz saw several of Washington’s Gulf allies targeted by incoming fire.

The latest salvo by U.S. forces began at 2100 GMT yesterday, Central Command (CENCTOM) said on X, after earlier announcing approximately 140 strikes the previous night.

The flare-up is the latest to undermine an interim agreement between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending their war, which has caused global economic shockwaves since it began in late February.

Oil prices, which have tumbled since the announcement of the agreement, rose over 3.5% when futures trading opened today in Tokyo, with the U.S. benchmark WTI jumping above $74 a barrel.

– AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday (June 13, 2026) said a deal with Iran is scheduled to be signed on Sunday (June 14, 2026), reopening the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping, and that the U.S. would “go and get” Iran’s highly enriched uranium at a later stage even as Tehran said the talks were in their final stage but remained non-committal about any timeline for the agreement.

“The deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is open to all. Our relationship with Iran is a much different and better one than previous administrations have had,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post.

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Oil ⁠prices were up more than $2 a barrel on Monday (June 8, 2026) after Israel on Sunday (June 7) launched renewed strikes on Lebanon despite a truce between the two countries, eroding hopes ‌for an end to the wider war and a restart to crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. crude ‌futures were up $2.10, or 2.32%, at $92.64 per barrel as of 0013 ‌GMT, ⁠while Brent crude futures rose $2.33, or 2.5%, to $95.42 ⁠a barrel.

That erased most of the losses from Friday (June 5), when prices had fallen on mounting hopes of a de-escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict, which started with U.S. and Israel strikes on Iran in February.

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Tehran on Tuesday accused Washington of breaching the ceasefire and warned it was ready to retaliate after overnight U.S. strikes, while Israeli bombardment in Lebanon left dozens dead, threatening an increasingly fragile truce there.

The Brent benchmark oil price jumped up by more than three percent after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the new wave of bombings targeting Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats, while China urged both sides to respect the truce and to resolve their dispute peacefully.

Iranian state media reported overnight blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the country’s Revolutionary Guards said its forces had downed a US drone entering its airspace and had fired at an F-35 fighter jet.

-AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran’s enriched uranium can be turned and destroyed in the U.S., but his preference is for it to be destroyed “in place” or at “another acceptable location,” under the supervision of the IAEA.

Mr. Trump’s comment marks a shift in his repeated statements that Iran hand over its enriched uranium to the US as a sticking point of any potential deal.

“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

-PTI

The U.S. military said it carried out “self-defence” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines, even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations were “proceeding nicely”.

The strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces”, but the military was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire”, Capt. Tim Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said in a statement on Monday.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Hezbollah in a statement Sunday of trying to plunge Lebanon “back into chaos.”

Mr. Rubio denounced what he called Hezbollah’s “reckless call to overthrow Lebanon’s democratically elected government” and said the pro-Iran armed group was “actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction.”

Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, said earlier that “the people have the right to go down onto the streets and to bring down the government” in response to Israeli strikes and US sanctions on the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institution.

-AFP