The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked back over $100 on Thursday as Iranian strikes hit ships in the region’s waters and the ongoing American-Israeli war with Iran showed no signs of slowing.
The latest major developments include Iranian attacks against commercial ships around the Strait of Hormuz and Iraq’s port of Basra, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich Gulf region as global energy concerns mount.
The U.S. campaign of airstrikes in Iran is now in its 13th day.
Major developments we’re following:
Pentagon says Iran war cost $11.3 Billion in 1 week: The first week of war with Iran cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon, which provided the estimate to Congress in a briefing earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. The military reported spending $5 billion on munitions alone in the war’s first weekend.The International Energy Agency has agreed to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the effects on energy markets of the war.The death toll continues to rise. The war has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, at least 634 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.