Iran and the United States threatened on Thursday to step up attacks on one another, after Tehran’s Houthi allies struck Saudi shipping and sent oil prices soaring.
President Donald Trump said the United States would hold Iran responsible for the Houthis’ actions and warned both would soon receive a “major military punishment”.
The international oil benchmark Brent crude surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since May, up 8.4 percent, while world leaders expressed alarm after Yemen’s rebels hit oil tankers in the Red Sea.
“The situation is getting out of control. It is teetering on the edge of the unimaginable,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned.
“One crisis feeds another. One escalation triggers the next,” he told a meeting of the UN Security Council.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned “the energy shock could intensify further” and push up inflation, feeding speculation about a September eurozone
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