(Reuters)
DUBAI/TEL AVIV, March 11 – Iran’s military command said on Wednesday the world should be prepared for oil to hit $200 a barrel, as three more ships came under attack in the blockaded Gulf.
Iran fired at Israel and targets across the Middle East on Wednesday, demonstrating it can still fight back and disrupt energy supplies despite what the Pentagon has described as the most intense U.S.-Israeli strikes yet.
Oil prices that shot up earlier this week have eased and stock markets have rebounded, with investors betting for now that U.S. President Donald Trump will find a quick way to end the war he began alongside Israel nearly two weeks ago.
But so far there has been no let-up on the ground, or any sign that ships can safely sail through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil has been blockaded behind a narrow channel along the Iranian coast in the worst disruption to energy supplies since the oil shocks of the 1970s.
“Get ready for oil be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security which you have destabilised,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s military command said in comments addressed to the United States.
After offices of a bank in Tehran were hit overnight, Zolfaqari also said Iran would respond with attacks on banks that do business with the United States or Israel. People across the Middle East should stay 1,000 metres from banks, he added.
A senior Israeli official told Reuters Israeli leaders now privately accept that Iran’s ruling system could survive the war. Two other Israeli officials said there was no sign Washington was close to ending the campaign.
