FTSE 100 Live: Stocks drop as oil surges after Trump reinstates Iranian blockade
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Oil prices are marching higher after the latest wave of military action in the Middle East following the US reinstating its blockade on imports from Iran.
Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – surged above $84 per barrel on Tuesday, bringing gains for the week to more than 10 per cent, as Donald Trump declared the US would “takeover” the Strait of Hormuz and impose a toll.
The President said the US will slap a 20 per cent fee on “all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security”.
Earlier that day, he told Fox News: “We’ll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait, and we should be reimbursed for that.”
But Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has hit back claiming the crucial shipping lane as “our territory”, adding it would not permit the US to “continue its illegal interference in it”.
The US finished its latest round of strikes in the early hours of Tuesday morning, which the nation’s Central Command said was to “further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping”.
The Strait of Hormuz has also become a physical battle line, with Iranian attacks on tankers overnight in the strait suggesting the narrow waterway is not safe for travel in the short-term.
The UAE’s defence department has confirmed one crew member has been killed in attacks on two of its tankers in the strait whilst several were injured.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest market updates and analysis.
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