Brent crude pierced $100 after Houthi tanker strikes in the Red Sea. The U.S. hit Iranian targets from the Caspian to the Gulf. Coke raised Diet Coke prices 10% in India.
U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran on Friday, reaching as far as the Caspian coast, after President Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies over extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint, the mouth of the Red Sea.
The Houthis struck two Saudi tankers on Thursday in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, pushing oil prices 7% higher to pierce $100 per barrel for the first time since May. Brent eased almost 3% to under $98 on Friday but remained on course for an advance of over 10% this week.
Two weeks after the collapse of an interim truce, the Iranian armed forces responded by firing at U.S. bases in neighboring Arab countries. The Iranian army said Trump’s threats only strengthened its resolve.
The Houthis said this week they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil each day by pipeline to the Red Sea to skirt Iran’s near-total blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. The number of tankers crossing through the strait fell to just one on Thursday, the lowest since May 7.
Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies on Thursday, sources said. Several tankers turned around and headed north through the Suez Canal, potentially using a much longer route to reach Asian customers by sailing around Africa.
Coca-Cola has raised prices in India of Diet Coke – sold predominantly in aluminum cans – by more than 10% as the conflict chokes its supply chain, sources said. The company carries an Alpha Score 61/100 from AlphaScala, a Moderate rating in the Consumer Staples sector.
Iran Warns Gulf States
The Iranian army said it had attacked U.S. military equipment depots at Camp Buehring in northern Kuwait and positions at Camp Arifjan and Camp Doha near Kuwait City. The Revolutionary Guards said they had significantly damaged a surveillance tower used by the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
U.S. airstrikes hit Piranshahr near Iran’s border with Iraq, damaging several vehicles, according to the province’s emergency services. Missiles struck a Revolutionary Guards Navy headquarters in the Caspian Sea province of Gilan and the port city of Bandar Anzali, according to Iranian media.
Four people were killed and five injured in a U.S. missile attack on Ahvaz, state broadcaster IRIB said.
The Revolutionary Guards warned the public in Gulf countries of potential strikes against U.S. military personnel who may be using buildings in cities. It told people to move away from areas within a 500-meter radius of locations used by U.S. military personnel.
Trump wrote on social media he would hold Iran accountable for any further attacks by the fighters, “and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves.” He told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat operations in Iran and was close to a decision. “They haven’t received enough pain yet,” the U.S. news outlet quoted Trump as saying.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi responded with a warning on X, saying no one’s assets were safe once governments normalized such confiscation. “Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.”
High oil prices are fueling inflation globally, putting Trump’s Republican allies under pressure ahead of midterm congressional elections in November. The Republican-led House backed legislation on Thursday directing Trump to halt U.S. military action against Iran, its latest rebuke of the president. Congress alone has the power to declare war under the U.S. Constitution. The Senate voted hours later to block a separate, similar measure.
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