US President Donald Trump has threatened "major military punishment" against Iran and Yemen's Houthi movement after two Saudi oil tankers were attacked in the Red Sea, as fears of a widening threat to global shipping pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time since May.
Brent crude touched $100.64 a barrel on Thursday, a jump of 7%, after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed to have struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
Concerns over the security of global shipping lanes intensified on Thursday after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, while US President Donald Trump warned he would retaliate against any Iranian attempt to target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Bahrain's civil air navigation infrastructure came under hostile drone attack during Iran's assault on the kingdom, but air operations remain unaffected, said a report, citing senior officials. All flights, including those transiting the Bahrain Flight Information Region, continue to operate normally, they added.
Iran and the US concluded a round of indirect talks on Wednesday with no sign they had made headway toward a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues that they said had been resolved when an interim deal was announced two weeks ago. Sources said negotiators spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US said it had completed an eighth straight night of attacks against Iran after earlier announcing that two US military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was missing following an Iranian attack. In retaliation, Iran's military launched a drone attack targeting US military assets, sauid media reports.
Iran launched renewed attacks on US Gulf allies on Saturday after the United States completed a seventh consecutive night of strikes targeting Iranian military infrastructure, marking a sharp escalation one week after a fragile ceasefire collapsed, said media reports.
The General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) said that its air defence systems successfully intercepted and destroyed several treacherous Iranian aerial attacks on Friday.
The United States intensified its military campaign against Iran on Tuesday, reimposing a naval blockade of Iranian ports, launching another wave of strikes on military targets and warning of attacks on key infrastructure unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned a proposal to impose a 20% transit fee on cargo shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, saying Washington would instead pursue trade and investment agreements with Gulf states amid escalating tensions with Iran.
