The price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark for oil, hit $100 a barrel on Wednesday morning, the highest level since late July. The increase is a continuation of an upward trend seen since August and follows an escalation of fighting between the United States and Iran. Iran retaliated by attacking a military base in Jordan housing US forces. The Jordanian military said it intercepted 18 Iranian missiles and reported no casualties. 3:29 AM Protesters urge South Korea not to join US war against Iran Dozens of South Koreans urged their government Wednesday not to deploy troops to the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Protesters outside the US embassy compound in Seoul waved signs reading “Do not join a war of aggression” as the country’s leaders weigh a “contribution” to the waterway’s security. “We cannot send our young people into a sea of death!” protesters chanted on the steps outside Seoul’s Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. The protest came a day after South Korean defense authorities said they had sent a fact-finding mission to assess the situation in Hormuz, while emphasizing that no decision had been made on any deployment. South Korea said Friday it was considering “contributions” to U.S. security efforts across the strait, as long as its own military readiness is not compromised. Iran has warned that any South Korean deployment would be “considered direct support for the party responsible for that aggression and will have serious consequences.” 3:01 AM Iran-backed Houthi group reports more than 30 attacks in Yemen Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis reported more than 30 Saudi attacks in several regions on Wednesday, a day after rebels launched major attacks on their neighbor, wounding dozens of people. There has been no official comment from Saudi Arabia on the Houthi report. The rebels reported Saudi airstrikes after the attacks. Deadly fighting reignited in Yemen last week, as the Houthis launched a major campaign to seize territory near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The strait has become an increasingly important route for Saudi oil since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, choking off Gulf exports. Oil was trading at more than $99 early on Wednesday, continuing the upward trend seen since August. Meanwhile, benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.2% to $94.17 a barrel. Before the war began in February, a fifth of the world’s oil flowed through the Strait of Hormuz, but since then, traffic has plummeted, with only small periods of temporary and limited recovery. 3:01 AM Iran launches missiles at US targets in Jordan, state media says Iran has launched missiles at US targets in Jordan, Iranian state media said, following the latest US attacks. It is the latest tit-for-tat retaliation after the U.S. military said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers following two attacks on a U.S. warship by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in the past two days. US Central Command, when asked about the attacks on the Jordanian air base, said it had no information to offer. Jordan’s military said its air defense systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched toward its territory and two others fell in places where no people live. He says he had no reports of victims. Jordan is a staunch US ally that hosts US forces, making the kingdom’s military bases a target for repeated Iranian attacks. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy also warned oil tanker crews near the ports of Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately abandon their vessels, saying the ships could be attacked in retaliation for US attacks on Iranian oil tankers. 3:01 AM CENTCOM confirms it attacked five Iranian tankers The US military’s Central Command confirmed Tuesday that it “destroyed” five tankers associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In a statement accompanied by video footage of the operation, CENTCOM said the strikes were in response to a series of failed Iranian missile attacks on a U.S. warship in recent days. Four of the tankers were hit in the Gulf of Oman, according to CENTCOM, and a fifth was hit near Kharg Island, an island in the Persian Gulf that serves as Iran’s main terminal for crude oil exports. It alleged that the ships were part of Iran’s shadow fleet, a network of tankers used by Iran to export oil and generate revenue for the regime. “US forces ordered crews to abandon ship before the vessels were hit and rendered inoperable,” CENTCOM said. CBS News had reported a US attack on Iranian oil tankers earlier Tuesday. CENTCOM also attacked three Iranian tankers last weekend in retaliation for an earlier attempted Iranian attack on U.S. Navy ships.
