Oil hits six-week high as Iran warns of new Hormuz zone

Brent crude futures climbed 1.4% to $98.5 per barrel on Tuesday, hitting a six-week high, as escalating hostilities between the United States and Iran stoked fears of fresh disruptions to crude shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude also gained 1.4% to reach $94 per barrel by 0630GMT, according to trading data.

Saudi facilities targeted

Yemen’s Houthi group targeted cities and economic infrastructure in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, causing deaths and triggering fires at energy facilities, the Saudi-led military coalition and Energy Ministry announced. The attacks on the kingdom’s critical infrastructure came as regional tensions intensified following Tehran’s recent military operations against American assets in the region.

Tehran warns of maritime curbs

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday that it had destroyed a US military tethered surveillance aerostat in a drone strike near Erbil airport in northern Iraq, according to a statement from the elite force. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, stated on Monday that Tehran would declare a new “restricted” maritime zone outside the Strait of Hormuz in coming days, warning that any vessel entering the area would be placed on a sanctions list.

Vessel intercepted off Yemen

Yemeni Coast Guard forces intercepted an oil tanker on Sunday after it unloaded “unauthorized” cargo at the Houthi-held Ras Isa port in Al-Hudaydah governorate, government media reported. The seizure underscored the fragility of a June memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, outlining steps toward ending hostilities and reopening the waterway. Both sides have since accused each other of failing to implement the agreement’s commitments while military tensions continue alongside disputes over sanctions and navigation rights.