Oil Prices Soar Past $100 a Barrel Amid Mideast Tensions

The price of oil surged past $100 a barrel for the first time in over six weeks on Wednesday, September 9, after US military strikes destroyed five Iranian tankers and Houthi attacks set Saudi Aramco oil facilities ablaze.

The strikes, carried out by the US Central Command, targeted the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1, M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman as well as M/T Derya near Kharg Island. The vessels were used as part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its regional proxies.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the Houthis are 'in many ways, agents and proxies of the Iranians,' and that 'behind some of this is clearly the Iranian hand.'