US Airstrikes Against Iran Spark Widespread Retaliation

The US has launched a barrage of airstrikes against Iran, prompting Iranian retaliation in a widening conflict. The strikes followed a weekend exchange of fire and attacks on two tankers leaving the Strait of Hormuz.

Global oil prices rose over $4 a barrel to a five-week high after the strikes, settling at 73.27 dollars per barrel.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said the US attacks would 'tighten the lock' on the Strait of Hormuz, which carries one in every five barrels of the world's oil.

Tehran struck back at US assets in Jordan, Bahrain, and Iraq, and remained defiant, warning that it would prevent oil being exported from the Gulf.