Oil prices moved closer to the $100-a-barrel mark on Wednesday, rising more than 1% for a fourth straight session as renewed tensions between US-Iran and continued to rattle the crude market.Brent crude rose 1.47% to $99.36 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate climbed 1.54% to $94.46The latest exchange of strikes has pushed the conflict into another phase of escalation. Iran launched missiles towards US targets in Jordan after the US military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to attacks on its warships.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that they had also targeted two US destroyers and what they described as a US base in Jordan’s Al Azraq with ballistic missiles. However, Jordan’s air-defence systems intercepted 18 of the 20 missiles launched from Iranian territory, while the other two landed in unpopulated areas.The fresh fighting comes as hopes of a permanent end to the more than six-month-old war weaken further. Brent crude has risen by a quarter since early August.The latest exchange of attacks has brought the two sides back towards open hostilities, adding to the economic pressure created by the conflict.US secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that Washington would continue to strike Iranian oil tankers if Tehran attempted further attacks on US warships. “Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia.The US has also stepped up economic measures against Tehran. On Tuesday, it imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran’s aviation industry, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers.The measures form part of US President Donald Trump’s dual economic and military approach as his administration seeks to bring the war to an end while isolating Tehran from its remaining trading partners.At the centre of the tensions is the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost one-fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war began. Both the US and Iran are seeking to exert control over the strategic waterway.The renewed fighting and higher energy prices also pose political problems for Trump and his Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections.Meanwhile, the Middle East conflict has continued for more than six months, keeping oil markets volatile. However, prices remain below the $126-a-barrel level seen earlier in the war.
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