Main developments
Brent crude settled 7.8 per cent higher at $109.03 a barrel after Donald Trump’s warnings to Iran raised the prospect of further escalation. West Texas Intermediate jumped more than 11 per cent to close at its highest since mid-2022.
The S&P 500 closed 0.1 per cent higher but had oscillated between gains and losses in another volatile session on Wall Street.
Traders attributed the stock market’s recovery from its early drop on Iranian media reports that Tehran was in talks with Oman to manage passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
A liquefied natural gas carrier is among three Omani-managed ships that appeared to be transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said it was “unrealistic” to think that the Strait of Hormuz could be opened by a military operation, as 41 allied nations met to discuss how to reopen the waterway.
The meeting, which did not include the US, came after Trump continued to press Europe to deal with Iran’s blockage of the crucial waterway.
Pete Hegseth ousted army chief of staff General Randy George, the latest change in Pentagon top brass since Trump returned to the White House.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards attack Oracle facility in the UAE
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they have attacked an Oracle facility in their latest strikes against US tech companies in the Middle East.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Oracle’s data and computing centre in the United Arab Emirates was hit in response to attacks on Iran’s former foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi and his wife.
The guards reiterated in a statement to state media that they were targeting “espionage technology and artificial intelligence companies that are pillars of the enemy’s terrorist operations”.
Earlier they had claimed attacks on Amazon’s data centres in Bahrain.
Pete Hegseth ousts army chief of staff General Randy George
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted the chief of staff of the army, in the latest removal of the top brass at the Pentagon since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The Pentagon confirmed General Randy George had been asked to step down early. George assumed his duties in 2023, and the role of army chief of staff usually serves a four-year term.
The Pentagon declined to comment on why George had been asked to step down. It was unclear whether the move, which was first reported by CBS, was related to the US war against Iran.
One person familiar with the situation said George was fired because of his close relationship with Daniel Driscoll, the army secretary, a political appointee who many people think is the most likely successor to Hegseth if the defence secretary is removed.
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on X that George was retiring “effective immediately” and that the defence department was “grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation”.