Global crude oil prices advanced following a series of military strikes and counter-strikes between the United States and Iran over the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
US crude oil futures rose by 3.4% to $73.87 per barrel, while the international benchmark Brent crude futures increased by 3.5% to $78.67 per barrel.
The US Central Command stated that after striking 140 targets within Iran on Saturday, US forces conducted another round of airstrikes on Sunday. This action was described as a retaliation for an attack by Iran's Revolutionary Guards on a container vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported that the Revolutionary Guards carried out retaliatory strikes on Sunday against US facilities located in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman.
Iranian state media claimed the Revolutionary Guards had imposed an indefinite blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, a statement that was denied by US forces. The US Central Command asserted that the strait remains open to all lawful maritime traffic.
In a social media post on Sunday, the US Central Command stated: "Despite Iran's unprovoked attacks, harassment, threats of force, and unilateral declarations of a blockade, US forces are postured to ensure freedom of navigation. The Strait of Hormuz is not under Iranian control, and shipping continues normally."
US President Donald Trump affirmed that the Strait of Hormuz remains open for passage. Data from maritime intelligence firm Windward indicated that nine vessels transited the strait on Saturday.
The US-led Combined Maritime Forces' intelligence center, based in Bahrain, which issues maritime security alerts for commercial vessels transiting the Middle East, stated that vessels could continue to use the southern route through Omani waters to enter and exit the strait.
However, the center issued an advisory on Sunday warning that the security situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains severe and urged crews to maintain the highest level of vigilance.
The weekend's airstrikes mark the fourth time in the past week that US forces have bombed Iran, in retaliation for attacks on several merchant ships in the southern route of the strait, which is under US oversight.
Iran has demanded that all transiting vessels use the northern route, which runs close to Iranian territorial waters, as a demonstration of its claimed control over the strait.
The current conflict stems from diametrically opposed interpretations of the "resumption of navigation in the strait" clause within a provisional peace agreement signed on June 17.
Prior to a joint US-Israeli strike on Iran on February 28, approximately 20% of global oil supplies passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Transit volumes declined significantly after Iran began attacking commercial vessels in the strait in early March, though traffic had shown some recovery following the signing of the provisional agreement.
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