‘Oil price will reach $200 a barrel’: Iran warns against more US-Israel strikes, says will target all ‘economic centres’ in Middle East

Iran has warned that continued US-Israeli attacks will trigger retaliation against “all economic centres” across the Middle East, while signalling further disruption to global energy supplies.Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general Ebrahim Jabbari said Tehran would escalate its response if its “main centres” were targeted. “We are saying to the enemy that if it decides to hit our main centres, we will hit all economic centres in the region,” Jabbari was quoted as saying by Iranian news agency ISNA, according to Al Jazeera.Jabbari also said, “We have closed the Strait of Hormuz. Currently, the price of oil is above $80 and will soon reach $200.”Brent crude rose above $85 a barrel for the first time since July 2024 amid concerns over supply disruptions.The Strait of Hormuz is a key global energy corridor, handling roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas exports from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries. Around 20 per cent of global daily oil consumption, approximately 20 million barrels, passes through the narrow passage.Any prolonged disruption in the Strait could have significant implications for global energy markets, shipping routes and oil-importing economies, as tensions between Iran, the United States and Israel continue to escalate. It comes after US-Israel carried out joint operations in Iran early Saturday across Iran, including Tehran, in which Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei was also killed. Tehran in response has retaliated with indiscriminate strikes across the region, trageting not just Israel, US bases and military facilities but also multiple iconic sites and critical econoimic hubs from oil refinaries to production facilities.