Emergency services work at a building hit by an alleged Israeli air strike in Damascus, Syria, on ... [+]
Oil futures hit $92 per barrel on Friday (April 12, 2024) as tensions between Israel and Iran escalated overnight, with Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu meeting his top officials and asking them to prepare for a possible attack by Tehran.
At 12:58 EDT, the Brent front-month futures contract was trading at $90.72 per barrel, up 1% or $0.96, having earlier hit a session high of $92.12 per barrel in mid-afternoon European trading. The latest price spike follows already elevated oil price levels with Brent futures currently lurking around a six-month high.
It comes as global markets contemplate the possibility that Tehran will likely retaliate for an alleged Israeli air strike in Damascus, Syria on Apr 1. The attack killed 13 people, including two Iranian generals and five officers, and demolished a part of Iran's consulate in Syria.
Among the dead was Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite overseas unit - the Quds Force - in Syria and Lebanon, who had alleged links to terrorist group Hamas. Israel has not commented on the Damascus attack but is widely thought to have carried it out.
Earlier, CBS News cited a warning by a U.S. official that Iran may retaliate with more than 100 drones, cruise and ballistic missiles. The U.S. subsequently issued a travel warning for Israel to its citizens and restricted the movement of its diplomatic staff in the country.
U.K., France, Australia and India have also issued similar warnings to their citizens and diplomatic staff, while some airlines are avoiding Iranian air space. German carrier Lufthansa has temporarily suspended flights to Tehran.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Israel "must be punished and it shall be" for the strike. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office has said his country is ready "defensively and offensively" and that his government remains prepared "to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel".
Meanwhile, diplomatic overtures are afoot to persuade Iran to refrain from attacking Israel, amid fears of such a move sparking a wider regional war in the Middle East. The U.S. has spoken to the foreign ministers of China, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates requesting them to use their influence with Iran.
The initial spark for the current situation came via Iran-backed terrorist outfit Hamas on October 7, 2023 after it attacked Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. Israel says 34 of the 130 hostages still in Gaza are dead.
An ongoing retaliatory response to the attack by Israel Defense Forces has left over 33,500 Gazans dead, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The conflict has also seen Israel regularly exchange fire across its northern border with the Iran-backed Lebanese militia group Hezbollah.
Additionally, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been attacking international shipping in the Red Sea, sinking at least one ship and prompting the U.S. and U.K. to launch missile strikes against the group. Iran's proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have also attempted to hit Israeli territory as well as U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria.
