Brent crude has climbed back above $94 per barrel as military strikes between the United States and Iran intensify, rattling global investor confidence.
The US carried out what it described as a “self-defence” action targeting Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communications systems, and air defence sites overnight.
President Trump confirmed the strikes began at 10:30pm, telling reporters in the Oval Office: “We are going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard.”
Trump added: “We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them again hard today — in case you miss it, in case you don’t turn on your television set.”
The President said he spoke “directly” with officials in Tehran, who asked him to stop the bombardment, suggesting it would cease “shortly” but warning it could resume.
Earlier in the week, Trump had taken to Truth Social to issue a stark warning, writing that Iran had “taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, has pushed back above $94 per barrel as markets digest the prospect of a prolonged conflict with no clear diplomatic resolution.
Investor sentiment is already fragile, with chip sell-offs on Wall Street and across Asian markets dragging equities lower throughout the week.
The FTSE 100 has largely avoided the worst of the technology-driven declines given the UK market’s limited exposure to major chip and semiconductor stocks.
Despite that relative insulation, London’s benchmark index has still been caught in broader risk-off selling, leaving it down approximately one per cent across the week.
The escalating US-Iran tensions represent yet another destabilising force for markets already navigating a difficult global backdrop heading into the latter half of 2026.