US Strikes Iran; Tehran Retaliates Against American Airbase
The United States has carried out fresh military strikes against Iran, triggering an immediate retaliatory attack by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on an American military base in the Gulf region. The escalation comes after President Donald Trump publicly dismissed reports of a potential deal that would have kept the Strait of Hormuz open, removing a diplomatic off-ramp that analysts had considered a last-ditch mechanism to contain hostilities.
Iran's state broadcaster Press TV confirmed that the Revolutionary Guards targeted a US airbase in response to the American strikes, marking one of the most direct exchanges of fire between the two adversaries in years. The scale and precise locations of the strikes on both sides remain subject to battlefield reporting, but the cross-retaliatory cycle signals a dramatic deterioration in an already volatile standoff.
Global financial markets reacted swiftly and sharply. Oil prices surged as traders priced in the risk of supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of the world's seaborne crude transits daily. Equity markets faltered across major exchanges as risk appetite collapsed, while the US dollar firmed to a one-week high and the Japanese yen approached levels associated with possible central bank intervention.
The rejection of the reported Hormuz deal by President Trump has deepened concern among Gulf states, European governments, and Asian importers who depend heavily on uninterrupted energy flows through the strait. Regional governments have so far refrained from public comment, but diplomatic channels are understood to be active at senior levels.
Pakistan, which relies on Gulf energy routes for the bulk of its oil and LNG imports, faces immediate exposure to any sustained disruption. A prolonged conflict scenario could accelerate fuel price inflation and strain the country's fragile current account position at a critical juncture in its IMF-supported stabilisation programme.
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