A Syrian official said that two Iranian generals, a member of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and four Syrian citizens were killed in the attack. Iran’s foreign minister accused the U.S. of approving the deadly strike, increasing the likelihood that Tehran could potentially target American interests in any retaliatory strikes. "America is responsible for this incident and must be held accountable," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in Damascus the day of the bombing. "The fact that the US and two European countries opposed a (UN Security Council) resolution condemning the attack on the Iranian embassy is a sign that the US gave the green light to the Zionist regime (Israel)" to carry out the attack. American officials have publicly denied foreknowledge of the attack, with senior Pentagon officials criticizing Israeli counterparts and expressing frustration over not being provided advance notice. Within days, Iranian officials vowed retaliatory action. Anticipating fresh military action by Iran, which produces three million barrels of oil daily, crude prices surged as much as three percent on April 12, with Western governments expecting an imminent strike. "The escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran is also indicating to traders it may worsen before it gets better and there seems to be a lot of option call buying as we go into the weekend which is keeping an upward pressure on futures prices," Dennis Kissler, senior vice president at BOK Financial, said in a note to clients on Friday. "If a large percentage of that [production] were to move away or be delayed to the world market the supply/demand picture could tighten further very quickly.” Oil futures rose to a high not seen since October 2023, settling at $85.66 per barrel. President Joe Biden says he expects an attack by Iran “sooner rather than later.” Pentagon officials have dispatched additional aircraft and warships to the region amid the heightened threat environment and potential for hostilities to spillover to violence targeting U.S. assets. Western nations including the U.S., UK, France, and India have issued travel warnings for the region. Around 9 p.m. local time, a barrage of ballistic missiles were fired into northern Israel. The attack was initially attributed to Hezbollah with watchers speculating the attack was meant to deplete Israel’s missile defense systems and allow Iran to determine where those defenses are located.Much of the world is on high alert as global leaders anticipate an imminent strike on Israel carried out by Iran in response to an Israeli strike on April 1 that destroyed Iran’s consulate and killed 12 people.
Loading...
Loading...
