The US oil benchmark soared above US$100 a barrel as trading opened on Sunday, with investors braced for further turmoil as the expanding ⁠US-Israeli war with Iran fuelled fears of tighter supply and prolonged disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped 20 percent to US$109.17 a barrel, while the international Brent benchmark contract was up 19 percent at US$110.35.

The war could leave consumers and businesses worldwide facing weeks or months of higher fuel prices even if the week-old conflict ends quickly, as suppliers grapple with damaged ⁠facilities, disrupted logistics and elevated risks to shipping.

As fighting escalated on Sunday, the ninth day of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, thick black smoke hung over Tehran, residents said, after strikes on oil storage facilities had lit up the night sky with ⁠plumes of orange flame.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack marked a "dangerous new phase" of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.

"By targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air," he wrote on X.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to fuel Iran's war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles.

"They are a legal military target," he said. Tehran's governor told the IRNA news agency that fuel distribution had been "temporarily interrupted" in the capital.

The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran's UN ambassador.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reported Iranian drone attacks on Saturday and early Sunday, including a huge fire that engulfed a government office block in Kuwait.

Kuwait's interior ministry said two officers were killed, while the UAE said four migrant workers had died in Iranian attacks there so far.

Bahrain said on Sunday that an Iranian drone attack had caused "material damage" to a desalination plant, though water supplies were not disrupted. It was the first time an Arab country has said Iran targeted a desalination facility during the conflict.

In Saudi Arabia, two people were killed and 12 injured after a projectile hit a residential area in Al-Kharj city, the Civil Defence agency said.

Lebanon has also been pulled into the conflict after the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel last week, with nearly 400 people killed by Israel over the past week, the health ministry said.

Israel killed at least four people when ⁠it struck a hotel in central Beirut on Sunday, saying it had targeted Iranian commanders operating in the city – the first such strike on the heart of the Lebanese capital – amid heavy bombardment of the southern suburbs and the country's south and east.

The US military on Sunday reported a seventh American has died from wounds sustained during Iran's initial counter-attack a week ago, a day after US President Donald Trump presided over the return to the United States of the remains of the six others killed. (Agencies)



Edited by Cecil Wong