Pentagon Releases Footage of US Strikes on Two Iranian Oil Tankers

What Happens Next

• →Global crude oil prices spike 10-20% within days as markets price in supply disruption risk through the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent crude likely breaching $100/barrel if not already above it.
• →Iran retaliates through asymmetric means — harassment of commercial shipping, activation of proxy forces in the region, or direct threats to US naval assets — escalating the risk of a broader military confrontation.
• →China and Russia, as Iran's primary oil customers, issue diplomatic condemnations and pursue emergency UN Security Council proceedings, deepening geopolitical fault lines between Western and non-Western blocs.

Near-term: Oil prices surge 10-20%, maritime insurers impose war-risk surcharges on Strait of Hormuz transits, and US Central Command expands its naval posture in the Persian Gulf while Iran mobilizes IRGC Navy assets in response. Long-term: Gulf states and Iran accelerate pipeline infrastructure bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, global energy importers diversify supply chains away from Persian Gulf dependence, and the US-Iran adversarial posture hardens into a sustained Cold War-style regional standoff.