Global indices, including India’s Sensex, US Dow and Japan’s Nikkei, crashed and crude oil prices jumped over five per cent after US President Donald Trump’s declaration that the ceasefire with Iran was “over”.
Sensex was down over 1,700 points, while Nifty was hovering at 23,903 points at 3.14 pm, shortly after Trump’s announcement.
Brent crude futures jumped USD 3.82, or 5.15 per cent, hitting USD 77.98 a barrel at 0832 GMT, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude gained USD 3.70, or 5.25 per cent, to USD 74.14 a barrel.
The development comes after the US launched overnight airstrikes on Iran in response to Tehran’s alleged attacks on three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We attacked, very powerfully last night, the very dangerous people from Iran. There’s something wrong with them. We say, ‘Go and do your funeral stuff,’ and instead of that, they start shooting rockets at ships yesterday. So we hit them very hard last night,” Trump said.
The United States struck Iranian speed boats and targeted the Islamic Republic at a time when it was holding funeral ceremonies for its former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US and Israeli strikes on February 28.
In retaliation for the attacks, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) reportedly struck 85 US military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait.
According to the Iranian state media, the US military facilities at Salman Port, the US Fifth Fleet area in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait were struck by Iranian missiles and drones.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity reported that Iranian strikes damaged several power lines in the country, damaging the country’s power infrastructure.
The country’s Army said that its air defences intercepted 14 Iranian drones and that there were no injuries reported.
“The Ministry of Defense, Major General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, stated that the Armed Forces detected, at dawn today, two (2) hostile ballistic missiles and thirteen (13) hostile drones that breached Kuwaiti airspace. These were successfully intercepted and dealt with, resulting in no material damage or human injuries,” the Kuwait Army said.
The resumption of the war between the US and Iran came weeks after both countries signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under which they agreed to halt fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, and negotiate a permanent end to the war over a 60-day period.