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OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump is promising swift retaliation after Iran conducted a series of air strikes against American sites in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
Responsibility for the attacks was claimed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), admitting to targeting maintenance facilities and fighter jet positions Sunday evening at Jordan’s Al-Azraq and King Hussein air bases.
Iran claims the attacks were conducted in retaliation for American strikes against Iranian ballistic missile facilities at Larak Island, an Iranian-claimed island in the Strait of Hormuz, just off the Iranian coast near the key Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
This latest exchange marks the end of a period of quiet in the region, after U.S. strikes in late July killed two people.
On Monday, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said its attacks against Jordan were justified self-defence, and “strongly condemned the American military aggression on Larak.”
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U.S. promising retaliation, oil prices jump
In an interview with Fox News , Trump promised retaliation.
“We’re going to hit them hard, there will be a response,” he told the news outlet.
Trump also said all Iranian missiles were intercepted by American missile defence batteries, except for one which he said was allowed through as it wasn’t going to hit anything significant.
Officials in the United Arab Emirates said their forces downed an incoming Iranian drone before it reached land.
This latest attack had an impact on world energy prices, particularly in crude oil markets.
Brent crude prices increased by nearly three per cent on Monday, closing out trading just above $90 per barrel.
The benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) likewise jumped by 3.4% on Monday, trading at $86.30 as of late Monday afternoon.
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
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