Oil climbs for fifth day as Mideast routes face risks

July 24, 2026

1–2 minutes

Summary

Oil rose to a one-month high as attacks near Bab el-Mandeb added to concerns about disruptions to Middle East supply routes.

Why this matters

Oil prices and diesel margins can affect fuel costs, inflation, and shipping worldwide. The story also highlights risks to two key maritime chokepoints, the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, that are critical to global energy trade.

Oil prices rose for a fifth straight day on Thursday, reaching their highest levels in more than a month after Yemen’s Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers, adding to concerns about disruptions to global supply routes beyond the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures were up $4.52, or 4.8%, at $98.59 a barrel by 0935 GMT after reaching their highest level since June 3. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $3.39, or 3.9%, to $90.22 after touching its highest since June 11.

The Iranian-aligned Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers as part of what they described as a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

Shipping data showed two Chinese supertankers carrying a combined 4 million barrels of Saudi oil were exiting the Red Sea through Bab el-Mandeb on Thursday, even as a Saudi vessel came under attack in the region.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said an oil tanker caught fire after an explosion while attempting to follow a mined route in the southern Strait of Hormuz near Oman’s coast, and that two other tankers had turned back.

The Guards said the strait was under their control and “completely closed” while U.S. actions continued in the region, and warned that no tanker would be allowed to enter or leave without coordination with Iran.

More top news

World Politics

U.S. set to levy 10% tariffs on goods from 80 nations

The tariffs will exempt oil, gas, certain natural resources, goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and products already subject to national security tariffs, including cars and steel.

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The Trump administration will impose tariffs of about 10% on goods from more than 80 countries starting at 12:01 a.m. Friday, replacing a global 10% duty that is set to expire at the same time.

The new tariffs, ranging from 10% to 12.5%, will be issued under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The administration said foreign governments failed to pass or enforce laws blocking imports made with forced labor, putting U.S. businesses at a disadvantage.

Canada, which will face a 10% tariff, already bars imports made with forced labor. The European Union, also at 10%, has a ban scheduled to take effect in December 2027. Trump administration officials said those governments have not effectively enforced their laws.

Critics said the administration was using forced labor concerns to restore tariffs that courts had blocked.

The tariffs will exempt oil, gas, certain natural resources, goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and products already subject to national security tariffs, including cars and steel.

The administration has proposed additional Section 301 tariffs on 15 countries and the European Union tied to what the White House called unfair manufacturing practices. An administration official said Thursday that investigation was continuing.

Trump has argued U.S. tariffs on imports were too low. His efforts have faced repeated legal challenges. In February, the Supreme Court struck down his use of an emergency law to impose tariffs and ordered about $160 billion in tariff revenue refunded.

After that ruling, Trump turned to Section 122 of the 1974 trade law as a temporary measure. Federal trade court judges later ruled against that approach, though courts allowed the 10% import tax to remain in effect during the appeal.

Section 301 has survived past court challenges, including tariffs Trump imposed on China during his first term, but it has not previously been used this broadly.
World Politics

Trump ties Saudi nuclear deal to Israel ties

Nonproliferation experts have raised concerns that the absence of such guardrails could allow enrichment to weapons-grade levels.

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President Donald Trump said Thursday that a new U.S.-Saudi agreement on a civilian nuclear program would require Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords.

In a social media post, Trump said the deal did not allow uranium enrichment. “The agreement will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” he wrote. He added, “The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities.”

Two people familiar with the matter said the agreement would be submitted to Congress for review and was expected to last 30 years, with U.S. firms involved in developing the program. One of the people, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deal could allow construction of a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia after a joint U.S.-Saudi study.

A second person familiar with the decision said the agreement did not include the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, which allows greater monitoring, inspections, and verification.

Saudi officials have said normalizing relations with Israel would require a clear path to Palestinian statehood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Palestinian statehood as incompatible with Israel’s security.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said Wednesday that the agreement would support efforts to diversify energy sources, advance technology, and expand cooperation and investment between the two countries.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday in Manila that the agreement would help ensure Saudi Arabia works with U.S. companies, rather than “competitors,” on its civil nuclear program. China, South Korea, France, and Russia are among countries Riyadh could also consider.

“We’re not the only show in town, but we’re the best show in town,” Rubio said. “We want to make sure that it’s our companies they’re picking.”

Trump has sought to expand the Abraham Accords, which in 2020 established formal ties between Israel and three Arab countries. His effort to add Saudi Arabia has been complicated by the war in Gaza and the nearly 5-month-old U.S. and Israeli war against Iran, though his administration has said it remains optimistic about securing a deal before the end of his second term.
Middle East

Iraqi PM visits Iran, signs agreements in Tehran

Iraq remains heavily reliant on Iranian natural gas and electricity, and bilateral trade exceeds $12 billion annually. Millions of Iranian Shiite pilgrims also travel to Iraq’s holy sites each year.

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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi visited Iran on Thursday in his first official trip since taking office in May, as the two countries signed agreements and pledged closer cooperation.

The Iraqi News Agency said al-Zaidi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian oversaw the signing of several agreements and memorandums of understanding on foreign affairs, finance, the economy, and energy in Tehran.

According to INA, the talks focused on strategic cooperation, joint economic and infrastructure projects, and regional developments, including implementation of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.

At a joint meeting of senior Iranian and Iraqi delegations, al-Zaidi thanked Iran for supporting Iraq in its fight against the Islamic State group and said Iraq remained committed to security cooperation with Tehran. He also said Iraq would not accept hostile action against Iran by any party.

“Iraq will never forget Iran’s support in the fight against the [ISIL/ISIL] terrorist group,” he said, according to Pezeshkian’s office.

Pezeshkian said a comprehensive strategic cooperation plan would provide a roadmap for broader ties between Tehran and Baghdad, and said the two countries’ security was closely linked.

In a joint statement issued after the visit, Iran and Iraq said regional crises should be resolved through dialogue, diplomacy, and engagement among regional countries, and reaffirmed support for political solutions based on international law.

The statement said the two governments agreed to draft a long-term strategic cooperation agreement, accelerate existing bilateral accords, and expand coordination in political, economic, security, and cultural matters. Their foreign ministers were tasked with finalizing the draft for signature.

Iran and Iraq also agreed to expand trade and joint investment, speed up the Basra-Shalamcheh railway project, strengthen cooperation in banking, energy, transport, and transit, and remove legal and administrative barriers to joint projects. They said their Joint High Commission would meet annually, alternating between Tehran and Baghdad, under the leadership of the two prime ministers.
Middle East

More than 3,200 Israelis enter Al-Aqsa compound

Palestinian officials said Israeli forces imposed tight restrictions at the mosque’s gates, barred large numbers of Palestinian worshippers and students from entering, and assaulted several worshippers.

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More than 3,200 Israeli settlers and members of far-right groups entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday during Tisha B’Av, according to Palestinian officials.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also entered the site under heavy police protection. Tisha B’Av is a Jewish day of mourning marking the destruction of two ancient Jewish temples believed to have stood at the site, which Muslims know as Al-Aqsa and Jews as the Temple Mount.

Jerusalem’s Islamic Waqf Department said 3,228 Israelis entered the compound during the morning. The Palestinian administration of the Jerusalem governorate said the number could rise to 5,000 by sundown, exceeding totals recorded in previous years for the holiday.

The Jerusalem governorate said Israeli settlers performed Talmudic rituals inside the compound, including prostrating themselves, singing, and praying. Israeli media reported police allowed more than 1,000 Israelis to pray at the site. Under a 1967 agreement, non-Muslims may visit the site but may not pray there.

Ben-Gvir said Jews visiting the site on Tisha B’Av “feel like the owners,” praising what he called “tremendous progress” there, Haaretz reported.

The Jerusalem governorate called Ben-Gvir’s visit a dangerous escalation, saying it showed official Israeli backing for actions previously associated with groups advocating reconstruction of a Jewish temple at the site.

Hamas said the “blatant acts of aggression will backfire on the occupation and its settlers.” Jordan’s Foreign Ministry condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit, calling it “a desecration of the sanctity of the mosque, an ‌escalation, a barbaric act, and unacceptable provocation.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ambassador Fouad Majali said the visit violated the site’s historical and legal status quo. Jordan urged international pressure on Israel to stop what it described as ongoing violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
Europe

UK millionaires urge Burnham to raise taxes on wealth

Patriotic Millionaires said its own polling showed most millionaires supported higher taxes on themselves.

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More than 100 wealthy Britons, including former footballer Gary Lineker and music producer Brian Eno, wrote to Prime Minister Andy Burnham asking to be taxed more.

In an open letter organized by Patriotic Millionaires, 120 signatories said: “We can afford it. We’re not talking about higher taxes on those who get up and go to work for their income every day, but on the very richest whose income is derived from the wealth they hold.”

The group said higher taxes on wealth would help create a more equal society and called for a “devolution of wealth and power from the very richest” to support reinvestment across the country.

Other signatories included filmmaker Richard Curtis, former Greggs managing director Ian Gregg, writer Val McDermid, and former financial trader Gary Stevenson.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds said she welcomed wealthy people offering to pay more tax, but said any major policy changes would be announced in a Budget.

“I welcome the fact that people of good means are saying that they want to pay more. They can pay more,” she said, pointing to the Treasury’s donation facility, which allows people to give money or stocks voluntarily.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also noted that wealthy people could voluntarily pay more, saying Lineker was “very welcome to pay more tax he can write a cheque to the Treasury, no one is stopping him.”

The letter said, “Millionaires are a patriotic bunch. We love this country and we want it to succeed.”

“But success requires investment and a primary source of untouched capital investment is sitting with us, in untaxed potential.”

The campaign followed similar appeals in previous years. A few days before becoming prime minister, Burnham did not rule out a wealth tax when asked about it by Lineker, who was formerly the BBC’s highest-paid presenter. Burnham said he may have “to ask for a little more” tax at some point.

Lineker was paid about £1.3 million a year before leaving the BBC and has a reported net worth of £30 million.
Health, Military & National Security

Military testosterone policy raises readiness questions

Former VA Secretary Shulkin said broader investments in sleep, nutrition, physical conditioning, behavioral health, and recovery science could produce wider, longer-lasting benefits than widespread hormone treatment.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently announced a policy to screen service members older than 30 for low testosterone and offer replacement therapy to those who qualify.

David Shulkin, a former Veterans Affairs secretary and former VA under secretary of health, wrote that the goal of a stronger military is understandable, but said the policy should receive closer review before wider use.

He wrote that testosterone replacement therapy is an established treatment for men with diagnosed hypogonadism. But he said expanding hormone screening across a large, generally healthy military population would mark a significant change in military medicine.

Shulkin said the evidence does not clearly show testosterone improves combat performance. He cited the Army’s first Optimizing Performance for Soldiers study, which found that men given weekly testosterone injections during a simulated combat energy deficit preserved more lean muscle than those given a placebo, but their physical performance declined at about the same rate.

He also wrote that low testosterone readings can reflect conditions common in military service rather than a chronic hormonal disorder. Sleep deprivation, combat deployments, chronic stress, obesity, alcohol use, and intensive physical training can temporarily lower testosterone, he wrote.

He wrote that without repeat testing and evaluation for reversible causes, some service members could begin long-term treatment they did not need. He said testosterone therapy can suppress the body’s own production, reduce fertility, and cause testicular atrophy. He also said ongoing monitoring is needed for elevated red blood cell counts, prostate-related concerns, sleep apnea, and other possible complications, while researchers continue to study long-term cardiovascular effects.

Shulkin wrote that testosterone can affect mood, confidence, motivation, and aggression. In some people, unnecessary treatment or excessive hormone levels may increase irritability, impulsivity, emotional volatility, or impaired judgment, he wrote.

He said the main question is whether routine screening and broader treatment would improve military readiness or create longer-term health issues, including for the Department of Veterans Affairs after service members leave the military.

Shulkin served as Veterans Affairs secretary during President Donald Trump’s first administration and as the department’s under secretary of health during the Obama administration.
\top\

House passes Iran war powers measure, Senate to act

The war has had “no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who led the resolution on the House floor.

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The House on Thursday narrowly passed a resolution seeking to require congressional approval for U.S. military action in Iran, the second such vote this year as fighting has escalated and the Senate prepared to consider a similar measure later in the day.

The resolution passed 214-208, with a small group of Republicans joining Democrats. The votes, pushed by Democrats, would not by themselves end the conflict, but they signal growing concern in Congress as the war continues and lawmakers in both parties question the administration’s objectives.

President Donald Trump has said continued U.S. attacks did not mean a return to war or a long-term operation. After the first House vote in early June, he called it “unpatriotic” and “meaningless” on social media.

U.S. airstrikes have continued as public diplomacy has shown little progress and both sides remained dug in over the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route that remained largely closed. Gas prices have risen, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators Tuesday that the U.S. had spent $37.5 billion on the war. On Wednesday, Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base for the dignified transfer of four U.S. service members.

During House debate Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, R-Fla., read the names of 18 service members killed since the war began.

“To belittle this mission is to belittle and demean the very service these members gave their life for,” Mast said. “Their sacrifice was not meaningless. This operation is bringing reckoning for the hundreds of times Iran has attacked and killed people of the United States of America.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the panel, said presidents are supposed to make the case to Congress. The service members who died made the ultimate sacrifice for “an illegal unauthorized war that the American people don’t want,” Meeks said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who is leading the Senate effort, said, “I do think the combination of the hearings, plus the fact that we are in this new escalatory phase where Americans have been killed, and Americans are experiencing the rising costs — I think it’s important that people be held accountable.”
Tech & Artificial Intelligence

EU fines Google $1 billion over Play, search

The European Union describes seven major technology companies — Amazon, Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok owner ByteDance — as “gatekeepers” because they control consumer access.

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The European Union on Thursday fined Google 890 million euros ($1 billion), saying the company violated digital antitrust rules by using Google Play and its search engine to steer consumers toward its own services and apps at the expense of rivals.

The penalty was the latest major action by Brussels against large technology companies. Google recently lost its appeal of a $4.5 billion EU antitrust fine over what regulators said was reduced competition and consumer choice tied to the dominance of its Android mobile operating system.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust enforcer, said it acted after an antitrust investigation and in the interest of consumers.

“The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine. And European consumers have a right to be told by app developers where to sign up to the best offers, even when the app store owner does not get a cut,” said Teresa Ribera, the commission’s executive vice president for clean, just and competitive transition.

Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker criticized the fine as “product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants” that will have a negative impact on European businesses and consumers.

He said the European Union’s Digital Markets Act forces Google “to strip away real-time search features Europeans love — like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights, and restaurants — and dismantle safety protections on Google Play.”

The move came as Brussels increased pressure on U.S. and Chinese technology companies despite criticism from President Donald Trump, who has objected to the European Union’s digital regulations and said he would retaliate if American technology companies were penalized.
US

U.S. withdraws subpoenas for 3 Times reporters

The U.S. government recently withdrew similar subpoenas seeking testimony from reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

Full story +

Government attorneys withdrew subpoenas seeking testimony from three New York Times reporters about their sources for a story on an Air Force One jet gifted to President Donald Trump by Qatar.

During a court hearing Thursday, Judge Arun Subramanian criticized the government’s handling of the case.

“Subpoenas are not the first thing you do; they are the last thing you do,” Subramanian said.

“When you see something like this, if this were a civil proceeding, what I would normally do is ask the parties to show causes why sanctions should not be issued,” he added.

The Trump administration had sought to keep the proceedings secret while pressing the reporters to identify their sources.

Lawyers for The New York Times challenged the grand jury subpoenas, as well as subpoenas seeking phone records for several journalists and their relatives. The newspaper’s managing editor and general counsel attended Thursday’s hearing.

The government said it was pursuing people who leaked information to reporters for a story about Trump taking an older Air Force One jet back from a summit in Turkiye, rather than the aircraft gifted by Qatar.

According to reports cited in the case, the Secret Service advised that the newer jet, which the government spent $400 million to retrofit and upgrade, lacked key security features, including antimissile capabilities.

“Reporters are not the targets; those leaking classified information are,” the Department of Justice said of the subpoena requests.

Obtaining information from government sources is a central part of journalism, especially in national security reporting. Efforts by U.S. administrations of both parties to compel reporters to reveal sources have raised concerns about press freedom.
Finance & Markets

Oil climbs for fifth day as Mideast routes face risks

The U.S. military said it had completed a 12th consecutive night of attacks on Iran, hours after President Donald Trump said the United States would destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran fired at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Full story +

Oil prices rose for a fifth straight day on Thursday, reaching their highest levels in more than a month after Yemen’s Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers, adding to concerns about disruptions to global supply routes beyond the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures were up $4.52, or 4.8%, at $98.59 a barrel by 0935 GMT after reaching their highest level since June 3. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $3.39, or 3.9%, to $90.22 after touching its highest since June 11.

The Iranian-aligned Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers as part of what they described as a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

Shipping data showed two Chinese supertankers carrying a combined 4 million barrels of Saudi oil were exiting the Red Sea through Bab el-Mandeb on Thursday, even as a Saudi vessel came under attack in the region.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said an oil tanker caught fire after an explosion while attempting to follow a mined route in the southern Strait of Hormuz near Oman’s coast, and that two other tankers had turned back.

The Guards said the strait was under their control and “completely closed” while U.S. actions continued in the region, and warned that no tanker would be allowed to enter or leave without coordination with Iran.