US-Iran ceasefire collapses, strikes send oil prices up

A fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran collapsed on Wednesday, July 8, following a rapid series of military strikes and the reinstatement of U.S. sanctions, plunging the region into renewed instability and sending global oil prices sharply higher. President Donald Trump declared the interim peace agreement "over" while attending a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, signaling a dangerous escalation in a conflict that had been paused for just three weeks.

The hostilities erupted on Tuesday, July 7, with attacks on three commercial vessels-the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Al Rekayyat, the Saudi Arabia-flagged MT Wedyan, and the Liberian-flagged MT Cyprus Prosperity-in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The United States blamed Iran for the incidents, which Qatar, owner of one vessel, condemned. In response, U.S. forces launched what officials described as a powerful retaliatory campaign overnight, striking more than 80 targets inside Iran. U.S. Central Command said the operation hit Iranian air defense systems, command-and-control networks, coastal radar sites, and over 60 small boats operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), aiming to degrade Iran's...