" Oil and Gas Prices Jump as Iran Lists Gulf Energy Targets"

It appears that we've now entered a new phase of the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran, an operation, a campaign that's almost three weeks old, with an attack claimed so far by Israel on a major gas field in Iran. This has incensed the Iranians, whose official media are now publishing lists of energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab countries in what appears to be a clear telegraphing of a threat to strike those in retaliation. This has had the makings of an energy war for several days now, with Iranian attacks on energy facilities in some of its neighboring Gulf Arab countries. It appears now that this is officially a back-and-forth energy war, and the Iranians are prepared to escalate further. And that is why we're seeing oil prices elevated, with Brent now above $109 a barrel. Of course, the Strait of Hormuz and whether it can be cleared so that oil shipments can go through is critical to the price of oil prices. So where are we with that? I know the president wants support and has not gotten it in trying to clear that waterway. Indeed. And to judge from his most recent comments in Washington yesterday, he's pretty much written off many of America's traditional allies in disappointment, in scorn. And it would appear that the U.S. is going to figure out a way to do this itself. We did have signaling from the UAE that it, while a small power, nonetheless powerful by regional standards, might pitch in more actively to help with the Hormuz situation. Israel has also said it will. Obviously, it's a full partner in this war from the outset. The question is, what could it do? It doesn't have a blue water navy. It's on the other side of the region. It has been carrying out long range aerial strikes and presumably covert activity. Not clear how that could be brought to bear in the Hormuz crisis. What we had overnight was an American airstrike, a 5,000 pound bunker buster bomb dropped, the U.S. says, on a site used to store missiles near there. Presumably a site the Americans believe was going to be used to threaten shipping or to fire on ships in the Hormuz. It would appear that the Americans are now adapting their tactics, presumably focusing military firepower on that part of the world in the hope of destroying or deterring the Iranians from harassing ships. Dan, you mentioned the Israelis, their strike on that Iranian field as an escalation. I assume that when Israel makes such a bold and aggressive move that they have the support and the agreement by the U.S. government and military, do we know that to be a fact? It's certainly something that's been stated routinely by the Israelis during this war and by the Americans. They describe themselves as being in lockstep operationally in terms of the objectives of this war. However, they do divvy up the targets. They don't attack the same targets. Obviously, that could cause or invite friendly fire, but it's also a function of geography. The Israelis are functioning from a very small country a thousand miles to the west. The Americans have bases in the Gulf and a major naval contingent in Gulf waters, so they're coming from different directions. They also have different priorities, policy issues as well. The Americans, for example, said from the outset that they were interested in destroying the Iranian navy in order to reduce threats to shipping. This wasn't something explicitly in the Israeli target set at any point during the war, but there's no question they're very closely coordinated. I think it's clear and a given that the Israelis would have cleared this in advance with the Americans, not least as about 10 days ago there was an Israeli strike on what Israel said was fuel depots used by the IRGC near Tehran. That sent up a spectacular fireball into the skies of the Iranian capital. It spooked oil traders, the energy markets. It appears there was an approach from the Americans over that, so I think definitely just by that experience the Israelis would have exercised extra caution in what appears to be a resumption or turning to Iranian energy targets. Very quickly, we've got about 30 seconds left. Israel has also stepped up its offensive in Lebanon. Do we know whether the U.S. would be doing anything in concert with that? Very unlikely. The Americans have their hands full in the Gulf. Israel has waged war in Lebanon before. We have no evidence of active American involvement there. Diplomatic backing, yes. I think the Israelis are probably capable of handling Hezbollah themselves, not least as it's been degraded by the last two and a half years of war, multi-front war, which began in Gaza and then spread to Lebanon when Hezbollah joined in on the side of Hamas.