# Brent Crude Approaches $100 After US Destroys Five Iranian Tankers and Iran Strikes Back

Tehran says it attacked ten vessels near the Strait of Hormuz as it finalizes a transit arrangement with Oman that would give Iran control over the waterway's traffic management.

- Published: 2026-09-09T05:13:49.099Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-09/brent-crude-approaches-100-after-us-destroys-five-iranian-ta
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: markets
- Sources: [Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/content/b460b828-6183-4914-9140-5dfb6d61312c?syn-25a6b1a6=1), [The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/us-iran-war-live-updates-iran-us-explosions-heard-on-irans-kharg-island-september-9-2026/article71444513.ece), [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com/news/2028569/iran-attacks-american-base-in-jordan-ships-near-hormuz-after-us-hits-oil-tankers), [Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/09/09/us-destroys-five-iranian-tankers-as-tehran-launches-retaliatory-strikes-on-jordan)

Futures for Brent crude, the international benchmark, added 1.55% to $99.44 a barrel on Wednesday, [according to CNBC's market report](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/09/oil-prices-today-wti-brent-us-iran-hormuz-attacks.html), after a fresh exchange of strikes in the six-month conflict between the United States and Iran.

The American military said it destroyed five Iranian crude tankers on Tuesday in response to attempted missile attacks on a United States Navy warship, the second such attack in under a week, [the Financial Times reported](https://www.ft.com/content/b460b828-6183-4914-9140-5dfb6d61312c?syn-25a6b1a6=1). Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it then fired ballistic missiles at a base in Jordan used by American forces and attacked ten ships it said were crossing a "prohibited and unsafe" area of the Strait of Hormuz, [according to Dawn](https://www.dawn.com/news/2028569/iran-attacks-american-base-in-jordan-ships-near-hormuz-after-us-hits-oil-tankers). Tehran's account, [carried by The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/us-iran-war-live-updates-iran-us-explosions-heard-on-irans-kharg-island-september-9-2026/article71444513.ece), specified two American vessels and eight tankers. Jordan's army said it shot down 18 missiles aimed at targets on its territory, [Euronews reported](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/09/09/us-destroys-five-iranian-tankers-as-tehran-launches-retaliatory-strikes-on-jordan). The two sides give different counts of what was hit, and neither set of claims has been independently verified.

Apart from the strikes, a quieter shift is under way over who controls the strait. Iran says its agreement with Oman on managing Hormuz shipping is close to completion. The plan calls for a route that enters near the Iranian coast and exits along the Omani side, overseen by a joint coordination center that collects information from vessels, [as Al Jazeera has detailed](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/26/iran-oman-agree-on-temporary-hormuz-route-what-we-know). Goldman Sachs told clients that intensifying attacks on shipping raise the probability of Brent above $120.

Gold, the other asset investors typically buy when supply lines are at risk, did not rise along with oil. Trading Economics put spot gold at $4,367.90 an ounce on September 8, down about 0.5% over the past month, [on its price page](https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/gold), with silver near $66.

## What this means

A crude price near $100 is a supply-side tax on every oil-importing economy, and it arrives while the European Central Bank is about to raise rates and United States inflation is still above target. Refiners, airlines and chemical producers absorb it through their margins. Importing countries such as India, Japan and most of the euro area absorb it through their trade balances, and oil exporters including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Russia collect the transfer. The more consequential change is structural. If Tehran and Muscat administer transit through Hormuz, the risk premium stops being an event and becomes a standing cost built into Gulf freight and insurance rates.

## What to watch

- Whether the Iran-Oman coordination center actually begins issuing routing instructions, which would show the risk premium has moved from episodic strikes into permanent transit costs.
- Tanker war-risk insurance quotes for Gulf voyages, the clearest measure of whether shipowners believe the escalation will continue.
- Whether gold keeps failing to rise alongside crude, which would indicate investors are pricing an energy supply shock rather than a broad monetary or systemic scare.