{"id":65253,"date":"2026-07-23T01:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-energy-and-security-alert-us-iran-conflict-escalates-as-houthi-attacks-hit-saudi-tankers\/65253\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T01:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:08:16","slug":"global-energy-and-security-alert-us-iran-conflict-escalates-as-houthi-attacks-hit-saudi-tankers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-energy-and-security-alert-us-iran-conflict-escalates-as-houthi-attacks-hit-saudi-tankers\/65253\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Energy and Security Alert: US-Iran Conflict Escalates as Houthi Attacks Hit Saudi Tankers"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Houthi rebels attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers<\/strong>, the <em>Encelia<\/em> and <em>Layla<\/em>, in the Red Sea, potentially opening a new front in the <strong>US-Iran war<\/strong> and threatening a second global energy chokepoint.<\/li>\n<li><strong>President Donald Trump has threatened to destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant<\/strong> for every ship attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, as the US military conducted its <strong>12th consecutive night of strikes<\/strong> on Iranian targets.<\/li>\n<li><strong>US oil refineries are operating at a &quot;breakneck&quot; 96% capacity<\/strong> (100% in some regions) to offset global fuel shortages caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Ukrainian strikes on Russian infrastructure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trump Media &amp; Technology Group (<a href=\"\/stock\/DJT\">DJT<\/a>)<\/strong> is facing Wall Street backlash over a proposal to charge institutional traders up to <strong>$100,000 per month<\/strong> for high-speed access to the President&#39;s market-moving social media posts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Russia has been forced to import gasoline from India<\/strong> for the first time since the war began, as Ukrainian drone strikes have reportedly disrupted up to <strong>one-third of Russia&#39;s domestic refining capacity<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Middle East Conflict Widens to Red Sea<\/h2>\n<p>The regional conflict between the US and Iran intensified on Thursday as Yemen&#39;s <strong>Iran-backed Houthi militia<\/strong> claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes on two Saudi Arabian oil tankers. The <strong>Saudi-flagged <em>Encelia<\/em><\/strong> was reported on fire near the port of Jizan after being struck by an unknown projectile. This escalation follows a Houthi-declared naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move analysts view as a tactical attempt by Tehran to gain leverage as the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> remains largely impassable.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the continued targeting of maritime traffic, <strong>President Donald Trump<\/strong> issued a stark warning via social media, pledging to bomb <strong>one Iranian bridge or power plant<\/strong>\u2014including those in the capital, Tehran\u2014for every vessel attacked. The US military confirmed it launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iranian military assets overnight, marking nearly two weeks of sustained aerial bombardment. Meanwhile, the <strong>Iranian Army<\/strong> claimed it successfully struck several <strong>U.S. military bases in Kuwait<\/strong>, including Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base, allegedly destroying drone hangars and ammunition depots.<\/p>\n<h2>Global Energy Markets Under Severe Strain<\/h2>\n<p>The widening war has pushed the global energy supply chain to its limits. <strong>US oil refineries<\/strong> are &quot;red-lining,&quot; with utilization rates reaching <strong>96% nationally<\/strong> and hitting <strong>100% in the Midwest and Rocky Mountains<\/strong>. This surge in production is a desperate attempt to fill the void left by the blockade of Middle Eastern crude and the collapse of Russian fuel exports. <strong>Brent crude<\/strong> prices have remained volatile, recently trading near <strong>$94 a barrel<\/strong>, as traders weigh the risk of a total regional conflagration.<\/p>\n<p>The crisis is also hitting Russia&#39;s domestic market. Following months of successful <strong>Ukrainian drone strikes<\/strong> on its energy infrastructure, Moscow has been forced to import 42,000 tonnes of petrol from <strong>India&#39;s Vadinar refinery<\/strong>. The irony of the situation is notable, as the fuel was refined from Russian crude previously exported to India. Domestically, the fuel shortage has led to <strong>petrol rationing<\/strong> in over 40 Russian regions, affecting an estimated <strong>50 million citizens<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Financial Markets and Corporate Developments<\/h2>\n<p>On Wall Street, <strong>Trump Media &amp; Technology Group (<a href=\"\/stock\/DJT\">DJT<\/a>)<\/strong> is under fire for its &quot;Truth API&quot; proposal. The service would offer institutional investors millisecond-level advantages on the President&#39;s posts for a <strong>six-figure monthly fee<\/strong>. Critics and legal experts have labeled the plan a &quot;legal minefield,&quot; suggesting it could constitute a form of privileged access to government-driven market information.<\/p>\n<p>In the defense sector, <strong>J.P. Morgan<\/strong> and other major firms have revised their outlooks for <strong>Northrop Grumman (<a href=\"\/stock\/NOC\">NOC<\/a>)<\/strong>. Analysts lowered price targets for the defense giant to <strong>$600<\/strong> (down from previous estimates) ahead of its Q2 earnings report. The adjustment reflects narrowing segment margins, specifically within the <strong>Defense Systems unit<\/strong>, despite the heightened global demand for military hardware driven by the ongoing conflicts.<\/p>\n<h2>Economic Outlook: Inflation and &quot;SaaS-pocalypse&quot;<\/h2>\n<p>The persistent energy shock is fueling <strong>worryingly high household inflation expectations<\/strong> in the US. While core inflation has shown signs of stabilizing, the <strong>national average for gasoline<\/strong> has climbed back toward <strong>$4.00 per gallon<\/strong>, creating significant political and economic headwinds. The <strong>IMF<\/strong> recently downgraded its 2026 global growth forecast to <strong>3%<\/strong>, citing the war&#39;s impact on energy prices.<\/p>\n<p>In the technology sector, private equity groups are beginning to hunt for bargains following the <strong>&quot;SaaS-pocalypse.&quot;<\/strong> The emergence of <strong>agentic AI<\/strong> tools, such as Anthropic&#39;s Claude Code, recently wiped nearly <strong>$2 trillion<\/strong> in market capitalization from software-as-a-service (SaaS) stocks. Buyout firms like <strong>Francisco Partners<\/strong> are now raising record capital\u2014including a recent <strong>$21 billion fund<\/strong>\u2014to acquire software companies at deep discounts, betting that the market has overreacted to the threat of AI disruption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Houthi rebels attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers, the Encelia and Layla, in the Red Sea, potentially opening [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[17885,1799,3876,4223,4335,4461,4664,5681,6176,16338],"class_list":["post-65253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-us-iran-war","tag-saas","tag-tmtg","tag-inflation","tag-donald-trump","tag-crude-oil","tag-iran","tag-private-equity","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-northrop-grumman-noc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}