Iranian MP threatens oil at $150 per barrel in the event of new US attacks

Tehran's threats in the event of renewed attacks

The price of oil will exceed $150 per barrel if the United States and Israel resume military action against Iran. This was stated by a member of Iran's parliament, Hossein-Ali Deligani; his words were cited by the Tasnim news agency. 'In the event of any kind of destructive actions or the start of attacks by the United States and the Zionist regime, Iran's response will be such that the missiles will reach Europe, and this will lead to the price of oil surpassing $150,' he said, as reported by Gazeta.Ru.

Context: the market is already reacting to the risk of war

Deligani's statement comes against the backdrop of already rising oil prices: in October, the Bloomberg agency reported that a barrel of Brent was trading above $100 due to the market's fear of a renewed war in the Middle East, depletion of reserves, and a diesel shortage. Thus, the $150 figure voiced by the deputy implies a further increase of roughly a third from the October level — this is the Iranian parliamentarian's assessment, not a market forecast. Earlier, the United States struck Iranian military facilities on Qeshm Island.

Expert assessments

According to the publication, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, stated that the United States and Iran have approached a dangerous threshold, and that a resumption of large-scale hostilities between them could lead to a sharp rise in oil prices — up to $200 per barrel — and a global economic downturn. Parsi's and Deligani's assessments differ in the scale of the consequences, but both point to a significant price increase in the event of escalation.