WASHINGTON, July 28 — The US Central Command said American forces intercepted ballistic missiles fired by Iran in what it described as an attempted surprise attack on US positions in the Middle East, an escalation that sent oil prices climbing on Tuesday.
In a related move, US and Saudi Arabian forces carried out joint strikes in Iraq against what Washington called Iran-aligned terrorist targets. Tehran's foreign ministry pushed back hard, saying Iran would not let Washington dictate "the timing of war and peace," even as President Trump claimed Iranian officials had reached out about negotiations and mediators worked to revive a collapsed interim deal.
The exchange marks one of the sharpest flare-ups between Washington and Tehran this year and comes against a backdrop of already fragile diplomacy in the region. Markets reacted swiftly, with crude prices rising on fears of wider disruption to Gulf shipping and energy supply routes.
For aspirants, West Asia's security situation and its effect on global oil prices is a recurring theme in general awareness and economics sections — it is worth tracking how such flare-ups feed into India's crude import bill and inflation numbers.