Latest news with #IranIsraelConflict
Reuters
an hour ago
- Business
- Reuters
Middle East worries, portfolio inflow hopes feed rupee bears and bulls alike
MUMBAI, June 20 (Reuters) - Lingering concerns over a potential escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict, coupled with expectations of portfolio inflows are fuelling mixed views on the rupee's trajectory for the coming week, traders said. A spike in oil prices from a potential escalation in the conflict could weigh on the rupee, but an upcoming large IPO expected to draw foreign inflows may help recoup recent losses, they added. The rupee has declined little over 1% this month so far, with a large stock of its decline occurring after Israel attacked targets in Iran last Friday. The attacks also raised concerns about disruption of global oil prices, sending Brent crude oil futures to a five-month peak of $79 per barrel hit on Thursday. The currency hit a three-month low on Thursday but eased 0.1% to 86.63 as of 11:05 a.m. on Friday, comforted by a dip in oil prices after the White House said President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will become involved in the Israel-Iran air war. Meanwhile, expectations that Indian lender HDB Financial's $1.5 billion IPO is likely to draw sizeable inflows could are seen as a positive for the rupee, a trader at a private bank said. The trader pointed out that he would prefer to keep tight stop-losses on speculative positions since the risk of two-way moves next week could be elevated. On the technical front, the dollar-rupee pair is "nearing overbought territory, with a possible dip toward 86.35–85.95 before resuming an uptrend toward 87.80–88.00," said FX advisory firm Mecklai Financial said in a Friday note. On the day, most Asian currencies ticked up as well with the Korean won leading gains. The dollar index eased below the 99 handle while India's benchmark equity indexes, the BSE Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab and Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab rose about 0.9% each.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Escalate to de-escalate? What options does Iran have to end Israel war?
Iran has no clear off-ramps to end its war with Israel, which could soon drag in the United States and lead to a new quagmire in the Middle East, analysts told Al Jazeera. Since June 13, Israel has killed at least 240 Iranians, many of them civilians. Top Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists have been among the dead. Israel has struck Iran's state television station, hit a hospital, targeted apartment blocks, and damaged the country's air defences. In response, Iran has fired barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel, targeting military and security installations, and hitting the Haifa oil refinery, residential buildings, and a hospital. At least 24 people have been killed in Israel as a result of the attacks. Israel aims to destroy Iran's nuclear programme and potentially go as far as bringing about regime change, analysts say. These goals make it difficult for Iran to navigate a quick end to the conflict. Iran's official position is that it will not negotiate while under attack, fearing it will be forced to fully surrender to US and Israeli terms. Iran may instead have to hope that US President Donald Trump can be persuaded to rein in Israel, which may be in his interest to avoid getting entangled in a far-away war, even if the US leader has recently appeared to favour striking Iran, and has reiterated that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. 'If the United States recognises the urgency of de-escalation and manages to persuade Israel to halt its military campaign, then – given the mounting costs of war for Iran and the fact that Iran's primary goal is to stop, not expand, the conflict – it is highly likely that Iran would agree to a ceasefire or political resolution,' said Hamidreza Aziz, an expert on Iran for the Middle East Council for Global Affairs think theory, Iran could return to the negotiating table and sign a deal while under fire. However, Iran would be forced to entirely give up its nuclear programme, enabling its enemies to then aggressively pursue regime change without fear of consequence, analysts previously told Al Jazeera. This is an unlikely scenario, according to Reza H Akbari, an analyst on Iran and the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia Program Manager at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. '[Iran's nuclear] program continues to remain a leverage for Iran, which enables them to even engage with the US. Giving it up would be a shocking development which I don't foresee for the time being,' he told Al Jazeera. The US and Iran had already engaged in five rounds of negotiations before Israel instigated the conflict. The two sides had reached an impasse when Trump demanded that Iran give up its entire nuclear programme, which every country has an 'inalienable right' to use for peaceful purposes, according to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which Iran is a signatory to. Trump has since warned Iran to quickly surrender to a deal or face even more dire repercussions, hinting at regime change. Iran has few good options, said Negar Mortazavi, an expert on Iran with the Center for International Policy (CIP). She believes Iran has little to lose by retaliating against Israel, but also notes that the strategy would not necessarily give Tehran a way out of the conflict. 'If Iran does not retaliate after each attack, [Iranian officials] think [the Israeli attacks] will get harder and I think they're correct,' Mortazavi told Al Jazeera. 'But every time [Iran] retaliates, they give Israel the excuse to attack them again.'Over the last year, Iran's regional influence has suffered major setbacks, leaving it geopolitically vulnerable. Iran had long relied on its ally, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, to provide deterrence from direct Israeli attacks, but Hezbollah was significantly weakened after fighting an all-out war against Israel last year. In addition, Iran lost another ally when Syria's former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December 2024. Iran could still direct attacks against US bases and personnel through a web of Iranian-backed armed groups in the region, particularly in Iraq, said Barbara Slavin, an expert on Iran and a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Centre think tank. She believes Iranian-backed groups in Iraq could fire 'warning shots' to try and exploit US public opinion. Trump's nationalist 'America First' base remains staunchly opposed to any US involvement in wars abroad, which they view as unrelated to their domestic concerns. And anti-interventionist sentiments are likely to increase if US troops are put in harm's way as a result of any attacks related to the conflict with Iran. 'The thought of Americans dying in this would make it even more controversial for [the US] than it already is,' Slavin told Al Jazeera. Iran could also make Americans feel the impact of the war economically. It has threatened to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which would affect global trade and increase oil prices. But Slavin said this move would badly hurt Iran's economy, too. Slavin added that Iran also relies on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman and is one of the most important shipping routes in the world, to export oil. Instead, Slavin said that Iran's best option was to contain the war with Israel and wait out the conflict, arguing that any manoeuvre to escalate against US personnel, even as a warning, is a risky gambit. Trump's administration, which includes many war hawks, has explicitly warned Iran against targeting its assets or soldiers. Iran is also wary of giving the US any easy pretext to directly enter the war on behalf of Israel, Akbari said. 'Iran's leadership knows that drawing the US further into the war could be catastrophic for both the regime and in terms of industrial damage. [It would risk destroying] everything Iran has built over the last 40-plus years,' Akbari formal position is to inflict significant political, military and material cost on Israel for instigating the war. This position was echoed by Hassan Ahmadian, an assistant professor at Tehran University, who suggested Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may stop the war if Israelis feel the impact of a crisis he instigated. 'Iranians are quite confident that they can inflict enough retaliatory pain to make Israel stop [its attacks],' Ahmadian told Al Jazeera. It is unclear how much damage Iran is doing to Israel's military infrastructure since the latter bars the media from reporting such information. Furthermore, it's hard to assess how long Iran can sustain a war against Israel. But Israel itself may struggle to attack for a protracted period without the US, said Slavin. She referenced media reports that Israel is running low on defensive interceptors, which could make it more vulnerable to long-range strikes by Iran. The challenges facing both foes could prompt them to end the fighting sooner rather than later – at least that appears to be what Iran is betting on. 'Right now, Iran is trying to hunker down and somehow get through this,' Slavin said. 'No outside power will save Iran. It's up to them [to save themselves],' she told Al Jazeera.
The National
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
'Direct hit' in Be'er Sheva after Iran launches fresh strikes on Israel
Iran missiles hit south Israel, media reports say US President to make decision on joining war 'within next two weeks' Australia shuts down Tehran embassy as conflict escalates Iran official media denies call between Witkoff and Araghchi Netanyahu: Regime change not a war goal, but could be the outcome WHO chief says 'attacks on health in Iran-Israel conflict appalling' In pictures: Israel-Iran conflict
The Independent
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Asian shares are mixed and oil gains as world waits to see if US will join Israel's war against Iran
Crude oil prices rose and Asian shares were trading mixed on Friday as investors awaited more clarity on whether or not the U.S. will join Israel's war against Iran. U.S. futures edged lower after Wall Street was closed on Thursday for the Juneteenth holiday. U.S. benchmark crude oil added 15 cents to $73.65 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard was up 19 cents at $76.89 per barrel. Oil prices have been gyrating as fears rise and ebb that the conflict between Israel and Iran could disrupt the global flow of crude. Iran is a major producer of oil and also sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world's crude passes. Investors remained wary after the White House said President Donald Trump could decide on whether to launch an attack on Israel within the next two weeks, but that he 'still believes diplomacy is an option,' said Anderson Alves, a trader at ActivTrades. Trump's tariffs agenda remains another major factor weighing on markets. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1% higher to 38,538.14 after Japan reported that its core inflation rate, excluding volatile food prices, rose to 3.7% in May, adding to challenges for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government and the central bank. 'Core Japanese inflation rose more than expected in May. Even so, the Bank of Japan is likely to prioritize the negative impact of U.S. tariffs, Min Joo Kang of ING Economics said in a commentary. 'For now, it's more concerned about the risk that US trade policies could break the virtuous circle of wage growth and inflation." Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.2% to 23,504.59, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.1%, reversing earlier losses, to 3,364.83. China's central bank kept its key 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates unchanged, as expected. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.3% to 8,500.40 while South Korea's Kospi gained 1.2% to 3,014.05. 'Risk sentiments were cautious as Iran-Israel tensions continued roiling,' Mizuho Bank Ltd. said in a commentary. On Thursday, the Bank of England kept its main interest rate at a two-year low of 4.25%, citing risks that the conflict between Israel and Iran will escalate. The U.S. dollar slipped to 145.28 Japanese yen from 145.46 yen. The euro rose to $1.1530 from $1.1498.
Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Israeli hospital had taken patients underground hours before missile hit
Shattered glass and piles of rubble littered the floors of Soroka Medical Center on Thursday, after an Iranian missile ripped through the hospital in Israel's south, injuring dozens. The major public hospital, which serves around one million people living in southern Israel, sustained extensive damage in the strike. Several wards were completely destroyed, with debris scattered across the parking lot and surrounding walkways. 'We knew from the noise that it wasn't like anything we were used to, that it wasn't like anything we had seen before,' said Nissim Huri, who was working in the kitchen and took refuge in a concrete shelter during the strike. 'It was terrifying,' Huri said, describing the scenes as she emerged from the shelter as 'complete destruction.' Israel launched an aerial war against Iran on Friday, calling it a preemptive strike designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran has denied plans to develop such weapons and retaliated by launching counterstrikes on Israel. Hospital staff said the blast was so powerful it threw them backward. On Thursday afternoon, they sat in the hospital courtyard rewatching videos of towering plumes of smoke. Israel's Health Ministry said 71 people were wounded in the attack, most of them suffering light injuries or panic attacks as they rushed for shelter. Hospital staff evacuated patients and cordoned off damaged areas. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near the hospital. An Israeli military official denied there were military targets nearby. The hospital began moving patients out of some buildings in recent days as part of emergency precautions in response to the Iranian strikes. It has since limited admissions to life-threatening cases only. Patients in the damaged building were taken to an underground facility just hours before the strike, a statement from the Israeli Health Ministry said. Medical transporter Yogev Vizman, called to the scene just after the blast, said he witnessed 'total destruction' when he arrived. 'That whole building was on fire… everything collapsed,' Vizman said. 'I'm sad, this is like my home, they simply destroyed our home… I never thought there would be a direct hit on a hospital.' Soldiers from the Israeli military's search and rescue unit searched the battered buildings to ensure nobody was trapped inside. An Israeli soldier told Reuters all he saw at first was 'thick black smoke' and that they inspected every floor to look for casualties. 'It's God's will that this place was evacuated from civilians last night,' he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
