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Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall Tuesday as the conflict in the Middle East keeps investors jittery, with crude oil prices continuing to rise.
U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his threat on Monday, saying that the U.S. would destroy Iran’s electricity-generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island, if the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz remains closed and no peace deal is reached to end the war.
His remarks came as the Iran war entered its fifth week and as the Trump administration weighs sending in ground forces to seize Kharg Island, a major fuel hub which facilitates 90% of Iran’s crude exports.
Shipping traffic through the Hormuz waterway, through which a fifth of the global seaborne oil used to transit before the conflict, has virtually ground to a halt since U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
