Global oil prices have had their largest single-day percentage increases in years, reflecting fears that a wider conflict in the Middle East could lead to serious energy supply disruptions.

Shapiro served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East until January—charged with, among other things, considering scenarios in which tensions between Israel and Iran escalated into all-out war and preparing U.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has urged restraint following Israeli strikes targeting Iran's nuclear programme. Fears of a full-scale conflict have been stoked by warnings of "severe punishment" from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and reports of drone launches in response.

The opening of a new front in the conflict between Israel and Iran has brought geopolitical risk straight back into the foreign exchange calculus. After the Israeli strikes Friday morning, the dollar witnessed an element of the “flight-to-safety” characteristic traditionally associated with military escalation but as ING,

Lebanon’s army is communicating with Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah to avoid the country being drawn into conflict with Israel following strikes on Iran, a senior Lebanese official said. “The government affirms that the decision of war and peace lies with the state,

The military strikes jolted investors, raising concerns that a broader Mideast conflict would disrupt the world’s energy supplies.

Richard Dalton, Former UK Ambassador to Iran discusses Israel's strikes on Iran, and analyses the potential ramifications across the Middle East.