Story summary
Oil prices surged past $100 per barrel on Wednesday after a series of attacks in the Middle East, with Brent crude futures trading at $99.93 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude at $94.52 a barrel. The price hike comes as tensions between the US and Iran continue to escalate, with the US striking five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday and Iran launching missiles at US targets in Jordan.
Saudi Arabia reported that its energy infrastructure was attacked by the Houthis, causing temporary pauses in operations and injuring 73 civilians. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter, and the attacks have raised concerns about the security of global oil supplies.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a key concern, with just four ships passing through the waterway on Saturday and six on Sunday. Before the war, the strait carried more than 20% of the world's energy supply as oil was shipped to ports around the globe.
In response to the attacks, the US Central Command said it destroyed five Iranian tankers, warning crews to abandon ship before striking. Iran has launched missiles at US targets in Jordan and warned tankers near Kuwait and Bahrain to evacuate.
The price of oil has been rising steadily since the start of the Iran war on February 28, with Brent crude surging as high as $126.41 a barrel on April 30. The global price of oil topped $100 a barrel for the first time since July, adding to uncertainty over future supply.
Meanwhile, a gallon of regular gasoline averaged $4.15 in the US on Tuesday, up 26% from a year ago.
Written for “Escalating Middle East Conflict” on 2026-09-09,
grounded in this article and the 74 other(s) covering the same event.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its naval forces have captured an unmanned United States submarine near the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran and Washington continue to exchange tit-for-tat attacks on ships to exert control over the crucial waterway that connects the Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
asserted
that → say → Gulf
Iranian state media identified the vessel as a Dive-LD – an autonomous underwater vehicle built by California-based defence firm Anduril Industries.
asserted
media → identify → firm
The submersible, about six metres (20ft) long, is designed for long-duration missions such as surveillance, seabed mapping, and mine detection.
asserted
submersible → design → surveillance
Washington insists that the vessel “had malfunctioned a day ago”.
asserted
vessel → insist → ?
The US military, meanwhile, on Tuesday evening said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers in response to Iran’s attack on the US Navy warship with ballistic missiles.
asserted
it → say → missiles
Escalating the situation further, Iran said it attacked two US vessels and eight oil tankers.
asserted
it → escalate → vessels
So, what do we know about Dive-LD and what does its capture mean for Iran?
asserted
capture → know → Iran
Did Iran capture the submersible?
asserted
Iran → capture → submersible
On Tuesday evening, the IRGC said in a statement that its naval forces have “trapped one of the most modern, intelligent, unmanned submarines of the terrorist US army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz”.
asserted
forces → say → Hormuz
Without divulging specific details, the IRGC added it was a “complex intelligence and operational mastermind operation at dawn today”.
“This smart submersible features the latest technology in the submersible field in the world, and was delivered to the US terrorist army fleet in 2025,” the IRGC said in its statement.
asserted
IRGC → divulge → statement
The US has yet to issue an official statement on the incident, but an unnamed Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to the Reuters news agency the loss of the submersible, which he said was sent to survey regional waters in support of ongoing operations.
“The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment,” the spokesperson said.
So, what is Dive-LD?
Dive-LD is a large, unmanned, autonomous underwater vehicle and a reusable platform designed to carry different sensor and mission packages.
asserted
LD → have → packages
Anduril Industries, the submersible’s manufacturer, put its maximum depth at 6,000 metres (19,700ft) and endurance at up to 10 days.
asserted
Industries → put → days
It reportedly costs nearly $2.5m, according to US media reports.
uncertain
It → cost → reports
To put things in perspective, the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded near the Titanic’s wreck in June 2023 at a depth of some 3,346 metres (11,000ft) – nearly half of Dive-LD’s advertised depth.
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submersible → put → depth
Anduril has confirmed the loss of one of its vessels but downplayed the significance of the incident.
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Anduril → confirm → incident
“Dive-LD is an attritable autonomous system, meaning it is designed from the outset to operate in dangerous environments where loss of the vehicle is an expected possibility,” a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.
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spokesperson → mean → Wednesday
On its website, Anduril says that Dive-LD possesses “open software, mechanical, and electrical interfaces [allowing] for seamless integration and rapid configuration of multiple payloads and sensors at a time”.
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LD → say → time
The company says it can deliver “relevant, impactful, and affordable capability in weeks, not months or years, for missions to include: mine warfare; intelligence preparation of the operational environment; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and precision placement”.
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missions → say → environment
Has the Iran war drained US military power?
asserted
war → drain → power
Since the US attacked Iran in late February, joined by Israel, Tehran has faced devastating attacks over the months that began with the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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that → attack → Khamenei
His son Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded him.
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son → succeed → him
However, Tehran’s retaliatory attacks on US bases and assets in the region have dealt a strong blow to Washington, coupled with hits on critical energy infrastructure, upending global energy prices.
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attacks → deal → prices
At least 18 US soldiers have been killed during the conflict.
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soldiers → kill → conflict
Nearly 8,000 people have been killed in Iran and Lebanon in Israeli and US attacks.
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people → kill → attacks
The Iranian targets included bases like Al Udeid in Qatar, Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Al Dhafra in the UAE, which host US military forces.
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which → include → forces
Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet headquarters, has also been hammered by Iranian attacks.
asserted
which → host → attacks
Officials in Washington believe that repairs here alone could run into billions.
uncertain
repairs → believe → billions
The US has also reportedly been running short on munitions stockpiles.
uncertain
US → run → stockpiles
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly rejected the media reports.
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Trump → reject → reports
His administration has subjected senior US defence staff to polygraph tests for leaking information about the munitions to the media.
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administration → subject → media
For context, the US fired more Patriot missiles in the first four days of the Iran war than it supplied to Ukraine over the past four years.
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it → fire → years
Each of those missiles in the defence system costs $4m – and they were shooting down Iran’s Shahed drones worth not more than $50,000 each.
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they → cost → drones
In July, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iran war is estimated to have cost some $37bn.
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war → say → 37bn
He asked for twice that amount to continue the war, which Trump initially said would last four to five weeks.
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Trump → ask → war
In June, Trump had said that Iran downed a US Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran has claimed to have shot down several US-operated drones near the waterway.
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Tehran → say → waterway
Iranian infrastructure near the Strait of Hormuz has become the central war theatre over the last few weeks.
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infrastructure → become → weeks
The US is targeting surveillance and naval assets to deter Tehran from attacking ships trying to evade its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas passed before the war began.
asserted
war → target → oil
Meanwhile, a US naval blockade on Iranian ports and a slew of economic sanctions continue to hurt Tehran’s economy.
asserted
blockade → continue → economy
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