Stephen Carroll

But Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the UK will not be involved in offensive action.

The UK Prime Minister added that he had taken international legal advice before backing the move and would publish it.

Meanwhile, the European Union called for maximum restraint and warned escalation could lead to unpredictable consequences.

Oil prices have surged as traders assess the effect of the conflict on supplies and transit links through the Strait of Hormuz off Iran's coast.

Global benchmark Brent crude is about 7% higher, above $77 a barrel, after earlier rallying by as much as 13% to the highest since January 2025.

Mukesh Sadev is chief oil analyst and CEO at X-Analysts.

He says the response isn't a surprise.

Mukesh Sadev from Ex-Analyst speaking to Bloomberg earlier this morning.

Tanker traffic through the strait, which handles a fifth of the world's oil, has largely stopped.

Iranian authorities said yesterday that they had attacked three oil vessels, while President Donald Trump said that U.S.

forces sank nine Iranian naval ships.

At their monthly meeting, OPEC Plus agreed to increase oil production by 206,000 barrels per day, only slightly higher than the pace agreed at previous meetings.

Ahead of markets opening today, Goldman Sachs is predicting that European natural gas prices could more than double.

That's as markets consider the impact of potential disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bloomberg's Tiwa Adebayo has more.

Travel chaos has extended through the Middle East and beyond, causing major disruptions at some of the world's busiest airports.

Carriers across the Persian Gulf are extending an unprecedented blanket flight suspension after Iran targeted airports in its weekend offensive.

Bloomberg's aviation and transport reporter Danny Lee says it's not clear when the disruption might end.

We're looking at around thousands of flights a day being cancelled in and out of some of these key transit hubs, particularly Dubai, the world's busiest international airport for transit travel.

And that also extends to Abu Dhabi and Doha.