
The US-Israel strikes on Iran have launched one of the most dramatic conflicts in the Middle East in living memory. Aside from military targets, Iranian forces have attacked commercial shipping and infrastructure in the region. The objective is simple: to disrupt oil exports and weaken its opponents’ economies.
While the oil market is perfectly capable of absorbing short-term supply shocks, it is possible that the key protagonists, Israel and the US, may have very different war objectives. These differences could result in a widening and deepening of the conflict.