DAR AL HARB / ISLAM - U.S.A. / IRAN: CRUDE PRICES SOAR AS RUMORS OF AN IRANIAN ATTACK UPON ON A U.S. WARSHIP

U.S. has long worried that Iran supplied deadly device
By Michael Gordon and Scott Shane

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: The U.S. military denied reports Tuesday that Iran fired a missile at a U.S. ship in the Persian Gulf.

The rumors of an attack had sent oil prices soaring, but Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown of the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet said all ships in the Gulf had been checked and the rumors were untrue. The British government, which is entering the sixth day of its standoff with Iran over 15 British sailors Iran seized in disputed waters near the Persian Gulf, also said that none of its forces had been attacked.

Crude oil futures had jumped nearly eight percent Tuesday in a matter of minutes, topping $68.00 as rumors of a military confrontation in the Persian Gulf spurred panic buying, Dow Jones reported.

Rising tensions between Tehran and the West have created a potentially dangerous situation in the Gulf and markets are jumpy.

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Pertinent Links:

1) U.S. Navy denies rumors that Iran fired at U.S. warship in the Gulf