The killing of top Hamas leader in Iran sends oil prices higher, while gold futures jump on risk off trading as fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East escalate.
Oil futures reversed their declining trend while gold prices rose on Wednesday, following an overnight escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.
That’s after terrorist outfit Hamas said its political leader Ismail Haniyeh had been killed while staying in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office on Tuesday.
Reports say Haniyeh was killed in an alleged air strike at around 02:00 am local time on Wednesday (11:30 pm GMT, 7:30pm EDT on Tuesday), with both Hamas and Iran accusing Israel of being behind the attack. The Hamas political leader, who was originally from Gaza, had lived in Qatar for several years under heavy security.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined comment but Iran’s government and its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have vowed to retaliate. The latest development comes a day after Israel said it had killed Fuad Shukr, a senior commander of Iran-backed militia group Hezbollah in a strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut, in an «intelligence-based elimination.
