Updated

Democracy Now! reported in its Sept. 10, 2026 headlines that investors were selling off U.S. Treasury securities, driving U.S. government bond yields to their highest levels since 2007. The sell-off came against a backdrop of the U.S. war with Iran, disrupted shipping lanes in the Red Sea and near the Strait of Hormuz, and oil prices climbing toward $110 a barrel, conditions that stoked inflation expectations and reduced appetite for long-dated U.S. debt. Rising yields on Treasuries raise the federal government's borrowing costs and feed through to mortgage, auto and business loan rates for American consumers and companies. The move mattered because Treasuries are traditionally the world's benchmark safe-haven asset, and a flight away from them during a geopolitical crisis signaled diminished investor confidence in U.S. fiscal and policy stability rather than the usual rush to safety. Higher yields also complicate the Federal Reserve's balancing act between containing energy-driven inflation and avoiding a slowdown. Coming less than two months before the November midterm elections, the bond market's reaction intensified the political focus on the economic costs of the Iran conflict.