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Oil prices surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since July after the US struck five Iranian tankers on Tuesday, part of the broader Iran war. Brent crude and WTI both extended gains amid fears that escalating US-Iran military confrontation could further disrupt global energy supplies. The tanker strikes represent a direct US military action against Iranian assets, marking an escalation in the ongoing conflict and rattling global energy markets already strained by regional instability.