US-Iran conflict rattles Washington as oil prices surge

The war with Iran is rattling Washington and pushing oil prices higher Fighting in the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting global energy flows The conflict is also widening political divisions in the United StatesThe conflict now in its third week has disrupted energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz and triggered sharp debate across the US political spectrum over the strategy and consequences of the warSpeaking on CNNrsquos State of the Union US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said the United States had inflicted severe damage on Iranrsquos military capabilities ldquoMilitarily the US military has decimated Irans air force their air defences their missile capability their missile production capabilityrdquo Waltz said in the interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper ldquoThis has been a dominant victory the likes of which we havent seen in modern American military historyrdquoWaltz also argued that Iran was becoming increasingly isolated diplomatically citing support at the United Nations for condemning Iranian attacks on civilian infrastructure ldquoThe Iranian regime has never been more diplomatically isolatedrdquo he saidPresident Donald Trump meanwhile has suggested the conflict could continue until Washington decides its objectives have been met Asked about when the war might end Trump said in remarks aired by Fox News ldquoI cant touch that I mean I have my own idea Itll be as long as its necessaryrdquoIran has sought to leverage its position in the Strait of Hormuz a key global energy chokepoint raising fears of prolonged disruption to oil supplies and shipping routesWaltz said the disruption affects Asia most directly ldquoEighty percent of the oil coming out of the Gulf heads to Asiardquo he said on CNN arguing that countries dependent on the energy flow should help secure the waterway The war has also drawn strong criticism from Democrats who accuse the administration of launching the conflict without congressional approvalDemocratic Senator Cory Booker said in the CNN interview that the conflict represented a constitutional overreach by the White House ldquoItrsquos outrageous that this is a unilateral war started by one person the presidentrdquo Booker said ldquoThe Constitution clearly says a war especially something of this magnitude should come to CongressrdquoBooker added that lawmakers should not treat the situation as routine ldquoThis is a massive military undertakinghellip costing American taxpayers billions and billions of dollars and tragically costing 13 livesrdquo he saidFormer transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg also criticised the administrationrsquos handling of the war in an interview on CNNrsquos programme ldquoWhat Im worried about is not the soldiers and the people who are serving What Im worried about is their political leadershiprdquo Buttigieg saidHe warned that Americans were already feeling the economic consequences of the conflict ldquoMortgage rates are up because of this war Food is going to be more expensive because of this war And of course the price of gas that were paying at the pump is higher because of this warrdquo Buttigieg saidThe Pentagon has confirmed that 13 US service members have died since the conflict began including six killed when a refuelling aircraft crashed in Iraq The cause of the crash remains under investigationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever