Projectiles Fired by Iran-Aligned Militia Miss U.S. Base Near Syrian Gas Field

Projectiles suspected to be launched by Iran-aligned militia groups toward a U.S. airbase in a gas field in Syria did not hit the facility, U.S. officials have told Reuters.

Iran-backed militia launched six shells at the U.S. airbase in the gas field in the Deir al-Zor province in Syria, a security source told Reuters on Tuesday.

All shells fell close to the airbase, the source added.

Since the latest flare-up of tensions between Israel and Iran, attacks from Iran-aligned militias at U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq have intensified.

Last week, at least five U.S. military personnel were wounded in a rocket attack on an airbase in western Iraq, as tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate and the region is braced for a possible Iranian retaliation for Israel killing a Hamas leader on Iranian soil.

Iran has vowed to retaliate for the suspected Israeli assassination of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and fears of an imminent Iranian attack on Israel are growing.

The United States is calling on its allies that also maintain relations with Iran to persuade them not to escalate the tensions in the Middle East, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Jeff Flake, said earlier this week.

Iran on Tuesday rejected calls from major European powers to refrain from an attack.

Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that “Tehran insists on its right to respond to the assassination of Haniyeh, the Hamas chief, and Fuad Shukr, a top commander of Lebanon's Hezbollah,” Iranian media reported.

Oil prices rose early on Wednesday, also due to ongoing concerns about a potential direct Iran-Israel war.

Crude prices were also supported by an industry report that saw yet another weekly decline in U.S. commercial inventories as well as a smaller-than-expected increase in producer prices that fueled hopes for a rate cut.

The American Petroleum Institute reported an estimated oil inventory decline of 5 million barrels for last week, following a week of a moderate increase. The EIA will report inventory figures later today.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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