Oil prices jumped and stocks fell on Thursday after the United States said it had shot down four Iranian attack drones and carried out airstrikes against a drone control station, marking the second exchange of hostilities in three days between the two countries.
A U.S. official said the drones posed a threat to American forces in the region and to the little commercial shipping still moving through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical transit route for oil and gas tankers.
The latest confrontation renewed doubts about the prospects of a peace deal, despite continued assurances by President Trump and administration officials that an agreement is close.
