Reports Iran fired a ballistic missile which struck near the US Consulate in Erbil, Iraq

<p>Media reports:</p><ul><li>Iran’s IRGC says it has targeted areas in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, with ballistic missiles. It says the targets were the positions of “spies and dissident groups”, however Sky News says the US Consulate in Erbil has been attacked by “long-range missiles with great destructive capacity.”
</li><li>Several missiles have also been shot down before hitting the US base at Erbil airport, Sky News reported.</li></ul><p>US officials have also said the missile appeared to have been launched directly by the IRGC from Iranian territory. </p><p>—</p><p>Oil traders have been nervously eyeing the potential for escalation in the Middle East. There are multiple incremental signs that this is indeed happening. </p><p>At the margin, escalation in the Middle East is supportive of the oil price </p><p>–</p><p>IRGC is Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces.</p>

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.