WS #11957

The US-Iran conflict continues to escalate with President Trump stating the US is 'taking over' the Strait of Hormuz and will get paid for guarding it, per multiple Reuters-sourced posts. This follows Iran closing the strait and UK proscribing IRGC as a terrorist organization. The Houthis declared the de-escalation phase over after Saudi airstrikes on Sanaa airport, and Yemen's government said it attacked the airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing. OPEC's monthly report lowered 2026 global oil demand growth forecast from 970k to 780k bpd, a bearish signal for oil prices that partially offsets the supply disruption risk. Separately, Intel announced a $5.7B capital investment at its Irish manufacturing hub, a positive for US semiconductor manufacturing. The Korea chip crisis remains stable with no new data, and the Meta AI data center story carries forward as ongoing. The dominant narrative is ESCALATING US-Iran conflict with a new Trump 'taking over' the strait development, while OPEC demand downgrade provides a counter-signal to oil price spikes.