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According to CCTV News, on August 12 local time, John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said:Iran could launch 'major' attack on Israel as early as this week。

John Kirby said that US President Biden had called the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain that day to discuss the growing tensions.

According to Reference News, based on the latest assessment of the Israeli intelligence community,Iran has decided to attack Israel directly and may launch an attack in the coming days。

Axios News Network quoted two sources with direct information on August 11 as saying:Iran prepares to attack Israel directly, in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas Politburo leader Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran, and it is likely to take place within a few days.

Iranian officials have not yet responded to reports from Western media. Axios News reported that one of the sources with first-hand information from Israeli intelligence said the situation "is still fluid."

According to Reference News, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed on the evening of August 11 local time and the morning of August 12 Beijing time that U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin said in a phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Galant that day:He has ordered the USS Georgia, an Ohio-class cruise missile submarine, to be deployed to the Middle East, in response to escalating tensions in the region.

also,Austin also asked the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier battle group to "accelerate its deployment in the Middle East."。

According to CCTV News, on August 12, local time,The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement on the Middle East。

According to a statement released by the White House, the leaders of the five countries discussed the situation in the Middle East. In order to fully support efforts to ease the Gaza conflict, reach a ceasefire and release detained persons, the five governments expressed their agreement to restart ceasefire negotiations later this week and called on all parties to fulfill their responsibilities and reach a ceasefire agreement as soon as possible.

As tensions in the Middle East heat up, gold continues to rise. COMEX gold has risen by $2,514.1 per ounce.

As of the close of August 12, the price of light crude oil futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $3.22 to close at $80.06 per barrel, an increase of 4.19%; the price of Brent crude oil futures for October delivery rose by $2.64 on the day to close at $82.30 per barrel, an increase of 3.31%.

On the 13th, as of press time, WTI September crude oil futures were quoted at US$79.41 per barrel, and Brent October crude oil futures were quoted at US$81.61 per barrel.

In the stock market, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.36%, the S&P 500 flat, and the Nasdaq up 0.21%.

Boeing fell 2.22% and Procter & Gamble fell 2.2%, leading the Dow's decline. Nvidia rose 4.08% and Tesla fell 1.25%. JetBlue Airways fell 20.66%, the company's largest single-day drop since its US IPO. Most Chinese stocks rose, with Youjia Insurance rising 13.51% and Dingdong Maicai rising 12.85%.

According to Xinhua Finance, Claudio Galimberti, head of global market analysis at Rystad, an international energy information service agency, said that this week and next week will be critical in determining whether a direct conflict between Iran and Israel can be avoided and whether the geopolitical risk premium will significantly affect oil prices.

In a research report released on the 12th, analysts from UBS Group said that in response to the further escalation of geopolitical tensions, they saw investors mainly increase their positions in oil and gold.

George Pavel, general manager of online broker Capex.com, said the escalation of tensions could pose a significant threat to global oil supplies. A major concern for traders is the risk of attacks on oil infrastructure. If that happens, supply disruptions could significantly reduce crude supplies and push up oil prices.

Pavel said the uncertainty was further complicated by concerns about production levels in other major producers such as OPEC, which has been carefully managing output to provide support for prices.

Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in the United States, said that even though OPEC has shown some concerns about oil demand, the oil market has still responded strongly to increased geopolitical risks.

OPEC said in its August oil market report released on the 12th that based on the data of the first quarter of this year, some data of the second quarter and the expectation of slowing oil demand growth in China this year, the global daily oil demand growth forecast for 2024 was lowered by 135,000 barrels per day to 2.1 million barrels per day. OPEC also lowered the world's daily oil demand forecast for 2025 by 65,000 barrels per day to 1.8 million barrels per day.

Daily Economic News integrates CCTV News, Xinhua Finance, Securities Times, Reference News, etc.