US attack on Iran raised risks: Moody’s

Monitoring Desk

ISTANBUL: Last week’s deadly US attack on Iranian military officials significantly worsened geopolitical risks, US-based credit-rating agency Moody’s warned on Monday.

The US killed killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in an airstrike last Friday.

“The events mark a significant escalation of tensions b-etween the US and Iran and t-heir respective allies,” Moo-dy’s stressed in a press rel-ease. While the agency said it expects the two countries will avoid a military conflict, it also said that a conflict would affect trade and hydrocarbon production in almost the entire region.

“A lasting conflict would have wide-ranging implications through broad economic and financial shocks that significantly worsen operating and financing conditions,” it underlined. It added: “A protracted conflict would potentially have global repercussions, in particular thro-ugh its effect on oil prices.”

Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force, was killed in a U.S. drone strike outside Baghdad’s airport on Friday.

Soleimani’s slaying marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have often been at a fever pitch. (AA)