Iran and the United States have exchanged fresh attacks in the Middle East, deepening their six-month-old conflict and raising fears of a wider disruption to global oil supplies.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday that it had attacked 20 US vessels attempting to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that normally carries around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

The latest escalation came after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday.

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The US military said the strikes followed an Iranian attack on an American warship, the second reported attack on a US naval vessel in less than a week.

In retaliation, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched missiles at the US Al-Azraq air base in Jordan.

Iranian state media reported that the attack damaged maintenance and repair facilities, deployment locations and shelters used for fighter jets.

Jordan’s army, however, said it intercepted 18 missiles launched from Iran towards the kingdom.

The latest confrontation has further intensified the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has largely controlled since the war began in February.

Traffic through the waterway has been virtually paralysed, with Tehran requiring vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before passing through the strait.

Iran threatens Gulf tankers

Iran has also threatened to target oil tankers operating near US allies Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for the American strikes on its vessels.

The Revolutionary Guards warned crews aboard oil tankers in the area to leave their ships, saying they “will be targeted.”

The warning has heightened concerns over the safety of commercial shipping and the possibility of further disruptions to energy supplies from the oil-rich Middle East.

Oil prices rose sharply amid the latest escalation, with Brent crude climbing to $99.46 per barrel in Asian morning trade.

West Texas Intermediate, the main US crude benchmark, also rose to $94.45 per barrel.

Rubio issues warning

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Iran would face further consequences if it continued attacking American naval vessels.

“Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers, and I think you’ll see that again today,” Rubio told reporters on Tuesday during a visit to Colombia.

Iranian media also reported that a US missile struck a tanker off the coast of Kharg Island, although no casualties were reported.

Iran’s Army Chief of Staff, Ali Abdollahi, had earlier warned that Tehran would strike US bases across the region if Iranian oil tankers were attacked.

Iran claims US drone seizure

The Revolutionary Guards also claimed on Tuesday that they had seized an American submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as “one of the most modern, unmanned” US vessels.

The US military disputed the claim, saying the drone had malfunctioned and was an older model that did not contain sensitive information.

Iranian state television separately reported that the Guards had attacked two US destroyers with ballistic missiles, although the US military had not immediately commented on the claim.

As the confrontation continues, concerns are mounting that prolonged fighting around the Strait of Hormuz could further restrict the movement of oil and gas and push global energy prices higher.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has intensified its supervisory focus on terrorism financing, making it a current priority in its efforts to prevent the country’s financial system from being exploited by illicit actors.

The apex bank disclosed this in a statement signed by its Acting Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department, Hakama Sidi-Ali.

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Under the heightened supervisory focus, the CBN said it would pay particular attention to terrorism-financing risk management, transaction monitoring, the implementation of targeted financial sanctions and the reporting of suspicious transactions linked to terrorism financing.

The bank said it would continue to deploy a risk-based supervisory approach, including on-site and off-site engagements, to strengthen anti-money laundering, counter-financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) controls across the financial sector.

According to the CBN, the measures will be implemented in accordance with existing legal and regulatory requirements.

The apex bank said the move also supports Nigeria’s domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, counter-proliferation financing and broader efforts to strengthen financial integrity and protect the financial system.

“Further supervisory engagement will be undertaken as appropriate,” the CBN added.

The bank said the initiative underscores its ongoing commitment to safeguarding the Nigerian financial system against illicit activities while supporting efforts to strengthen financial integrity at both domestic and international levels.

The latest development places greater emphasis on the responsibility of financial institutions to maintain effective controls for identifying, monitoring and reporting transactions that may pose terrorism-financing risks.

The CBN’s approach will involve continued supervisory engagement with institutions across the financial sector, with the regulator assessing their compliance through both on-site and off-site activities.

The move forms part of broader efforts to ensure that Nigeria’s financial system remains protected from illicit financial activities and continues to meet domestic regulatory requirements as well as international expectations on financial integrity.

The Federal Government and the National Youth Service Corps have intensified efforts to tackle certificate racketeering and strengthen the verification of academic qualifications through digital integration.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when the NYSC Director-General, Brig Gen Olakunle Nafiu, led a delegation to the ministry.

Alausa said the initiative was part of the Federal Government’s ongoing digital transformation of the education sector under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

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According to him, the reforms are designed to close loopholes in the management of academic records, combat certificate fraud and ensure that genuine graduates are not denied opportunities because of verification challenges.

The minister said the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank was already collecting and verifying university certificates, tracking learners across the education system and supporting tertiary institutions through help-desk officers.

He added that the Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure would link records across different stages of a learner’s educational journey.

Alausa also revealed that discussions were ongoing with the NYSC on an application programming interface that would allow faster verification and seamless exchange of relevant data between the two institutions.

He said the system would help address issues affecting qualified graduates, including discrepancies in names, challenges involving graduates of part-time National Diploma programmes and the admission of National Certificate in Education holders into Higher National Diploma programmes.

The minister said the government would collaborate with the National Board for Technical Education, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, National Identity Management Commission and other stakeholders to develop lasting solutions.

Among the proposed measures is the introduction of a national Learner Identification Number and a uniform framework for recording and sequencing names across government education and identity databases.

Alausa said this would ensure that accurate identity records were established from the beginning of a learner’s educational journey, thereby reducing discrepancies that could create problems for graduates later.

The move comes amid increased government efforts to authenticate academic credentials used for employment and NYSC mobilisation.

On his part, the NYSC Director-General, Nafiu, commended the ministry’s digital reforms and pledged the Corps’ continued support.

He said NYSC had pursued digitalisation since 2014 and developed systems to provide reliable information on Corps members and their deployment.

Nafiu added that the Corps had complied with the Federal Executive Council’s directive on collaboration with the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank and was ready to deepen its partnership with the ministry.

He further noted that the introduction of QR codes had “virtually eliminated document cloning” within the NYSC.