The IRGC struck Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility – the world’s most important oil processing plant – with drones on Wednesday, the very day the ceasefire was announced, sparking fires visible from space in European Space Agency satellite imagery.
The attack on a plant handling roughly 7% of global oil supply was a reminder that the regime treats ceasefire announcements as tactical pauses rather than genuine commitments.
Despite this, oil markets reacted to ceasefire hopes with Brent crude posting its biggest single-day drop since April 2020, falling 13% to $94.75 a barrel – though prices remain around 30% above their pre-war levels, a lasting legacy of the regime’s five-week war on global energy.
Ceasefire Holds For IRGC – But Regime’s Demands Are Maximalist
Two days into the ceasefire, a fragile calm has settled over Iran while the regime’s full negotiating demands have come into focus – and they
9 April 2026
