CNBC Daily Open: Oil surges as Iran war enters seventh day

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Storage tanks are seen at Marathon Petroleum’s Los Angeles Refinery, which processes domestic and imported crude oil, in Carson, California, on March 11, 2022.

Bing Guan | Reuters

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What you need to know today

**Crude oil crossed $80 per barrel **Thursday, as the Iran war enters its seventh day and continues disrupting global fuel supplies. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that his country was “not asking for a ceasefire” from the U.S. and Israel, while President Donald Trump said that his administration will turn its focus to Cuba after the U.S. military operations in Iran are finished.

**Besides energy disruption, the turmoil in the Middle East **has shattered Dubai’s status as a global wealth hub, as the rich scramble to escape the largely tax-free haven. Over the past week, UAE has seen projectiles hit tourist and civilian spaces, including the 5-star Fairmont The Palm Hotel and the Dubai airport.

**Over in the U.S., the Anthropic-OpenAI rivalry continues. **OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took swipes at rival Anthropic on Thursday and said he thinks it’s “bad for society” if companies start abandoning their commitment to the democratic process because “some people don’t like the person or people currently in charge.” That comes after the Department of Defense clashed with Anthropic in recent weeks over how the agency can use its AI models.

**Adding another layer of uncertainty to markets, **Trump’s tariffs face a new legal battle after New York Attorney General Letitia James and the top prosecutors of 23 other states once again sued to block his global tariff regime, just days after a landmark Supreme Court decision struck down his previous effort.

And finally…

Iran’s Shahed drone: How ‘the poor man’s cruise missile’ is shaping Tehran’s retaliation

The Shahed-136 ‘kamikaze’ drone has become central to Iran’s retaliation strategy against the U.S. and its regional allies, with thousands unleashed so far.

First designed in Iran, the weapon has already become a fixture of modern warfare, with Tehran’s strategic partner, Russia, utilizing the technology in its years-long battle with Ukraine.

Though drone seems unremarkable compared with cutting-edge weapon technologies and the majority have been struck down by American allies, many Shaheds have still managed to hit their targets.

“The Shahed‑136, among other unmanned aerial systems, has allowed states like Russia and Iran a cheap way to impose disproportionate costs,” an analyst said.

— Dylan Butts

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