In retaliation to slaying of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. armed forces, the Islamic Republic launched “Operation Martyr Soleimani” on Tuesday evening and has claimed to have fired dozens of ground-to-ground rockets at the Ain al-Assad military base in Iraq. This directly influenced the global oil market which responded immediately with WTI crude jumping 4% before falling back slightly. Sharp spike in oil prices could negatively impact the world economy, which is already struggling from weak manufacturing activity.