Risks of a Middle East conflagration surged after the US and Britain bombed more than a dozen sites used by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, in a dramatic escalation of an Australia-backed mission to restore commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Oil prices leapt as a coalition of 10 nations supported by Canberra warned the terrorist group responsible for disrupting one of the world’s busiest trade routes that they would “not hesitate” to take further action.