Germany

Berlin, September 13, 2026. For the German press, the closure of the Saudi East-West oil pipeline is first felt at the pump. The Brent barrel has exceeded $100 again on Wednesday, reports ZEIT Online, a surge that immediately revives the domestic debate. The co-chair of Die Linke, Ines Schwerdtner, has demanded from Chancellor Friedrich Merz an emergency plan against the "price shock", accusing him of wanting to wait until gasoline and diesel become unaffordable before distributing aid that would ultimately secure the profits of energy groups; she is calling for a cap on their margins. The prices at the pump and for heating, she insists, have an impact all the way to the supermarket checkout.

At the core of the issue, Tagesschau and DW recall that the pipeline, over 1,200 kilometers long, allows Riyadh to bypass the Strait of Ormuz, which has been almost blocked for six months due to the war between Washington and Tehran, to transport up to seven million barrels per day to the Red Sea. According to ZEIT Online, the pipeline was already targeted at the end of July by Iranian allies operating from Iraq, and now transports oil normally destined for tankers waiting in the Persian Gulf. The drones struck the regions of Riyadh and Medina; the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports material damage and several injured, without designating a responsible party — a vagueness that the German press relays without taking a stance.

Handelsblatt broadens the regional picture: maritime traffic in the Strait of Ormuz has decreased, with only seven ships crossing it on Thursday compared to eleven the day before, on a ten-day average of fifteen; the Houthis are advancing in Yemen towards Bab al-Mandab, the other strategic lock of the Red Sea.

Baghdad has confirmed that the drones took off from its territory, closed the al-Schalamdscha and al-Schaib border posts with Iran, and Prime Minister Ali al-Saidi has announced an investigation and prosecutions. Riyadh says it wants to first give Iraq the chance to act. ZEIT Online reports that CNN, citing American officials, confirms the Iraqi origin of the strike, information that the Centcom command has refused to comment on. For Berlin, the urgency remains more economic than geopolitical: containing the impact on energy prices, as the Iranian conflict already weakens, via Ormuz and Bab al-Mandab, the global supply routes.