Following Tuesday’s WSJ report revealing that Saudi Arabia and its ally the United States are on high alert over a potential impending attack from Iran, the Pentagon has narrowed its assessment, saying there’s credible threat of an attack “soon or within 48 hours.”

Oil prices spiked more than $2 on this new “48 hours” intelligence, which the Pentagon reportedly received from the Saudis, hammering tech stocks further. A subsequent and quite expected denial from Iran…

*IRAN DISMISSES REPORTS IT’S PLANNING ATTACK ON SAUDI, REGION

…  because what will Iran say: “yup, you got us, we are about to launch an attack”, reversed some of today’s sharp gains.

The Biden administration reaffirmed that it will not hesitate to respond… “We are concerned about the threat picture, and we remain in constant contact through military and intelligence channels with the Saudis,” the National Security Council said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to act in the defense of our interests and partners in the region.”

“We’re in regular contact with our Saudi partners, in terms of what information they may have to provide on that front,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told the AP in fresh statements. “But what we’ve said before, and I’ll repeat it, is that we will reserve the right to protect and defend ourselves no matter where our forces are serving, whether in Iraq or elsewhere,” he added.

According to more via the AP report:

One of the officials who confirmed the intelligence sharing described it as a credible threat of an attack “soon or within 48 hours.” No U.S. embassy or consulate in the region has issued alerts or guidance to Americans in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere in the Middle East based on the intelligence. The officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Iran has allegedly attacked northern Iraq with dozens of ballistic missiles and armed drones in recent weeks, one of which was shot down by a U.S. warplane as it headed toward the city of Erbil, where American troops are based. Tehran has publicly blamed Iranian Kurdish separatist groups based there for fomenting the unrest at home.

Iranian authorities have also publicly accused Saudi Arabia, along with the U.S. and Israel, of instigating the demonstrations.