"The USA has indications that Iran is preparing to carry out a ballistic missile attack on Israel in the near future," a source within the White House tells news agencies.
The geopolitical unrest has caused the world's stock markets to fall. At the close, the OMXS index fell by 0.7 percent.
The decline was broad among the most traded stocks in the OMXS30 index. Among the biggest losers were, among others, heat pump manufacturer Nibe, which fell by 2.7 percent, Swedbank, which dropped by 2.6 percent, and SEB, down by 1.6 percent. Even the other major banks were in the red as market interest rates fell across the board.
The best performer was defense conglomerate Saab, up 3.5 percent, pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca, which rose by 2.2 percent, and industrial conglomerate ABB, up by 1.6 percent.
The development on the leading stock exchanges in Europe is in line with Stockholm. The stock exchanges in both Frankfurt and Paris closed on minus, while London was slightly on plus.
The American stock markets are also falling in early trading.
Oil prices are rising simultaneously due to reports of an impending Iranian attack. American WTI oil costs around 75 dollars per barrel after climbing over 3 percent. The price of Brent oil rose from 71 to nearly 74 dollars per barrel.
