A customer shops for gold ornaments at a jewelry shop in Yangon, Myanmar, Aug. 13, 2019. Myanmar's domestic gold price edged higher with around 1.23 million kyats (816 U.S. dollars) per tical on Tuesday, U Aung San Win, vice-chairman of Myanmar Entrepreneurs Association, told Xinhua. (Xinhua/U Aung)

Gold prices hit a seven-year high on Wednesday following an escalation of tensions between the US and Iran.

Spot gold hit $1,591.06 per ounce at 11 am on Wednesday - its highest price since April 2013 - after reaching $1,611.10 in the previous session.

If the US-Iran geopolitical crisis is not resolved, concerns over a potential US-Iran war will persist in the short term, which will raise the gold price further, said Yang Delong, chief economist at the Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund Management.

Swiss bank UBS set the 2020 gold price target at $1,600, it said in a note, in part due to an interest rate cut in the US stemming from the slowing US economy, which reduced the cost of investing in gold.

The gold price in Shanghai rose moderately on Wednesday. The price of the Au(T+D) contract trading on the Shanghai Gold Exchange gained 2.5 percent to 360.43 yuan per gram ($1,471.05 per ounce) on Wednesday morning.