{"id":203574,"date":"2026-03-10T07:53:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/iran-war-updates-oil-prices-fall-as-trump-says-war-is-very-complete-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T07:53:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:53:32","slug":"iran-war-updates-oil-prices-fall-as-trump-says-war-is-very-complete-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/iran-war-updates-oil-prices-fall-as-trump-says-war-is-very-complete-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran war updates: Oil prices fall as Trump says war is 'very complete' – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump<\/a> said the U.S.-Israel war on Iran<\/a> is “very complete” and is ending “soon,” leading U.S. stocks to rebound and oil prices to fall, while the Pentagon made public the name of the seventh U.S. soldier to die in the conflict.
Oil prices fell again<\/a> below the key $100 per barrel mark, the highest levels since 2022. In a Monday morning social media post, Trump called it “a small price to pay<\/a>.”
Even as members of his cabinet predicted a longer war, Trump said during a news conference on Monday afternoon that the war in Iran would be \u201cended soon.” When asked if the war would be over in a week, Trump said: “No, but soon, very soon.”
The Pentagon identified the seventh soldier killed in the Iran war as Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26. Pennington died March 8 from injuries sustained in a March 1 Iranian attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The war has so far killed seven Americans<\/a>, at least 1,230 people in Iran, nearly 400 in Lebanon, and at least 11 in Israel.
Meanwhile, Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> about raging conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, the Kremlin said. The call was initiated by Trump, state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing Yury Ushakov, a top foreign policy aide to Putin.
There was no immediate White House comment.
Marc Ramirez
A federal jury has convicted an Iranian operative of taking part in a 2024 terrorism attempt and plot to assassinate<\/a> President Donald Trump<\/a>, well before the war in Iran.
Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national also known as Asif Raza Merchant, was found guilty of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries.
Merchant, 47, was trained by Iran\u2019s global terrorist force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<\/a>, which he admitted at trial dispatched him to the United States to steal documents and arrange for political assassinations. According to a Justice Department complaint filed in 2024<\/a>, Merchant told a source the targets would be people hurting Pakistan and the Muslim world, “not normal people.\u201d
The plot was foiled by law enforcement before any attack could be carried out.
Read more about the plot here<\/a>.\u00a0
Michael Loria
A spokesperson for Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards Corps slammed President Trump for saying he will determine<\/a> when the war ends and warned Iran will stop oil from leaving the region.\u00a0
The spokesperson through state media channels described the president\u2019s comments<\/a> as “nonsense” and said Iran “will determine the end of the war.”
Iran will also challenge efforts to open the Straits of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, according to the spokesperson, saying not “one liter of oil” will be exported.\u00a0
Contributing by Reuters<\/em>
Michael Loria
President Trump took to social media<\/a> Monday evening to warn Iran against hampering oil shipments through the Straits of Hormuz, a major oil shipping channel controlled by the besieged country.
“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” said the president, adding U.S. forces would target sites “that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back.”
The president\u2019s comments come as the slowing of oil shipments out of the region has become one of the biggest issues caused by the war. Since Trump launched strikes on the country, the price of gas has risen precipitously.\u00a0
Trump said his efforts to keep oil flowing out of the region is a “gift from the United States of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait.”
Terry Collins
When asked by a reporter about “how many American deaths are you willing to have in this war,” Trump somberly mentioned the conversations he had with the families during the March 7 dignified transfer<\/a>\u00a0of six Americans killed in a drone attack on a Kuwait base during the first week of fighting.
There have been seven confirmed deaths by the Pentagon in the Iran war.
\u201cWell, as I said before, when you have conflicts like this, you always have death. I met the parents, unbelievable people,” Trump said, adding that they had a message for him.
“And they all had one thing in common. Every single one,” said Trump, his voice rising. “Finish the job, sir. Please, finish the job.”\u00a0
Andrea Riquier
Oil prices slid, and stocks rebounded, after President Trump suggested the Iran war, now in its second week, might be nearing an end.
The price of a barrel of crude oil, the global benchmark, had already retreated from the four-year high near $119 it had set earlier in the day when Trump spoke with CBS News<\/a> in the afternoon, saying he thought “the war is very complete, pretty much.\u201d
Also helping tame the wild markets: a group of finance ministers from major advanced economies will meet Feb. 10 to discuss jointly releasing petroleum reserves. With more supply in the global markets, prices are likely to trend lower.
At last check, near 7 p.m. ET, a barrel of crude was trading near $92, almost precisely where it ended the week on March 6.
Terry Collins
President Trump said that Vice President JD Vance was initially less enthusiastic about the U.S. and Israel’s joint attack on Iran.
“We get along very well on this. I would say, philosophically, a little bit different than me,” Trump said about Vance’s early thoughts. “I think he was maybe a little bit less enthusiastic about going (into Iran), but I felt it was something we had to do.”
Trump said he felt that after getting feedback about the negotiations with Iran, the U.S. had to strike first.
“If we didn\u2019t do it, they would\u2019ve done it to us,” Trump concluded.
Michael Loria
When asked about a new video<\/a> that reportedly<\/a> shows a U.S.-made Tomahawk missile strike an Iranian girls\u2019 school, leaving scores of children dead at the outset of the war, Trump said he hasn\u2019t seen the footage and suggested the U.S. didn\u2019t fire such a missile.\u00a0
“I haven\u2019t seen it,” the president said of the video before adding “the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is sold and used by other countries.”
Trump, who has blamed the strike on Iran, said the country possesses and uses Tomahawk missiles. According to reporting by outlets including The Associated Press<\/a>, The New York Times<\/a> and the BBC<\/a>, neither Iran nor Israel possess the weapon.
Reuters<\/a>\u00a0and The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed U.S. sources, reported that U.S. military investigators believe it is “likely” that U.S. forces<\/a> hit the girls’ school.
The strike on the girls\u2019 school has been one of the central controversies of the war. Human rights groups have said the bombing should be investigated as a war crime<\/a>.
Bart Jansen
Trump said he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d with Iran choosing the son of its former supreme leader as its latest leader, but the president would not say whether the new leader has a target on his back.
\u201cI don\u2019t want to say that,\u201d Trump said.
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike.
\u201cI was disappointed because we think it\u2019s going to lead to just more of the same problem with the country,\u201d Trump said of the decision.
Trump said he would prefer an internal candidate to lead the country. He compared the situation to Venezuela, where Delcy Rodriguez is working with the United States after succeeding Nicolas Maduro, who was captured by the U.S. military to face narco-trafficking charges.
\u201cI like the idea of internal,\u201d Trump said.
Bart Jansen
Trump said the war with Iran could be called a \u201ctremendous success” as the country has no navy, no air force and no political leadership. But he also said he wants to rebuild the country.
\u201cIt\u2019s the beginning of building a new country,\u201d Trump said.
\u201cWe could call it a tremendous success right now,\u201d Trump added. \u201cOr we could go further. We\u2019re going to go further.\u201d
Terry Collins
In addition to touting the success ofOperation Epic Fury<\/a>, Trump mentioned that the U.S. is also focused on keeping “energy and oil flowing” around the world.
“I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the world\u2019s oil supply,” Trump said. “And if Iran has anything to do with that, we\u2019ll take them out so quickly, they will never be able to recover. Ever.
“They better not play that game,” Trump warned.\u00a0
Bart Jansen
When he announced his first presidential campaign in 2015, Trump said that he wouldn\u2019t allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Now, he said he is keeping his word.
Trump said Iran was \u201cquickly approaching the point of no return\u201d by stockpiling ballistic missiles to protect its nuclear-weapon program.
\u201cAll I\u2019m doing is keeping my promise,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt was a threat then and a much bigger threat now.\u201d
Bart Jansen
Trump said the war in Iran would be \u201cended soon,\u201d but not within a week.
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be ended soon,\u201d Trump told reporters at a news conference.
Asked if the war would be over in a week, Trump said: \u201cNo, but soon, very soon.\u201d
\u201cEverything they have is gone, including their leadership,\u201d Trump added.
Bart Jansen
Trump said the United States has hit 5,000 targets in Iran but avoided key facilities such as electricity production because they could take years to replace.
Trump said energy facilities would be easy to hit and devastating.
\u201cWe\u2019re waiting to see what happens before we hit them,\u201d Trump said.
Bart Jansen
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, urged Trump to release oil from the country\u2019s strategic petroleum reserve to blunt rising prices on oil that averaged above $100 per barrel and gasoline that rose 40 cents per gallon.
Trump has said the temporary rise is \u201ca small price to pay\u201d for national security.
\u201cWhat contempt. What cluelessness,\u201d Schumer said on the Senate floor. \u201cIt\u2019s as if America is being led to war by Marie Antoinette.\u201d
Michael Loria
French President Emmanuel Macron is deploying the country\u2019s navy to the Middle East, suggesting that the Iran war has come to Europe. He gave a televised speech<\/a> after visiting with leaders from Greece and Cyprus, an island off the coast of the Levant that hosts a British military installation targeted<\/a> in the war.
“When Cyprus is attacked, it\u2019s Europe that is attacked,” Macron said Monday, addressing<\/a> the president of Cyprus and prime minister of Greece. “The defense of Cyprus is clearly an essential question for your country, for your neighbor, partner and friend Greece, but also for France and the European Union.”
The French president said the country would deploy about a dozen ships to the region, including an aircraft carrier group. He thanks other European leaders, including Greece, for also sending ships.
He insisted the group\u2019s deployment to the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and by the Straits of Hormuz will be “strictly defensive” and aimed at protecting oil shipments.
“Our objective is for us to maintain a strictly defensive stance alongside all countries attacked by Iran in its retaliation,” Macron said. “Ultimately what we want to do is ensure the freedom of navigation and maritime security.”
Contributing: Reuters<\/em>
Bart Jansen
Trump disputed Democratic criticism that the war on Iran wasn\u2019t necessary, arguing that an attack on the U.S. and Middle East was imminent.
\u201cWithin a week, they were going to attack us \u2013 100%,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThey were going to attack all of the Middle East and Israel. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they would have used it on Israel.\u201d
Trump said Iran had stockpiled missiles and launchers to attack the region. But he said 80% of the missiles had been destroyed.
\u201cThey have very few launchers left,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThe rest are going very quickly.\u201d
Bart Jansen
Trump recalled attending the dignified transfer on March 7 of six troops killed in the Iran war, where he said relatives of the soldiers had the same request: win against Iran.
\u201cIt’s a beautiful thing, but it’s also very sad thing,\u201d Trump said of the event. \u201cBut they all said one thing to me, \u2018Make sure you win. Sir, make sure you win.\u2019\u201d
\u201cWe’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,\u201d Trump added.
Bart Jansen
Trump promoted the destruction of Iran\u2019s missile capability and navy, having sunk 46 ships.
\u201cThe navy is gone,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt\u2019s all lying at the bottom of the ocean.\u201d
Trump said he asked why the U.S. military didn\u2019t capture the enemy ships to use them. \u201cThey said it\u2019s more fun to sink them,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThey like sinking them better.\u201d
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
There are currently eight servicemembers who have been “seriously wounded” in the Iran war, according to Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.
That number has fluctuated as soldiers have recovered. One soldier has recovered since yesterday, Hawkins said.
Reuters
Escalating hostilities have forced nearly 700,000 people to flee their homes in Lebanon, a U.N. agency said on Monday, as the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah entered a second week.
Lebanon has been pulled deep into the war in the Middle East since Hezbollah opened fire to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, igniting an Israeli offensive which has killed nearly 500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities \u2212 with the death toll rising by around 100 a day.
On Monday, Israeli strikes sent columns of smoke billowing from Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, and over the hilltops of southern Lebanon.
Security sources in Lebanon said Israeli airstrikes hit five branches of a financial institution run by Hezbollah, Al-Qard Al-Hassan. Hezbollah fired missiles deep into Israel, setting off air raid sirens in central Israel and its commercial hub Tel Aviv, as interception blasts sounded as far as Jerusalem.
Bart Jansen
Trump said the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is \u201cvery far ahead of schedule\u201din an interview with CBS News<\/a>.
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump said. “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force. Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones. If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense.”\u00a0
Dan Morrison
President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin spoke for an hour about the wars in Iran and Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
The call was initiated by Trump, state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing Yury Ushakov, a top foreign policy aide to Putin. There was no immediate White House comment.
The conversation, which also touched on Venezuela, “was businesslike, frank, and constructive,” RIA Novosti reported.
Reuters
The force and frequency of Iranian missile launches will increase, and their range will become wider, state media cited the commander of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force as saying on Monday.
From now on, no missiles will be launched with warheads lighter than one ton, Majid Mousavi said.
The announcement came as Qatar’s prime minister said continued Iranian attacks were hampering regional efforts to end the war.
Zac Anderson
Iran’s elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the nation’s new supreme leader is drawing Trump’s ire. \u201cI think they made a big mistake,\u201d Trump told NBC News. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to last. I think they made a mistake.\u201d
Trump told Reuters<\/a> and Axios<\/a> on March 5 that he must be involved in selecting Iran’s new leader and warned against picking Mojtaba Khamenei, who is considered a hardliner, calling him “unacceptable.” The president said in a March 8 interview with ABC News<\/a> that the new leader “is not going to last long” without his approval.
After Iran’s Assembly of Experts selected Mojtaba Khamenei\u00a0as the new supreme leader, Trump told the New York Post<\/a> he was “not happy.” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died in an airstrike when the U.S. and Israel launched their military operation against Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife also was killed.
In a social media post, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, called Khamenei’s selection “a manifestation of the people’s will.” Iran’s all-powerful supreme leader is chosen by a panel of clerics, while candidates for president are screened by the religious establishment before they can get on the ballot.
Dan Morrison
President Trump backed off his assertion that Australia was sending the Iranian women’s soccer team home to almost certain death<\/a>, praising Australia’s prime minister for his handling of a “delicate” situation.
Following a call with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Trump acknowledged that Australia had already offered asylum to the soccer team and that some players had accepted.
“Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way. Some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don\u2019t return,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “In any event, the Prime Minister is doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation. God bless Australia!”
Iran’s exited the Asian Cup tournament in Australia on Sunday, leading to concern for the team upon its return to Iran after players refused to sing the Islamic Republic’s national anthem<\/a> before an earlier match.
Terry Collins
President Trump said he’s “nowhere near” a decision on sending commandos into Iran to seize enriched uranium from a nuclear site deep underground in Isfahan in central Iran.
\u201cWe haven\u2019t made any decision on that,” the president toldThe New York Post<\/a>. “We\u2019re nowhere near it.”
Semafor and other news outlets reported beginning March 7 that the Trump administration was considering a mission to send Special Operations units into Iran to seize and destroy key nuclear sites<\/a> that were damaged in U.S. bombing last year before the Iranian government could retreive the material.
Dan Morrison
Eleven different countries have asked Ukraine for help in countering Iran’s deadly Shahed drones, with request for interceptors, electronic warfare systems and training, Ukrainian Presiden Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Ukraine has acquired deep knowlege of drone warfare since Russia invaded in 2022. Iran supplied Russia with thousands of inexpensive Shaheds and Moscow now manufactures the drones itself.
The countries seeking assistance included Iran’s Gulf neighbors, Israel, the U.S., and European states.
“Ukraine is ready to respond positively to requests from those who help us protect the lives of Ukrainians and the independence of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. “We have already responded to some of the requests with specific solutions and concrete support.<\/span><\/span><\/span>“
Christopher Cann
Police are investigating homemade bombs ignited<\/a> during protests outside the home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as an \u201cact of ISIS-inspired terrorism.\u201d
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said two improvised explosive devices (IED) were lit outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, on Saturday and a third possible homemade explosive was found in a nearby vehicle.
One of the devices, Tisch said, contained TATP, “a dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive that has been used in IED attacks around the world.”
Dan Morrison
Five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team have accepted an offer of asylum in Australia, as their teammates waited for a resumption international flights to their devastated homeland and President Trump warned the athletes “will most likely be killed” when they return.
Apparently unaware that the team had been offered asylum in Australia, President Trump warned of grave consequences if they were “forced” to return to Iran.
None of the players are returning to Iran against their will, a person familiar with the matter told USA TODAY. They said the Australian foreign ministry had offered all members of the team asylum and that five, including the team’s captain, had accepted.
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman\u2019s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Don\u2019t do it, Mr. Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won\u2019t.”
FIFPRO, the global player’s union, said earlier on Monday it was worried for the team, which Iranian hardliners called “wartime traitors” for refusing to sing their national anthem before a game. The players’ decision to stand in silence during Iran’s anthem before their first match against South Korea was labelled by a commentator on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting as the “pinnacle of dishonor.”
The team’s run in the Australian-hosted Asian Cup tournament started just as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran. The team was eliminated on Sunday.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
The Pentagon identified the seventh soldier killed in the Iran war as Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26.\u00a0
Pennington, a native of Glendale, Kentucky, died on March 8 from injuries he sustained from an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 1, the Pentagon said in a statement. He was assigned to the Army’s 1st Space Battalion, based in Fort Carson, Colorado, according to the statement.
Dan Morrison
President Trump said oil prices would soon fall once his war is over, and downplayed concerns in the meantime as global prices topped $110 a barrel and the average gas price in the U.S. reached $3.50.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He added: “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”
Andrea Riquier
Stocks plunged, bonds sold off, and Wall Street\u2019s “fear gauge” soared as oil topped $110 amid the worsening United States-Iran war<\/a>.
Brent crude, the international standard, surged to $119.50 per barrel early on Monday, March 9 but later was trading near $103 per barrel, up about 11%. West Texas Intermediate, the crude produced in the U.S., was at about $101 per barrel just before the opening bell in New York.
Oil is still unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, which Iran has effectively blocked. At the start of the war, many analysts had expected prices to jump this high, but most also assumed the key passageway would re-open relatively quickly, keeping the surge in prices relatively contained. So far, however, there is no sign of hostilities easing.
On Monday morning, the Financial Times reported that a group of major developed countries were planning an emergency meeting<\/a> to discuss a joint release of petroleum reserves.
Christopher Cann
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Monday that NATO air defenses shot down a ballistic missile fired from Iran.
Parts of the downed missile fell in Gaziantep province, in southern Turkey, the ministry said, adding that there were no casualties. It was the second time in less than a week that a ballistic missile fired from Iran was intercepted in Turkish airspace.
\u201cWe once again emphasize that all necessary steps will be taken firmly and without hesitation against any threat directed at our country\u2019s territory or airspace,\u201d the ministry said in a statement. \u201cWe remind everyone that complying with Turkey\u2019s warnings in this regard is in everyone\u2019s interest.\u201d
The State Department on Monday ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave the American consulate in Adana, in southernTurkey.
Christopher Cann
Several top Trump administration officials refused on Sunday to rule out sending ground troops into Iran as the war in the Middle East intensifies.
“You don’t tell the enemy, you don’t tell the press, you don’t anybody what your limits would be in an operation,” Pentagon chief\u00a0Pete Hegseth told “60 Minutes”<\/a> in an episode that aired Sunday. “We’re willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt gave Fox News<\/a> a similar answer when asked if the U.S. would send troops into Iran: “President Trump wisely does not remove options off of the table.”
Christopher Cann
The State Department on Monday ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave the American consulate in Adana, Turkey.
“Americans in southeast Tu\u0308rkiye are strongly encouraged to depart now,” the advisory said, adding that the consulate has suspended all services.
A similar advisory ordered employees at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia to leave, citing the escalating conflict.
Christopher Cann
The Israeli military on Monday said it began a “wide-scale wave of strikes” on Iran targeting infrastructure across Tehran, Isfahan and southern Iran, according to a statement.
Multiple news outlets reported airstrikes in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
Hours earlier, the IDF said ground forces began a targeted raid in southern Lebanon to “locate and eliminate terrorists and dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.”
Kim Hjelmgaard
Police in Norway are still trying to establish whether an explosion outside the U.S. embassy in Oslo<\/a> on Sunday is linked in some way to the war in Iran. No one was hurt during the incident, which took place late at night. In a news conference on Monday, police said a suspect had been identified but not yet apprehended as they continued to review CCTV footage. They also confirmed that the blast was the result of an improvised explosive device.
Reuters
U.S. stock index futures tumbled more than 1% on Monday<\/a> as oil prices soared, exacerbating inflation fears as\u00a0hostilities in the Middle East\u00a0entered their tenth day.
Travel stocks that had borne the brunt of the selloff last week were also the most hit on Monday. Alaska Air and United Airlines along with cruise stocks such as Carnival and Norwegian Cruise dropped about 4% each in premarket trading.
Big banks, seen as the backbone of any economy, also took a hit with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America down over 2% each.
Christopher Cann
Oil prices on Monday jumped above $110 a barrel, reaching its highest prices since 2022 as fears grow over prolonged shipping disruptions due to the war in the Middle East.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, jumped to $119.50 a barrel overnight but has since retreated to around $103.
The increase in price comes as the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s\u00a0oil\u00a0and liquefied natural gas typically passes, is virtually shut. It also occurred after Mojtaba Khamenei was named as his father Ali Khamenei’s successor.
Thao Nguyen
In a brief telephone interview with The Times of Israel<\/a> on Sunday, Trump said he will decide with Israel when to end the war in Iran.
“I think it\u2019s mutual\u2026 a little bit. We\u2019ve been talking. I\u2019ll make a decision at the right time, but everything\u2019s going to be taken into account,” Trump told the online newspaper, indicating Netanyahu would be part of the decision but that he would have the final say.
When asked if Israel could continue the war after the United States decides to halt its strike, Trump initially declined to answer before adding: “I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be necessary,” according to the newspaper.
The president’s comments came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told “60 Minutes<\/a>”\u00a0in an interview that aired on Sunday that Trump will set the terms of surrender with Iran.
“It means we’re fightin’ to win. It means we set the terms. We’ll know when they’re not capable of fighting. There’ll be a point where they’ll have no choice but to do that,” Hegseth said. “Whether they know it or not, they will be combat-ineffective. They will surrender.”
Reuters
Amid the U.S.-Israeli\u00a0attacks against\u00a0Iran, residents have described thick black smoke hanging over Tehran after strikes on\u00a0oil storage facilities\u00a0had lit up the night sky with plumes of orange flame.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the large-scale attack marked a “dangerous new phase” of the conflict and amounted to a war crime.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the depots were used to fuel\u00a0Iran’s war effort, including producing or storing propellant for ballistic missiles. “They are a legal military target,” he said.
Netanyahu said his government would press on with the assault and strike\u00a0Iran’s rulers “without mercy.”
“We have an organized plan with many surprises to destabilize the regime and enable change,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.
James Powel
Mojtaba Khamenei had been seen as a frontrunner in the lead-up to Iran’s Assembly of Experts vote.
“By a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts, appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of\u00a0Iran,” the assembly said in a statement issued just after midnight Tehran time.
Mojtaba\u00a0was born in 1969 in the holy Shi’ite city of Mashhad and grew up as his father was helping lead the opposition to the Shah. He studied under religious conservatives in the seminaries of Qom, Iran’s center of Shi’ite theological learning, and has the clerical rank of Hojjatoleslam.
He has never held a formal position in the Islamic Republic’s government but\u00a0was widely believed to have been behind the sudden rise of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was elected president in 2005. Read more<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump said the U.S.-Israel war on Iran is “very complete” and is ending “soon,” leading U.S. stocks to rebound and oil prices to fall, while the Pentagon made public the name of the seventh U.S. soldier to die in the conflict.Oil prices fell again below the key $100 per barrel mark, the highest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-203574","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}