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President Donald Trump said he plans to waive oil-related sanctions, have the US Navy escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and predicted the war with Iran would resolve \u201cvery soon\u201d as he confronted mounting economic and political pressures after days of dramatic fluctuations in oil markets.<\/p>\n
The president said that he did not believe the conflict would be over this week, but insisted the operation was ahead of schedule and looked to shore up investors increasingly concerned about energy prices. He vowed bombing \u201cat a much, much harder level\u201d if Iran disrupted oil supplies alongside his sanctions pledge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking to keep the oil prices down,\u201d Trump said at a news conference at his resort in Doral, Florida. \u201cThey went artificially up because of this excursion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president did not offer additional specifics, beyond acknowledging he had discussed the topic with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call earlier Monday. Russia has faced sanctions on its oil revenue in an international bid to deprive the country of revenue over its war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
But as a whole, Trump\u2019s remarks underscored a new willingness by the White House to publicly indicate that it could be moving soon to attempt to wrap up the conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether with our Israeli partners, we\u2019re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force,\u201d Trump told Republican lawmakers earlier Monday. At the press conference, the president claimed the US had hit 5,000 targets in the country, said Iran\u2019s missile capability was down to 10%, and that drone launches from the country had decreased 83%. The US military objectives could be described as \u201cpretty well complete,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Trump acknowledged unanswered questions that remained about the leadership in Tehran and vowed he would \u201cnot relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.\u201d The president said that while the US had sunk more than 50 Iranian ships, a prolonged conflict could see the US bomb additional \u201cimportant targets\u201d including electricity production facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already won in many ways, but we haven\u2019t won enough,\u201d he said. \u201cWe go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments underscored the challenges ahead for Trump, who will need to reconcile his promises of total victory with the economic and political consequences of continuing the war.<\/p>\n
US stocks recovered from losses earlier Monday, after the president made intial comments signaling an openness to ending the conflict to CBS News. Those comments sent the S&P 500 up as much as 1%, after a CBS reporter posted the comments on X. Oil and US Treasury yields fell.<\/p>\n
US oil futures fell below $90 a barrel post settlement after surging above $119 early in the session in a volatile trading day. Markets eased as the world\u2019s largest economies considered a coordinated effort on emergency energy supplies and Trump\u2019s comments signaled he could seek a conclusion to the conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, the Strait of Hormuz remained all but closed, with no\u00a0finalized plans\u00a0on how nations will safeguard ships passing through the key waterway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump told CBS the Strait of Hormuz was seeing more ship traffic and that he is \u201cthinking about taking it over.\u201d It was not immediately clear what specific actions the president was contemplating.<\/p>\n
Trump also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Iran and the war in Ukraine, Tass reported Monday, citing Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian leader.<\/p>\n
The US president, already facing domestic concerns over persistent inflation ahead of November midterm elections, must now grapple with rising gasoline pump prices as the war shows no letup. On Sunday, he called $100 oil a \u201csmall price to pay\u201d and said the cost \u201cwill drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced Saudi Arabia, the world\u2019s biggest oil exporter, to\u00a0reduce production, according to a person familiar with the matter. That follows similar moves by the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq.<\/p>\n
Futures pulled back after Group of Seven finance ministers said they were ready to take any steps needed to support global energy supply, including releasing strategic oil reserves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, the G-7 is \u201cnot there yet\u201d in terms of agreeing to tap emergency energy supplies, according to France, which holds the current presidency. But the group said in a statement that it would \u201ccontinue to closely monitor the situation and developments in the energy markets\u201d and \u201cstand ready to take necessary measures, including to support global supply of energy such as stockpile release.\u201d<\/p>\n
The US reported its seventh casualty on Sunday. Two Israeli soldiers and about a dozen Israeli civilians also have lost their lives. Data from the UAE suggests Iran\u2019s barrage of missiles and drones is\u00a0easing, even as Tehran is still attacking Israel and Arab Gulf states regularly with drones and missiles. \u00a0<\/p>\n
As recently as Sunday, Trump\u2019s defense secretary was still signaling that the US would be escalating its attacks on Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have just now begun to fight, just now begun to surge,\u201d Pete Hegseth told CBS\u2019s 60 Minutes in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Israeli forces maintained attacks on southern Lebanon, aiming to degrade Iran-aligned Hezbollah. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization\u00a0intercepted\u00a0a ballistic missile fired from Iran toward Turkey on Monday, the second such incident, raising the risk the military alliance could be drawn more directly into the conflict.<\/p>\n
More than 1,300 Iranians have died in the war so far, according to an official toll that\u2019s not been updated for several days. Some 486 people have died in Lebanon, according to the nation\u2019s health ministry. Four civilians died in the UAE, while two members of its armed forces were killed when a malfunctioning helicopter crashed. There also have been several deaths in other Gulf countries.<\/p>\n
Trump said in a pair of\u00a0social media posts\u00a0on Monday that he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to help ensure safety of the Iranian women\u2019s soccer team, whose players finished their competition in the Asian Cup on the Gold Coast. Trump said the players would \u201cmost likely be killed\u201d if they returned to Iran.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Iran\u2019s media announced that Mojtaba Khamenei \u2014 whose father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled the country for almost 37 years and was killed when US-Israeli strikes began on Feb. 28 \u2014 won a \u201cdecisive vote\u201d in Iran\u2019s Assembly of Experts to become supreme leader.<\/p>\n
The 56-year-old has deep ties to the\u00a0Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, about the most powerful military and economic organization in Iran. The group pledged full obedience to the new leader.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Trump indicated his displeasure, saying Iran should put in a leader \u201cthat\u2019s going to be able to do something peacefully, for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new leader \u201cshares many of the same ideological leanings as his father and will aim to maintain continuity \u2014 including in the war,\u201d said Dina Esfandiary, a Bloomberg Geoeconomics analyst. His election \u201csuggests Iran won\u2019t be shifting tack in the Middle East war,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unclear whether he will display flashes of pragmatism like his father did when he pursued and accepted the 2015 nuclear deal,\u201d Esfandiary added. \u201cFor now, that seems unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed not to back down, saying \u201cthe idea that we would surrender unconditionally \u2014 they must take such a dream to the grave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia hardened its tone against Iran as it dealt with incoming projectiles again on Monday, including ones heading toward oil giant Aramco\u2019s Shaybah field and areas in and around Riyadh.<\/p>\n
The Saudi foreign ministry warned that Tehran\u2019s actions risk further escalation, in which Iran \u201cwill be its biggest loser.\u201d The strikes and comments suggest the kingdom hasn\u2019t been successful in its efforts to intensify\u00a0diplomatic outreach to Iran.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the US ordered American non-essential diplomats in Saudi Arabia to leave the country, citing safety risks. The move marks Washington\u2019s first \u201cordered departure\u201d since the war began. It follows a US servicemember\u2019s death after being wounded in an attack on US troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Israel struck many fuel depots in Tehran on Saturday, sparking a warning from the Red Crescent about toxic acid rain in the city of 9.5 million people.<\/p>\n
Read More:\u00a0Tehran Engulfed in Fire, Smoke and Acid Rain Following Strikes<\/p>\n
US Senator Lindsey Graham, a firm supporter of the war,\u00a0asked Israel\u00a0to \u201cplease be cautious about what targets you select.\u201d Oil infrastructure, he said, will be essential to Iran\u2019s recovery \u201cwhen this regime collapses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel said the fuel storage sites were legitimate military targets because they help Iran\u2019s war effort, and added it might target power stations next.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump is\u00a0weighing the option\u00a0of deploying special forces on the ground to seize Iran\u2019s near-bomb-grade uranium, as officials grow increasingly concerned the stockpile may have been moved, according to three diplomatic officials briefed on the matter.<\/p>\n
But the US is still \u201cnowhere near\u201d ordering troops into Iran to safeguard nuclear material, Trump told the New York Post on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A desalination plant in Bahrain was damaged following an Iranian drone attack, the government there said, adding that there was no impact on water supplies.<\/p>\n
The Iranian strike on Bahrain came after Tehran accused the US of hitting one of its desalination plants. Persian Gulf countries rely on the facilities for most of their fresh drinking water and sustained attacks could compound the impact of a war.<\/p>\n
#Trump #war #soonfloats #removing #oil #sanctions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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