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Donald Trump has said he thinks the war is ‘complete’, but has warned to unleash ‘fire and fury’ upon Iran in the event that they block the Strait of Hormuz.
Talking to CBS News, Trump said: ‘I feel the war may be very complete, just about… very far ahead of schedule.’
Although oil prices have fallen back below $90 per gallon, Trump seems to think the conflict is nearly over, even when his own Defence Department thinks it could linger for some time longer.
Despite pondering the war might end soon, Trump took to social media and said that if Iran stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, the US would make it ‘make it virtually unimaginable for Iran to ever be built back.’
On Truth Social, he wrote: ‘If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil throughout the Strait of Hormuz, they will probably be hit by the USA of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they’ve been hit to date.
‘Moreover, we’ll take out easily destroyable targets that may make it virtually unimaginable for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again – Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them – But I hope, and pray, that it doesn’t occur!
‘It is a gift from the USA of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait. Hopefully, it’s a gesture that will probably be greatly appreciated.’
The back-and-forth dialogue from Trump sent oil prices and stock markets see-sawing.
The war has choked off major supplies of oil and gas to world markets and sent fuel prices rising across the US.
The fighting has also led foreigners to flee from business hubs and prompted hundreds of thousands to hunt shelter as bombs hit sites including military bases, government buildings, oil and water installations, hotels and at the very least one school.
The number of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme leader sent oil prices surging and markets sliding.
Investors saw it as a signal that Iran was digging in, 10 days into the war launched by the USA and Israel.
Oil prices later fell, and the US stock market closed higher after Trump told a bunch of politicians at his golf club: ‘We took a bit tour to do away with some evil. And, I feel you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term tour.’
Still, oil prices topped $100 per barrel yesterday, a price not seen for the reason that summer of 2022 when Russia began its illegal war in Ukraine.
Though China and Russia face risks of energy supply loss after the attacks in Iran, there are ‘greater risks’ for the UK and Europe than for America.
The UK has just 1.5 days of demand, based on recent data published by National Gas, and is now paying the very best wholesale gas prices in Europe as supplies from the Middle East dry up.
Queues for petrol stations are mounting, with some stations in Manchester running out – with fears that the situation could worsen as people panic buy.
Jan Rosenow, Leader of the Energy Programme and Professor of Energy and Climate Policy on the Environmental Change Institute of Oxford, identified that mass panic-buying petrol within the UK is behavioural, but notes that the UK does have petrol stocks for a couple of weeks to match normal consumption rates.
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