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Donald Trump’s prime-time address to the nation sent oil prices surging back above $100 per barrel after he repeated his threat to bomb Iran ‘back to the Stone Ages’.
The US president covered little latest ground in his 19-minute speech, declining to set out a concrete plan for ending the war beyond boasting that the job will likely be finished ‘very fast’.
He swerved other major unresolved issues like access to the Strait of Hormuz – once more telling countries, including many US allies, reliant on Gulf oil to ‘take the lead’ – and the status of Iran’s enriched uranium.
Oil rose, stocks fell and the dollar firmed shortly after the speech, reflecting widespread concern that the conflict is prone to drag on for a while.
Despite frequently mocking Iran’s navy and air force as having been decimated by US and Israeli air raids, Trump said the nation will proceed to be hit ‘extremely hard’ for one more two or three weeks.
‘We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong,’ he added.
‘Within the meantime, discussions are ongoing. Yet if during this time frame, no deal is made, we have now our eyes on key targets.’
Those key targets, he said, can be Iran’s electricity generation and oil infrastructure.
Oil jumps over 5% after Trump says US to maintain up attacks on Iran
Oil prices climbed greater than $5 on Thursday, as President Donald Trump said america would keep up attacks on Iran without committing to a particular timeline to end the war, fanning investor fears about sustained disruptions to provide.
Brent crude futures rose $6.33, or 6.3%, to $107.49 per barrel by 0407 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $5.28, or 5.3%, to $105.40 per barrel.
The gains followed an earlier fall of greater than $1 in each benchmarks prior to Trump’s televised speech to the nation, after having settled lower in the previous session.
Trump added that countries that get most of their oil supply from the Gulf region should take the lead in opening the strait.
The UK, France and other US allies have said they’re willing to assist to maintain the waterway open – but only after hostilities have ceased.
‘They’ll do it easily,’ Trump said. ‘We will likely be helpful, but they need to take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately rely on.’
Trump ticked through a timeline of past American involvement in conflicts and noted that the continued war in Iran had lasted just 32 days, seeming to appeal for more time to realize his goals.
‘World War I lasted one 12 months, seven months and five days,’ he said. ‘World War II lasted for 3 years, eight months and 25 days.’
Trump, who was referring to the time the US was involved in those wars, also added references to Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.
He said US forces had delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield prior to now 4 weeks.
Trump also insisted military motion was ‘so powerful, so sensible’ that ‘one of the powerful countries’ is ‘really now not a threat’.
Nevertheless, air sirens blared across each Doha and Tel Aviv while he spoke, illustrating how the Islamic Republic remains to be capable of wreak havoc across the Middle East, despite taking heavy losses.
Trump has expressed anger that NATO allies haven’t offered to assist open the strait, even threatening to withdraw from the 76-year-old alliance.
But he made no mention of the bloc in his address.
The speech appeared unlikely to maneuver the needle of public sentiment at a time when polling shows many Americans feel the US military has gone too far in Iran and as gas and oil prices remain high.
In a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted last weekend, 60% of voters said they disapproved of the war, while 35% approved.
Some 66% of respondents said the US should work to finish its involvement within the war quickly, even when that meant not achieving the goals set out by the administration.
Trump, meanwhile, has flirted with options each to escalate and de-escalate the conflict and his next moves are unclear, even to some close advisers.
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