Oil prices have surged past the $100 per barrel mark as markets respond to President Donald Trump’s decision to impede Iranian-bound ships from accessing the Strait of Hormuz.
This morning, President Trump took to Truth Social to confirm that the United States will enforce the blockade starting Monday at 3 p.m. UK time. This comes after his announcement on Sunday, following the breakdown of peace talks.
The US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will align with an existing Iranian blockade, as tensions remain high in the wake of the unsuccessful 21-hour negotiation session over the weekend.
On Monday, the price of benchmark US crude oil spiked by $8.38, marking an 8.7 percent increase, bringing it to $104.95 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose by $7.00, or 7.4 percent, reaching $102.23 per barrel.
Oil prices have been rising as shipping through the strait has essentially stalled since late February.
Brent crude oil has gone from roughly $70 per barrel before the war in late February to more than $119 at times.
The President spoke to the press at Joint Base Andrews Sunday night where he continued to blame NATO for not helping the United States defeat Iran.
‘I’m very disappointed in NATO. They weren’t there for us. We pay trillions of dollars for NATO and they weren’t there for us,’ he said.
Oil prices spiked back over $100 a barrel as the markets reacted to Donald Trump’s announcement of a blockade preventing access to the Strait of Hormuz for Iranian bound ships
Trump’s blockade comes on top of one already in place by Iran and continuing after a failed 21-hour peace negotiation over the weekend
He once again threatened the US place within the alliance, which has frayed ever since Trump first took office in 2017.
‘We spend trillions of dollars on NATO to guard against Russia and I’ve long thought it was a little ridiculous. We spend trillions of dollars filling it and I think that’s going to be under very serious examination.’
The President, speaking earlier Sunday on Fox News, announced that NATO would ‘begrudgingly’ support the US in securing the Strait. He called NATO ‘shameful,’ claiming that ‘they weren’t there for us, and they won’t be there for us.’
Trump said he was ‘very disappointed’ in the UK, comparing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to infamous Adolf Hitler appeaser Neville Chamberlain.
‘[Starmer] made a public statement: “We will send equipment after the war is over.” That’s a Neville Chamberlain-type statement,’ Trump told Fox.
A UK government spokesperson pushed back against Trump’s claims, noting that the UK will not be involved in the Strait of Hormuz blockade .
‘We continue to support freedom of navigation and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which is urgently needed to support the global economy and the cost of living back home ,’ the UK government spokesperson noted.
Analysts said global trading was expected to remain turbulent for some time due to the failure of the talks.
Traffic in the Strait has been limited even in the days since the ceasefire. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire
‘Not only does this restrain exports from Persian Gulf oil producers, it will restrict Iran’s ability to export oil and will exacerbate the supply disruptions the market is experiencing,’ ANZ Bank said.
‘As we stand here at the moment, it doesn’t look very nice. Certainly, the oil prices are a big concern,’ added Neil Newman, Managing Director, Head of Strategy at Astris Advisory Japan, said in Hong Kong.
The pain is sharpest at the gas pump, where prices have hit $4.20 a gallon – up more than a dollar since the war began – piling pressure on Trump to end the conflict.
Other parts of the world, especially Asia, are even more reliant on the Strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world’s crude flows.
Following Trump’s post this morning, Iran’s navy commander laughed off the threat to blockade ships from 3pm.
Shahram Irani released a statement through Iranian state media, claiming the navy is ‘tracking and monitoring all movements of the aggressor US military in the region’.
‘The threats of the US president following the humiliating defeat of his army in the third imposed war, a naval blockade on Iran, are very ridiculous and laughable,’ he said.
Meanwhile, both Trump and the Iranian leadership suggested Americans could continue to pay big prices at the pump, even leading into the crucial November midterms.
Trump was far from reassuring when Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo pressed him on whether gas prices would fall before the midterms.
‘It could be the same or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,’ Trump told Bartiromo on Sunday.
Trump told Bartiromo he did not think the war would last much longer and that Iran was ‘wiped out,’ before rounding on US media outlets for highlighting how ‘wonderful [Iran is] doing militarily.’
White House spokesman Kush Desai said that Trump ‘has been clear about short-term disruptions’ from the war, and the administration ‘has been diligently working with the private sector to mitigate these disruptions.’
After Trump’s blockade announcement Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – who led negotiations with JD Vance on behalf of Iran – warned Americans that ‘soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4-$5 gas,’ The New York Times reported.
Rachel Ziemba of the Center for a New American Progress suggested that the period for negotiations to slow this process down may be over.
‘The de-escalation window for the global economy, such as it was, is over for now,’ she told The Wall Street Journal. ‘Iran is betting they can hold out longer than the US and the global economy.’
In a Truth Social post published Sunday morning, Trump wrote that all three US representatives, Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, ‘as all of this time went by, became, not surprisingly, very friendly and respectful of Iran’s Representatives, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Abbas Araghchi, and Ali Bagheri.’
However, Trump also noted that the niceties don’t, ‘matter because they were very unyielding as to the single most important issue and, as I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, Iran Will Never Have A Nuclear Weapon!’
Neither side indicated what will happen after the 14-day ceasefire expires on April 22. Pakistani mediators urged all parties to maintain it.
Trump announced the US will blockade the Strait of Hormuz earlier on Sunday morning after peace talks with Iran collapsed.
JD Vance (pictured right) announces that the peace talks broke down in a press conference with Jared Kushner (pictured left) and Steve Witkoff (pictured center)
‘Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,’ Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday.
The President said that Iran was ‘unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions’ as Vice President JD Vance returned from peace talks in Pakistan empty-handed.
‘I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran,’ Trump added. ‘No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.’
‘Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!’ Trump said.
US Central Command confirmed the blockade of ‘all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports’ will start on Monday at 10am ET.
‘All mariners are advised to… contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches,’ CENTCOM said in a statement.
Vessels using the strait to travel to and from non-Iranian ports will not be impeded.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on social media Sunday that the Department of Justice is supporting the blockade.
Iranians gather at Enqelab Square to protest against the United States and Israel
A view shows a large billboard displayed at Vanak Square in Tehran
‘The Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute anyone who buys or sells sanctioned Iranian oil,’ Blanche wrote.
However, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei promised Iran has ‘large, untouched levers’ to strike back against Trump’s blockage, quipping that they cannot be pressured by ‘tweets and imaginary plans.’
Iran has been effectively controlling the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil shipping.
Around a fifth of the world´s traded oil typically flows through the waterway every day.
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Iran are all major exporters.
Traffic in the Strait has been limited even in the days since the ceasefire. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire.
The president claimed that the threat posed by the Iranian Navy is ‘gone’ from the key waterway thanks to the US military assault on the nation since February 28.
However, experts have warned that though much of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ large battleships have been destroyed, the smaller boats that control the Strait are still intact.
This means the US servicemen sent to the narrow waterway – which is only about 35 kilometers wide – will be sitting ducks for attacks by the IRGC.
A US official familiar with the deliberations told The Daily Mail that at the outset of the talks, it was clear that the Iranians did not properly apprehend America’s core objective, which was that any potential deal has and always would have at its center the fact that Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon.
Over the course of the deliberations, the Vice President corrected this misunderstanding and used his time with his counterparts to probe their own assessments of their positions, per the US official.
The official also conveyed that the Iranians need to recognize that the realities on the ground do not reflect the assumptions they held when they arrived at the negotiations before they will be ready to entertain a serious offer.
The Vice President still believes that a deal remains on the table, and that it is on the Iranians to accept it.
Trump also noted on Sunday morning that he instructed the US Navy ‘to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran,’ Trump added. ‘No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.’
‘Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!’ Trump said.
Meanwhile, Trump launched a scathing attack on Pope Leo overnight, after the head of the Catholic Church said God rejected the prayers of leaders who start wars and have their ‘hands full of blood’ in a speech last month.
The Pope also called Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation as ‘truly unacceptable’ and said the conflict was ‘atrocious.’
Posting on Truth Social overnight, the US leader said the Pope was ‘weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy’, adding that he didn’t want ‘a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.’
‘Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,’ Trump continued.
