Oil price surge rattles markets; Iranians appear conflicted on choice of leader.
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 52 minutes ago
- 4 min read
By FARNAZ FASSIHI, YAN ZHUANG and AARON BOXERMAN
Oil and stock prices gyrated around the world Monday, reflecting global fears of a prolonged Middle East conflict, while fresh Israeli and U.S. strikes pummeled Iran, and Iran launched attacks at its neighbors.
With the toll in casualties and destruction rising, oil prices spiked sharply and then fell just as sharply, trading around $90 a barrel by late Monday afternoon. The price of the international benchmark crude had jumped briefly to almost $120, then fell back as top officials from the United States and six other industrialized nations met to try to ensure the world doesn’t run out of fuel. It dropped again after President Donald Trump suggested to CBS News that the war could be nearing an end.
The Group of 7 countries met by video Monday and decided not to tap into their oil reserves right away. They left open that option, though, effectively signaling that they were not yet worried about an acute shortage. The price of gasoline in the United States jumped again Monday to an average of $3.48 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club, a more than 16% increase since the first U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28 and the highest level since 2024.
After stock slides in Asia and Europe, U.S. markets fell to start the day, but rebounded strongly. Investors appear increasingly worried about the lack of a clear off-ramp for the fighting, which has spread across the Middle East, disrupted oil supplies and raised costs for consumers and businesses.
Trump’s plans for the next steps in the war, let alone its endgame, remained unclear and Iran showed no sign of bowing to his demand for unconditional surrender, instead naming a son of its slain supreme leader as his successor despite Trump saying he was “unacceptable.” Trump was due to speak to reporters Monday afternoon.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, boasted on social media about soaring oil prices and called the attacks on his country “Operation Epic Mistake.” He added, “We, too, have many surprises in store.”
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was appointed by senior clerics Monday, after Israeli threats to kill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s successor. Iran’s military and hard-line political forces trumpeted the selection, but in Tehran, the capital, opponents of the government were heard chanting “Death to Mojtaba” from their windows — reflecting widespread if muted dissent.
As the conflict raged into its 10th day, U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran had killed about 1,300 people, according to Iranian officials, while Iranian attacks across the Middle East killed more than 30. The Israeli military said it had killed more than 1,900 Iranians.
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes have killed almost 500 people, state media reported, and more than 600,000 people have been displaced, according to President Joseph Aoun. In response to rocket fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah, Israeli forces have pushed into southern Lebanon and bombarded Hezbollah strongholds.
A ballistic missile launched from Iran targeted Turkey before being downed by NATO defenses, the Turkish Defense Ministry said. It was the second such announcement in six days. Officials said a previous Iranian attack, on March 4, had been aimed at the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.
Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance, whose nations are bound to defend one another. Iran denied targeting Turkey and has yet to comment on Monday’s announcement.
At least one person was killed in Israel during an Iranian missile attack Monday morning, according to Magen David Adom, the Israeli emergency service, raising the death toll in the country to at least 11. Saudi Arabia said Monday it had intercepted attacks headed toward the kingdom’s massive Shaybah oil field, drones over Riyadh, the capital, and ballistic missiles targeting a Saudi air base.
In Bahrain, the state-owned energy company declared it could no longer fulfill its contracts, citing the continuing fighting and a recent attack on its refinery complex.
Here’s what else we’re covering:
— New leader: Iran’s new supreme leader is known as a hard-liner who has close ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. He is not just Iran’s new religious and political authority but also the commander in chief of its armed forces.
— Gulf states: The civilian toll of Iranian retaliatory strikes has continued to rise in Arab states along the Persian Gulf. Bahrain’s Health Ministry said 32 people had been injured, including children, in an Iranian drone strike Monday on the island of Sitra. Qatar blamed Iran for the deaths of two civilians Sunday in Saudi Arabia, saying an attack had targeted a residential facility.
— School hit: A newly released video adds to the evidence that a U.S. missile likely hit an Iranian elementary school where 175 people, many of them children, were reported killed. The evidence contradicts Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for the strike.
— Lebanon: Israeli ground forces raided a new area of southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military, part of an effort to carve out and expand a buffer zone inside the country. Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting for the past week since the Lebanese armed group, which is backed by Iran, shot rockets at Israeli territory.
— Aid from Ukraine: Ukraine sent interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to help protect U.S. military bases in Jordan, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with The New York Times. The United States made the request for help on Thursday, and the Ukrainian team was expected to arrive in the Middle East soon, he said.