Oil prices surge above $100 as U.S. Navy to blockade Iran’s ports after peace talks fail
Oil tankers and gas tankers were affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, leading to a global energy crisis resulting from the war in the Middle East.
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Crude oil prices rose on Sunday as the U.S. Navy prepared to blockade Iranian ports following the collapse of peace talks over the weekend.
US crude oil Futures contracts for May delivery increased by 8% to $104.40 per barrel as of 18:01 (UTC). International comparison Brent June delivery rose more than 7% to $102.51.
U.S. Central Command said Sunday that the military will block all maritime traffic into and out of Iranian ports at 10 a.m. on Monday. He added that the United States will not prevent the passage of ships coming from Iran to ports outside Iran.
“The blockade will be enforced impartially against ships of all nations entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said in a statement. he said. expression.
President Donald Trump had threatened earlier Sunday to blockade the Strait of Hormuz after the United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement to end the war during negotiations in Pakistan.
“Effective immediately, the U.S. Navy, the Best Navy in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKING all Ships attempting to enter or exit the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said. social media post.
The president said he had ordered the US Navy to find and interdict any ship in international waters that paid Iran a fee for passage through the strait. The narrow sea route is a vital artery connecting Gulf Arab oil producers to global markets.
The decrease in tanker traffic in the Bosphorus due to Iran’s threat of attack triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history. Before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, about 20 percent of global oil supplies passed through the waterway.
It is not yet clear whether Trump will continue air strikes on Iran. The president agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday in exchange for Tehran allowing ships to pass through the strait. He had previously threatened to bomb every bridge and power plant in Iran.
Tehran provided safe passage during the ceasefire, subject to its approval. Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said on Sunday that the “key to the Strait of Hormuz” is in the hands of the Islamic Republic, according to the state news agency. press tv.
According to LSEG data, three supertankers set out on this journey on Saturday. Each ship can carry two million barrels of oil. But traffic, with more than 100 ships sailing per day, is well below pre-war levels.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the U.S. delegation, said Sunday that the talks failed because Iran failed to provide a “positive commitment” that it would not seek nuclear weapons.
“The simple question is: Are we seeing a fundamental commitment from the Iranians not to develop nuclear weapons?” Vance told reporters in Islamabad. he said. “We haven’t seen that yet, hopefully we will.”
Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Muhammad Bagher Galibaf It was stated that the USA “could not gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.”
