Late on Sunday, market participants were preparing for a sharp increase in crude oil prices, following Donald Trump’s pledge to persist with the U.S. armed campaign against Iran until all of Washington’s goals were accomplished.
These pronouncements by Trump, shared in a six-minute video on his Truth Social platform that Sunday, emerged as the U.S. president confronted the initial American losses in the hostilities and presented divergent views regarding the war’s purposes.
Trump declared in the video that the joint U.S. and Israeli assaults — which had already struck over 1,000 locations and resulted in the deaths of Iran’s paramount leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several senior military figures — would “persist until all of our objectives are achieved,” though he refrained from detailing what those exact aims entailed.
Regarding the Iranian government, he asserted, “They have initiated hostilities against civilization itself.”
However, Trump cautioned that “there will likely be more” American service member fatalities, contending that Washington’s “measures are just and essential.” So far, three U.S. troops had perished, with five others gravely injured.
In response, Iran had initiated counter-attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial maritime passage for approximately one-fifth of the globe’s oil, approached a complete halt as the emergency in the Middle East intensified.
Commodity dealers were anticipating Brent crude, the global benchmark, to soar by up to 15 percent from its Friday closing price of $72.87 per barrel. Transactions were slated to commence at 6 PM New York time.
Goldman Sachs conveyed in an advisory to its clients on Sunday: “The primary conduit through which the Iranian predicament influences the worldwide financial system and broader financial markets is its effect on energy markets, where the seriousness and anticipated duration are paramount.”
Trump had provided multiple justifications for the assaults against Iran, encompassing governmental overthrow, hindering Tehran’s acquisition of atomic armaments, safeguarding U.S. citizens, and supporting Iranian demonstrators who had demanded considerable reforms within their nation.
The U.S. president declared he had honored his pledge to the Iranian populace. He added that the nation’s destiny would now be under their control, following Washington’s most notable endeavor to topple the Islamist government since its rise to authority in the 1979 uprising.
He implored Iranians who “long for liberty to grasp this opportunity, to show courage, be audacious, act valiantly, and reclaim your nation. The U.S. stands by you. I made a commitment to you, and I delivered on that commitment. The rest will be your responsibility, but we’ll be there to offer assistance.”
In January, amidst the government’s severe suppression of widespread protests across Iran, Trump had conveyed to Iranians via a social media message that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” and had almost authorized attacks before ultimately desisting.