Oil prices surged in early Asian trading on Monday after the United States announced it had seized an Iranian cargo ship, while Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz after briefly reopening the waterway over the weekend.
Brent crude futures jumped as much as 7% to $97.50 a barrel before settling at $95.71 a barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the military had fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that attempted to breach the U.S. blockade, and the vessel was seized.
Iran condemned the move and vowed revenge, according to state media. This came after Tehran reopened the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, only to close it again less than 24 hours later. Oil prices had fallen by more than 9% on Friday after Iran initially announced the reopening.
Tehran then fired on several ships that attempted to transit the strait over the weekend.
These developments signaled a deepening of tensions between the United States and Iran, raising questions about whether further peace talks were possible even before the two-week ceasefire expired on April 21.
Trump said US envoys would arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening for further talks, while Iranian state media reported that Tehran had rejected more peace negotiations.
The US-Israeli standoff with Iran entered its eighth week, with weekend developments offering little prospect of an immediate de-escalation. Ongoing disruptions to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz are expected to keep crude prices supported in the coming days.$BTC $ETH #CZ’sBinanceSquareAMA #BitcoinPriceTrends #USInitialJoblessClaimsBelowForecast #Kalshi’sDisputewithNevada
