U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned on Monday (March 9) that the warfare in opposition to Iran could possibly be short-lived, however he left open the potential of an escalation in combating if international oil provides are disrupted by the Islamic Republic, which selected a brand new hard-line supreme chief.
Oil costs briefly shot to their highest degree since 2022 a day after Iran chosen Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme chief. Buyers noticed it as a sign that Iran was digging in 10 days into the warfare launched by the USA and Israel.
West Asia battle oil hike, market reactions LIVE updates
However costs later fell and U.S. shares rose on hopes that the warfare with Iran could not final for much longer.
“We took just a little tour” to the Center East “to eliminate some evil. And, I believe you will notice it’s going to be a short-term tour”, Mr. Trump advised Republican lawmakers at his golf membership close to Miami.
Hours later, Mr. Trump posted on social media: “If Iran does something that stops the stream of Oil inside the Strait of Hormuz, they are going to be hit by the USA of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they’ve been hit so far.”
In an obvious response to Mr. Trump’s remarks printed in Iranian state media, a spokesperson for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naini, mentioned, “Iran will decide when the warfare ends.”
The warfare has choked off main provides of oil and fuel to world markets and despatched gasoline costs rising throughout the U.S. The combating has additionally led foreigners to flee from enterprise hubs and prompted tens of millions to hunt shelter as bombs hit navy bases, authorities buildings, oil and water installations, resorts and at the very least one faculty.
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Mr. Trump additionally had a name on Monday (March 9) with Russian President Vladimir Putin to debate the warfare and different points. Putin’s overseas affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, mentioned Mr. Putin “voiced a number of concepts concerning a fast political and diplomatic settlement” of the battle following his conversations with Gulf leaders and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Khamenei, a secretive 56-year-old cleric, is just the third supreme chief within the historical past of the Islamic Republic. He has shut ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has been firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states since his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had dominated since 1989, was killed in the course of the warfare’s opening salvo.
A number of strikes shake Tehran
Dozens of explosions have been heard in Tehran in what was thought of the heaviest air raid on the capital because the warfare began on February 28. Iranian media didn’t report on damages and casualties.
Israel mentioned on Monday that it was finishing up “a wide-scale wave of strikes” on the Iranian metropolis of Isfahan, in addition to Tehran and in southern Iran. The Israeli navy mentioned it hit dozens of infrastructure websites, together with the drone headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard.
In the meantime, Israel’s navy alerted the inhabitants all through the day about incoming missiles from Iran. From Lebanon, Iran-backed Hezbollah additionally fired rockets into Israel on Monday (March 9).
Mr. Trump mentioned the USA was nearing its aim to remove Iran’s ballistic-missile stockpile and its means to supply and launch them. The administration has provided shifting rationales and timelines because the begin of the battle.
He additionally talked about “constructing a brand new nation”, a remark that appeared to counsel the US could be engaged within the constructing of a brand new Iran.
Trump likes thought of one other ‘inside’ candidate to guide Iran
1000’s poured right into a central sq. within the capital, Tehran, and different areas in a present of allegiance to the brand new supreme chief, waving flags and shouting phrases like “Loss of life to America” and “Loss of life to Israel”.
The youthful Mr. Khamenei, who has not been seen in public because the warfare began, was lengthy thought of a possible successor — even earlier than the killing of his 86-year-old father.
Mr. Trump advised reporters that he was “disillusioned” that Mojtaba Khamenei was picked and that he preferred “the thought” of a pacesetter drawn from an “inside” group of candidates, saying that labored nicely with Venezuela.
The youthful Mr. Khamenei is seen as even much less compromising than his late father. As supreme chief, he has the ultimate say on all main insurance policies, together with Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.
Although Iran’s key nuclear websites are in tatters after the US bombed them in the course of the 12-day Israel-Iran warfare in June, it nonetheless has highly-enriched uranium that could be a technical step away from weapons-grade ranges. Khamenei may select to do what his father by no means did — construct a nuclear bomb.
Mr. Trump advised reporters the warfare with Iran began as a result of that nation was engaged on a brand new web site for growing materials for nuclear weapons to switch one bombed final yr by the U.S.
Israel has already described Mr. Khamenei as a possible goal. Mr. Trump mentioned on Monday (March 9) it “can be inappropriate” to say whether or not he can be focused.
U.S. market seesaws over uncertainty of warfare
The U.S. inventory market careened by way of a manic Monday (March 9), going from a steep early loss to a strong acquire as worries became hope that the warfare with Iran could not final that lengthy. Oil costs whipped from almost $120 per barrel, the best since 2022, again towards $90.
Iran’s assaults within the Strait of Hormuz have all however stopped tankers from utilizing the delivery lane by way of which a fifth of the world’s oil is carried, and Iranian drones and missiles have focused oil and fuel infrastructure in main producers. Assaults on service provider ships close to the strait have killed at the very least seven mariners, in line with the Worldwide Maritime Organisation.
Printed – March 10, 2026 09:03 am IST