Iran-US conflict newest: Tehran threatens to ‘completely close’ Strait of Hormuz after Trump points 48-hour ultimatum | EUROtoday

The International Energy Agency is consulting governments in Asia and Europe on releasing extra stockpiled oil “if necessary,” IEA govt director Fatih Birol stated this morning, as he started a world tour beginning in Australia.

“If it is necessary, of course, we will do it. We look at the conditions, we will analyse, assess the markets and discuss with our member countries,” Mr Birol instructed Australia’s National Press Club in Canberra.

IEA member nations agreed on 11 March to launch a file 400 million barrels — 20 per cent of general shares. Mr Birol stated there can be no particular worth set off for an extra launch, cautioning that stockpile drawdowns weren’t an answer in themselves.

“A stock release will help to comfort the markets, but this is not the solution. It will only help to reduce the pain in the economy.”

The conflict on Iran had eliminated 11 million barrels a day from world provide — greater than the 2 Seventies oil shocks mixed.

“The single most important solution to this problem is opening the Hormuz Strait,” he stated.

Maritime intelligence agency Windward AI reported Sunday that Strait of Hormuz visitors was “near collapse,” with solely “16 AIS-visible crossings recorded over the past seven days,” Fox News reported.

Transit is managed more and more stringently, with vessels rerouting through Iran’s territorial waters, the agency stated. Gulf power exports proceed to say no, with crude and LPG flows at current lows, the agency added.

The Israeli army simply stated it has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes concentrating on infrastructure in Tehran, as Iran’s state-run Mizan News Agency reviews explosions throughout a number of elements of the capital.

An airstrike flattened residential buildings in Urmia in northwest Iran, with rescuers trying to find survivors below the rubble, state-affiliated Nour News reported.

At least one individual was killed in a separate strike on a radio station within the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, semi-official Mehr News Agency stated.

The strikes come as US president Donald Trump’s 48-hour deadline for Iran to totally reopen the Strait of Hormuz — or face US strikes on its energy vegetation — approaches its night deadline as we speak. Iran had warned it will goal power and water infrastructure throughout the Gulf, together with desalination vegetation, if its energy grid was attacked.

In a put up on Truth Social Sunday, Donald Trump claimed the “death of Iran” whereas taking purpose on the Democrats.

From his Florida golf retreat, he wrote: “Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The president claimed victory over Tehran on Friday because the conflict enters its fourth week, with strikes persevering with. Despite this, there was no regime change and Iran continues to dam the Strait of Hormuz with a big knock-on impact to world commerce.

The head of the International Energy Agency has warned the world is dealing with an power disaster extra extreme than any in residing reminiscence, saying the present disruption is the equal of “two oil crises and one gas crash put all together.”

Speaking at Australia’s National Press Club in Canberra, IEA director Fatih Birol stated the world had already misplaced 11 million barrels of oil a day — greater than the mixed loss from the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks. Gas losses from the present disaster, at 140 billion cubic metres, have been practically double these brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he stated.

“The global economy is facing a major, major threat today,” Mr Birol stated. “No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction.”

He stated at the very least 40 power belongings throughout the area had been “severely or very severely damaged” and that the IEA was consulting with governments in Asia and Europe about releasing additional stockpiled oil, on high of the file 400 million barrels already agreed this month. Mr Birol added that the disaster was additionally severely affecting petrochemicals and fertilisers, with lasting impacts to observe.

Goldman Sachs has raised its 2026 common worth forecast for Brent crude to $85 a barrel from $77, and its West Texas Intermediate forecast to $79 from $72, citing prolonged disruptions to crude shipments by the Strait of Hormuz and elevated strategic stockpiling.

The financial institution expects Brent to common $110 a barrel in March and April, up from a previous forecast of $98, as merchants connect a rising danger premium amid uncertainty over how lengthy provide disruptions will final.

In a worst-case situation, Goldman warned oil may hit $135 a barrel “if the market required a risk premium to generate precautionary demand destruction offsetting supply destruction over six months in a risk scenario of 10 weeks of very low flows and two million barrels a day of persistent production losses.”

Americans are extra confused concerning the Trump administration’s objectives in launching a conflict with Iran now than when President Donald Trump initiated the army strikes in February, a brand new survey from CBS News and YouGov discovered.

In a survey carried out between March 17 and March 20, roughly 68 % of the three,300 respondents stated the administration had but to obviously clarify the objectives of attacking Iran.

That’s six proportion factors larger than when the identical query was requested in an analogous survey carried out between March 2 and March 4 – shortly after the U.S. and Israel launched missiles towards Iran.

Gas costs may stay excessive till summer time, Patrick de Haan, head of petroleum evaluation at on-line worth tracker GasBuddy, instructed CNN on Sunday.

He stated he thinks the nationwide common for gasoline costs will doubtless hit $4 per gallon tomorrow – and that “may just be the tip of the iceberg.”

“Gas prices are not done climbing yet,” de Haan added.

Gas costs have soared to a mean of $3.91 nationwide as of Friday, up 93 cents from February 28, when the US-Israeli battle with Iran started.

Iran is charging some tankers $2 million to move by the Strait of Hormuz, Fox News is reporting.

Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi instructed state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Sunday that the huge toll marks the beginning of a brand new strategy to controlling the waterway, Iran International reported.

“Collecting $2 million as transit fees from some vessels crossing the strait reflects Iran’s strength,” Boroujerdi stated throughout a TV program cited by Iranian media.

At least one individual has been killed and one other injured in an airstrike within the Iranian gulf port of Bandar Abbas, the New York Times and the Guardian are reporting citing Tasnim, a semiofficial Iranian information company affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

A state broadcaster’s radio transmitter was struck in a U.S.-Israeli assault. The port metropolis is on Iran’s southern coast on the strait of Hormuz.