As it happened: FTSE 100 rises to defy tech gloom; oil creeps up on fresh Iran tensions
Donald Trump warned the US will “finish the job” in Iran leaving investors unnerved as he renewed military threats following the funeral of Tehran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil – traded above $72 per barrel on the news, but did remain close to its lowest levels in more than four months. The rising supply has provided a boost to the market in the last week as more vessels were able to make their way through the Strait of Hormuz.
But stalling talks between the US and Iran threaten to derail the recovery. Negotiations for a lasting peace deal ended without any public sign of headway last week.
A 60-day ceasefire is currently in place – set to expire next month – with the goal of giving some space for diplomacy.
“We’re either going to make a deal or we’re going to finish the job… and it won’t be tough to finish the job. I’d rather make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 m people,” Donald Trump said in the Oval Office.
“We can knock down their bridges in one hour, we can knock out their energy supply…. They don’t have any money now. We haven’t given them any money.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr branded Trump’s threat “delusional.”
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