Oil prices tumbled from four-year highs on Monday after Donald Trump suggested the US-Israel war on Iran could end “very soon”. Brent crude, which surged beyond $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022, fell back sharply to settle at $98.96. The S&P 500 also recovered to close higher.
In an interview with CBS News, Trump claimed the war on Iran was “very complete, pretty much”. However, at a press conference in Florida, he offered vague and contradictory forecasts, saying the conflict could end “soon” but evading questions on whether it would wrap up this week. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had earlier described the campaign as “just the beginning”.
Meanwhile, US Vice-President JD Vance and Hegseth attended a dignified transfer ceremony for the seventh US soldier killed in the Middle East war. Army Sergeant Benjamin Pennington, 26, died on Sunday from injuries sustained in a 1 March strike on Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia. Six other fallen soldiers have been returned to US soil.
In other developments, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un said a missile test from a naval destroyer showed progress in arming ships with nuclear weapons. The widening Middle East war has likely reinforced Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung acknowledged that Seoul cannot stop US forces from redeploying some Patriot missile defence systems to the Middle East, though it expressed opposition.
