Iran has reportedly closed the Strait of Hormuz again, less than 24 hours after agreeing to a ceasefire deal with the United States. According to reports, Iran considers Israel’s continued and intensifying attacks on Lebanon a violation of the ceasefire.
CBS cited Iranian media as also reporting Iran was considering canceling the deal altogether, adding that when asked to verify the information in the reports, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said that President Trump was aware of the reports but they were “false”.
The AP, meanwhile, wrote earlier today that Iranian media had published a chart suggesting the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps had mined the Strait of Hormuz. The chart, wrote the AP, showed a section of the passage marked as “danger zone”. The section was along the route that vessels normally take when traversing the strait.
Oil prices, which fell below $100 per barrel following the news of the ceasefire, are now starting to climb back up as the belief that the deal would hold for two whole weeks appears to be scarce. Reports about Iran attacking Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline did not help fuel optimism, either.
The East-West pipeline has been serving as Saudi Arabia’s primary remaining export outlet since the war began in late February, with roughly 5 million barrels daily of crude exported via the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $97.10 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate was at $97.59 per barrel, up by 2.5% and 3.4%, respectively, from Wednesday’s close.
President Trump said earlier in the week that U.S. forces deployed to the Middle East would remain there “until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.”
“In the meantime, our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest,” the president of the United States also said on his social media platform TruthSocial.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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