Oil prices climbed in early Asian trading Monday after Iran launched missiles at Israel for the first time since a fragile ceasefire between the two countries and the United States took effect in April. The global benchmark Brent crude rose 2.6% to $95.50 a barrel, while U.S.-traded West Texas Intermediate crude added 2.5% to $92.75, according to BBC News.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that the attacks mark the beginning of “a full week” of strikes, the BBC reported. The latest escalation comes more than seven weeks after a ceasefire was signed on 17 April between Iran, Israel and the United States, ending months of open hostilities that began with U.S.-led strikes on Iran in late February.
U.S. President Donald Trump has told Axios that he will urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate. “I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate,” Trump told the outlet, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “We are very close to a final deal with Iran. It is going to be a good deal. I don’t want it to blow up because of what is happening now,” the president is quoted as saying.
The ceasefire has been precarious since its inception. The BBC reported that the agreement has been “violated repeatedly by both Israel and Iran.” Oil markets have been volatile throughout the period, with crude surging after the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February and swinging sharply with each escalation or diplomatic signal.
Prior to Monday’s attack, oil prices had hovered around $95 a barrel in the past week as traders weighed the long-term impact of the conflict on global energy supplies. The war has disrupted oil and gas shipments from the Gulf after Iran threatened to strike vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade route through which about a fifth of the world’s petroleum passes.
Israel’s military has said it will “strike the enemy” as soon as the order is given, the BBC reported, though Trump’s call to Netanyahu could influence the timing and scale of any response. The president’s reported intervention underscores the administration’s effort to preserve a diplomatic resolution while managing a conflict that has repeatedly destabilized global energy markets.