Oil Price Tumbles to $90 As Trump Insists Choice of New Iran Leader ‘Big Mistake’

• Says war ‘ll be short-lived 

•US accuses Tehran of attempting to hold world hostage 

•Putin offers support to Iran’s new supreme leader

• Starmer warns of bigger impact on economy

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Oil price fell below $90 per barrel yesterday, after surging to nearly $120, following United States President Donald Trump’s remarks of a possible end to the war soon.

The prices of Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate went back below $90 a barrel. Wall Street stocks closed higher as oil prices eased.

Also, G7 finance ministers said the group “stands ready” to release petroleum from emergency reserves. Earlier on Monday, the oil price had surged to $119, the highest level since 2022.

Stocks rallied and oil fell after it was reported that Trump said the US-Israeli war with Iran was “very far ahead of schedule” and “very complete, pretty much.”

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, slid below $90 a barrel after the president’s comments. It had surged overnight, hitting its highest intraday level since mid-2022. The US benchmark dropped to about $85 a barrel, after surging above $119 earlier.

Stocks opened the session lower, but pared declines as the oil slide moderated, then rallied into the close after Trump’s latest remarks. The Nasdaq composite led indexes with a gain of 1.4 per cent. The Dow industrials rose 239 points after being down almost 900 points in early trading.

One turning point came when France’s Finance Minister said the Group of Seven advanced economies was prepared to release strategic oil reserves to stabilise the global energy market if necessary. The remarks came after an extraordinary meeting of the group and as Gulf oil producers cut production amid shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

The bond markets remained volatile, with the 10-year US Treasury yield pushing above 4.2 per cent before retreating back near 4.1 per cent. The dollar turned lower late in the day. Investors in recent days have feared that the energy-price spike could feed inflation and damp growth, raising the spectre of stagflation.

Trump yesterday warned that Iran made a “big mistake” by choosing Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader, as Washington accused Tehran of holding the world hostage through escalating military actions and threats to global energy supplies amid the expanding Middle East war.

Trump had repeatedly dismissed Iran’s new leader as unacceptable and suggested he would not last long without US approval, a remark that Iranian officials rejected as interference in the country’s internal political process.  Also, Trump indicated yesterday that the ongoing war will be short-lived.

The leadership transition came days after the death of Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, an event that dramatically escalated tensions and triggered a succession process that culminated in the appointment of his son, Mojtaba, marking the first quasi-dynastic transfer of power in the Islamic Republic.

But Iran defended the appointment, with its political and military establishment calling for unity under the new leader as the war with Israel and its allies continued to intensify across the region.

The conflict had already disrupted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and driven global oil prices sharply higher, raising fears of broader geopolitical and economic fallout if the war continued to spread beyond Iran and Israel.

Russia on Monday threw its weight behind Iran’s new leadership, with President Vladimir Putin congratulating Mojtaba Khamenei and pledging Moscow’s “unwavering support”.

Putin described Russia as a reliable partner for Tehran at a time when the country was facing what he called armed aggression.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that the conflict could have far-reaching economic consequences, cautioning that prolonged hostilities in the Middle East may disrupt global oil flows and place additional strain on already fragile international markets.

Trump: Iran’s New Supreme Leader Big Mistake, War to End Soon

“I think they made a big mistake” in selecting Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump told NBC News.

He earlier described Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son as a “light weight”. Trump also said it’s “too soon to talk about” seizing Iran’s oil but he “doesn’t rule it out”.

Besides, Trump said Monday that the war against Iran would be a “short-term excursion,” while insisting that the United States and Israel “haven’t won enough” against Tehran.

Trump’s comments at a gathering of congressional Republicans at his golf club in Doral, Florida, cast further uncertainty over his timeline after he said in a CBS News interview that the conflict was “very complete, pretty much.”

Trump said in a speech, “We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some people. And I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion.”

The 79-year-old repeated his boasts about the destruction of the Iranian navy, air force and missile programme. But Trump — whose earlier CBS comments indicating an end to the war was in sight had caused stocks to jump and oil prices to drop — added that the United States and Israel had more to do.

“We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” Trump said, calling for “ultimate victory” against Iran. Referring to the killing of former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian leaders, Trump added that the United States “will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.”

Rubio: Iran Holding World Hostage

US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, on Monday accused Iran of trying to “hold the world hostage” through its retaliatory missile and drone strikes across the Gulf region.

Speaking at a state department event honouring wrongfully detained Americans and hostages, Rubio said the United States remains “well on our way” to achieving its objectives in the ongoing conflict.

“I think we are all seeing right now the threat this clerical regime poses to the region and to the world. They are trying to hold the world hostage,” Rubio said. “They are attacking neighbouring countries, their energy infrastructure, their civilian population. The objective of this mission is to destroy their ability to continue to do that, and we are well on our way to achieving that,” AFP quoted him as saying.

The remarks come weeks after the United States and Israel carried out attacks on Iran on February 28, which included the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic republic’s longtime supreme leader. Since then, Iran has launched missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and Gulf Arab states, which host US military bases.

Rubio highlighted the case of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared on Kish Island in 2007, stating that Levinson’s presumed death underscored the nature of the Iranian regime. “Levinson is particularly a reminder of the nature of the regime that we’re dealing with in Tehran,” Rubio said. “They were founded, unfortunately, on an assault on the brave men and women of our foreign and civil service,” referring to the 1979 US embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

The secretary of state was joined at the event by family members of Levinson and other Americans who were wrongfully detained abroad.

Putin Offers “Unwavering Support” to New Supreme Leader

The Russian leader congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday morning following his appointment by the regime’s Assembly of Experts. Putin said he was confident Khamenei would continue his father’s work “with honour” and unite the Iranian people “in the face of severe trials”.

He added that Russia would continue to stand by Tehran, saying he wished to confirm “unwavering support for Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends”.

China: Choice of Iran’s New Leader Constitutional Matter

The Chinese government has also warned against any targeting of Khamenei by the US-Israeli military campaign.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday that the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s third supreme leader was a decision based on the country’s constitution.

Spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a related query, saying China has noticed relevant media reports.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts announced on Sunday that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, had been selected as Iran’s new supreme leader, according to media reports.

Mojtaba Khamenei, born in 1969, is the son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes.

Starmer Warns of Bigger Impact on Economy

The longer the Iran war goes on, the more likely the impact on the economy, UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer said yesterday. Addressing the war in Iran, Starmer acknowledged that the longer the conflict went on the greater the likely impact on the UK’s economy.

The prime minister said, “The job of government is obviously to get ahead, to look around the corner, to work with others, and the chancellor speaks to the governor of the Bank of England on a daily basis, with looking cross-departmental within government, assessing the risks, monitoring and talking to our international partners as well about what more we can do together to reduce the likely impact on people here and businesses here, of course.

“But it is important to acknowledge that that work is needed, because people will sense, you will sense I think, that the longer this goes on, the more likely the potential for an impact on our economy, impact into the lives and households of everybody and every business.

“And our job is to get ahead of that, to look around the corner, assess the risk, monitor the risks, and work with others in relation to that.”