Oil prices remained elevated on Thursday, as U.S. and Iranian military forces traded a second round of strikes around the Persian Gulf. Choppy trading in stocks and bonds reflected anxiety among investors about the effects of the war.
President Trump said the latest strikes, which targeted around 90 sites along Iran’s coast, were “retribution” for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for the region’s energy exports. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator in peace talks, said that the strait “will open only under Iranian arrangements, not American threats.”
The International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, recently urged shipowners and operators to avoid sending their ships through the strait. That would set back the recovery in ship traffic since a cease-fire agreement between the United States and Iran was signed last month. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he thought the three-week-old agreement was “over,” although he later suggested that Iran was open to making a deal. Iran has said nothing about new negotiations.
