Oil Prices Jump After U.S. Vows Toughest Sanctions on Iran
Rose 2.4% to $93.78 a barrel after the U.S. signaled tougher sanctions on Iran. The move came as Washington, the UAE and traders reacted to rising geopolitical…
NEW YORK — Brent oil price rose 2.4% to close at $93.78 a barrel on Thursday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would impose the toughest sanctions in history against Iran.
West Texas Intermediate for October delivery also climbed, ending 2.7% higher at $86.64. The rally came as President Donald Trump escalated pressure on Tehran and investors reassessed the risk of disruption in a market already sensitive to conflict in the region.
Sanctions and military signals push crude higher
Bessent told CNBC, “We have the blockade and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history.” He added: “This will work. It worked in Venezuela once we put up the blockade. It is working in Cuba right now and it is going to work in Iran, and we are going to collapse this regime.”
He also said he will hold a press conference Monday to lay out Trump’s plan to wage “economic warfare” against Iran. That message mattered for oil traders because sanctions can tighten supply expectations fast, even before any barrels actually disappear from the market.
Trump on Wednesday warned Iran with the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!” in a Truth Social post. He said any country that does business with Iran will face economic consequences. Oil prices rose more than 3% earlier in the session on that threat before easing into the close.
Bessent argued the market was reading the president’s comments the wrong way. “I’m not sure why oil has popped up on this,” he said. “If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart.”
Why the move matters for markets
The move in Brent oil price matters because it feeds directly into global fuel costs, shipping expenses, and inflation expectations. When crude climbs this fast, refiners and fuel suppliers tend to feel the pressure first, and consumers usually notice later through higher gasoline and transport costs.
The latest jump also comes after the UAE said Wednesday it was halting all trade and financial transactions with Iran after the Gulf state said it had come under fire from the Islamic Republic on Tuesday. The UAE is one of Iran’s key commercial partners, so the decision sharpened fears that trade flows in the region could be hit from more than one direction.
Elsewhere, oil prices had already been climbing on the broader Iran conflict. The Guardian reported that Brent crude rose above $90 a barrel earlier in the week for the first time since July 30, while a cargo ship was attacked while travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency. That narrow waterway remains a critical route for energy shipments, and traders have been quick to price in any sign that traffic through it could slow.
For now, the market is watching two things at once: whether the sanctions pressure turns into tighter physical flows, and whether the rhetoric from Washington and Tehran keeps pushing risk premiums higher. Bessent said Monday’s briefing will set out the next stage.
