Oil Hits $100 as Trump Calls War Costs a ‘Very Small Price to Pay’

As global oil prices crossed $100 per barrel, the US president dismissed concerns about the economic impact of the Iran-Israel conflict, describing the surge in energy costs as a very small price to pay. The remarks came as Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities killed four workers and sent black smoke billowing across Tehran.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded with blunt defiance, warning that if attacks on energy infrastructure continued, they would work to push global oil prices to $200 per barrel. The threat underscored the extent to which energy had become a central weapon in the conflict, with both sides targeting fuel storage and distribution facilities.
Gulf states were simultaneously absorbing Iranian strikes. Saudi Arabia intercepted 15 drones, Bahrain’s desalination plant was damaged, and two civilians were killed in a residential strike in Saudi Arabia. A US service member died from wounds sustained in an Iranian attack in Saudi Arabia, the seventh American fatality of the conflict.
Iran’s clerical body selected Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader following his father’s death, the first hereditary transfer of power in the Islamic Republic’s history. The appointment was described as intended to preserve national unity, though it was condemned internationally and seen by many as likely to prolong the conflict.
The US energy secretary sought to calm markets, insisting that supply disruptions would last only a few weeks and that Washington would not target Iranian oil facilities. But with the conflict expanding, American troops under attack, and Russian intelligence reportedly aiding Iran, the assurances did little to stop prices from climbing.