Oil Surges 9% as US Strikes Iran for Third Night, Blocks Ports

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi immediately mocked Trump's toll threat, writing on X that "POTUS is absolutely right" that whoever guarantees safe passage should be compensated – that Tehran would charge less. Washington has opposed Tehran's desire to charge tolls in the strait, which international law generally forbids.

Despite all signs to the contrary, Trump said Monday that a deal with Tehran to end the Middle East war was still possible. "Yeah, I think a deal is possible. Sure, I do," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We had a deal with them two days ago and then they said 'Oh we can't make that deal. We have to negotiate it further.'"

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said earlier Monday that the June memorandum of understanding that formed the basis for the negotiations and lifted the US blockade was "in crisis." The previous blockade, in place from April to June, cut off Iranian oil exports and threatened a damaging shutdown of the industry. Baqaei said Iran would ignore its obligations under the deal if the United States did the same, adding that Tehran was continuing talks with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman to prevent further escalation.

Analyst Bader Al-Saif said the escalating attacks would merely delay a permanent agreement. "Both sides want to end the impasse on their own terms, and they are increasingly finding it difficult to do so. Hence the return to and increase in the scale of attacks," said Al-Saif, an associate fellow at Chatham House.

Iranian state media reported deaths in the latest US strikes, which it said targeted large areas across the south and west. At least four explosions were heard Monday east of Bandar Abbas, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported, citing a reporter in the port city's province. At least 25 people have been killed in Iran since hostilities resumed on Wednesday, according to an AFP tally based on Iranian announcements.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday expressed "deep concern" at the regional escalation, including attacks by both sides. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had struck US military targets and bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, state media reported. Air raid alerts sounded in Bahrain, where the military said it shot down a number of Iranian projectiles. Kuwait's army said its forces were intercepting "hostile aerial targets." Jordan's army said it had intercepted four Iranian missiles.

Iran insists it only targets US interests in the Gulf. The spokesman for its military command said any collaboration by Gulf countries with the United States would be considered "an act of war."