(RTTNews) - Rebounding from last Friday's slide, crude oil prices have soared on Monday as the U.S. recommenced attacks on Iran yesterday after a month-long pause, which was followed by Iran's retaliatory strikes, stoking concerns of a broader re-escalation in the gulf.

WTI Crude Oil for October month delivery was last seen trading up by $2.24 (or 2.69%) at $85.64 per barrel. The U.S.-Iran war is in its seventh month. For over a month's time, both nations refrained from any military maneuvers. However, late on August 30, U.

S. Central Command struck positions belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command announced that it conducted this preemptive operation to intercept and destroy two Iranian missiles that were ready to deploy sea-mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

In retaliation, Iranian forces conducted strikes on the U.S. bases in Jordan, and later, in the United Arab Emirates. Claiming that all missiles except one were intercepted by the American air defense systems, in an interview with Fox News, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the U.

S. will hit Iran back hard. At the same time, Trump also remarked that Iranians desperately want a meeting with the U.S. but expressed doubts if they can be counted to make a deal. Through Truth Social, Trump posted an AI-generated image apparently depicting the bombing of Iran's Kharg Island.

While Iran claimed to have reached an understanding with Oman to manage the shipping traffic across the Strait of Hormuz and share the revenues, Trump reiterated his claim that U.S. forces are in full control over the strait. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a vessel transiting around 12 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman was struck by an unknown projectile.

According to Windward, as of Saturday, merely seven vessels (five inbound and two outbound) attempted to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Following the contradictory claims and counter-claims by both nations over the authority and control of the management of Strait of Hormuz, uncertainty persists over a resumption of normal shipping traffic, and supply disruption concerns loom large among traders and consequential oil-linked inflation threats have increased.

Recently, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency offered diverse outlooks on global demand growth for 2026. While OPEC expected modest growth, the IEA predicted a substantial contraction based on increased oil prices and persisting supply disruptions.

The attention of investors was also drawn to the speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh last Friday in Wyoming. Speaking at the Jackson Hole symposium, Warsh leaned more to bring back inflation back to the target of the central bank, triggering expectations of an interest rate hike.

According to the Automobile Association of America, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. hovered around $4.09 per gallon on Friday. Last Friday, Trump announced securing Venezuelan oil under a new arrangement that gives the U.S. control of 65 billion barrels of the nation's oil, which would be used to replenish the U.

S. reserves. According to energy experts, actual production could take several months and need billions of dollars in investment. Of note, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground, Venezuela's reserves equal around 17% of the world's supply, according to the U.

S. Energy Information Administration. Traders are of the view that while further attacks on vessels, oil terminals, and export infrastructure in the Middle East could add to the geopolitical premium for crude oil, higher OPEC+ output, weakening Chinese demand, and a stronger U.

S. dollar could exert downside pressure on oil prices.

Trump's vow to escalate on Iran rings hollow amid warnings from top US generals US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to “hit [Iran] hard”, despite a report that the US’s top generals are warning that a prolonged large-scale war on Iran is unsustainable for the United States.

“There will be a response,” Trump told Fox News on Monday when asked about Iran’s attack on a US military base in Jordan following US strikes on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. “We’re going to hit them hard,” he said. Oil prices, which had been trending down amid a lull in fighting, spiked on Monday.

Brent, the international benchmark, was up 2.5 percent to trade at $90.35 per barrel. But Trump’s bombast contrasts with reports that the US is in no position to escalate the war. The heads of the US army, navy and air force, and the four-star commanders overseeing US operations throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America, warned Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that any prolonging of major operations would weaken the US’s ability to confront other foes, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

Fighting flared in the Middle East after the US on Sunday launched strikes on what it said were two Iranian rocket launchers preparing to shoot sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated by launching strikes on Jordan.

Trump's vow to escalate on Iran rings hollow amid warnings from top US generals US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to “hit [Iran] hard”, despite a report that the US’s top generals are warning that a prolonged large-scale war on Iran is unsustainable for the United States.

“There will be a response,” Trump told Fox News on Monday when asked about Iran’s attack on a US military base in Jordan following US strikes on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. “We’re going to hit them hard,” he said. Oil prices, which had been trending down amid a lull in fighting, spiked on Monday.

Brent, the international benchmark, was up 2.5 percent to trade at $90.35 per barrel. But Trump’s bombast contrasts with reports that the US is in no position to escalate the war. The heads of the US army, navy and air force, and the four-star commanders overseeing US operations throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America, warned Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that any prolonging of major operations would weaken the US’s ability to confront other foes, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Fighting flared in the Middle East after the US on Sunday launched strikes on what it said were two Iranian rocket launchers preparing to shoot sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran retaliated by launching strikes on Jordan. Jordan, which hosts US troops and aircraft at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, said it intercepted eight missiles. The strikes on Larak marked the first time in weeks of a publicly documented US attack on Iran.

The two sides have been locked in competing naval blockades over the Strait of Hormuz, but have generally withheld from striking each other outside the maritime space. Trump’s threat to escalate further follows his decision to share a social media post stating that Iran’s energy export hub, Kharg Island, would be “blown to smithereens”.

The Trump administration says it is keeping all options open, as negotiations with Iran on a return to the June ceasefire are effectively dead. Stark warning The warning from senior US generals was prompted by a 14 August order directing some US troops deployed in the Middle East to remain there through September and others into 2027.

Leaders of the US European Command, the US Pacific Command and the US Southern Command, along with the Navy’s top admiral, issued a “non-concur” response to Hegseth’s order, which means they will obey the order despite disagreeing with it, the Washington Post reported.

To prosecute its war on Iran, the Trump administration has surged military assets from Europe and East Asia to Central Command, which oversees US troops in the Middle East. The Associated Press reported earlier this month that the war on Iran has caused a "beyond critical" shortage of advanced missile interceptors, especially Patriots, which have been used to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles in the Ukraine war.

Tensions in Europe are high. CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow in part to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against a potential attack on Nato members, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Reuters has also reported that the US has exhausted its stockpile of sophisticated long-range missiles during the war on Iran.

The US has “virtually" used up its supply of surface-to-surface weapons, including ATACMS and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), Reuters reported. Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond.

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Following a reported two-week ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, ACLED experts have outlined potential regional impacts affecting Lebanon, the Gulf, Yemen, and Israel. These assessments are based on the latest available data regarding the ongoing conflict dynamics in these areas.