'2 weeks, 2 years': Trump says US can bomb Iran for years, then warns of another Great Depression

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, with Brent crude surpassing US$95 per barrel for the first time in nearly six weeks amid US-Iran strikes, before paring some gains while remaining up around three percent. Maritime tracking data showed at least nine ships reversing course from the Bab al-Mandab strait after Houthi rebels announced a blockade of Saudi ports, including vessels that had loaded at the Yanbu terminal.

US equity markets registered a muted response, with the S&P 500 falling 0.1 percent.

US President Donald Trump stated on July 22 that he would order strikes on Iranian bridges or power plants in response to any attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The remarks came amid Houthi threats to disrupt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, prompting some tankers to alter course in the Red Sea, and followed Iranian warnings, reported via state media, of retaliatory targeting of regional energy infrastructure.

Oil prices rose to a near six-week high amid the developments.

Several tankers have changed course in the Red Sea following threats by Houthi forces against shipments transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while reports indicate a near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Iran was not serious about peace talks, Pakistan condemned the shipping disruptions, and both sides said they continued to support negotiations; oil prices rose to a near six-week high.

Iranian officials reported 53 civilian deaths and 592 injuries from recent US strikes, which the US has stated do not target civilians, and Iranian military sources said forces had been strengthened in anticipation of conflict.

Iranian officials, including an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, have stated that Tehran has entered a new phase of deterrence and warned that any US military action could disrupt global energy markets. The US Central Command reported redirecting nine commercial vessels and disabling one since reimposing a naval blockade on Iran after a prior memorandum of understanding collapsed.

Claims that Iran has mined routes in the Strait of Hormuz remain unverified by independent sources.