Shafaq News
Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday after Iran and theU.S. traded strikes and Israel ordered troops to move further into Lebanon inthe battle with the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
U.S. crude futures rose $2.29 or 2.62% to $89.65 a barrel asof 0436 GMT. Brent futures rose $2.05 or 2.25% to $93.17 a barrel.
The stepped-up fighting, coming just after the U.S. hostedIsrael-Lebanon peace talks in Washington on Friday, dimmed expectations thatthe U.S. and Iran could soon announce an extension to their ceasefireagreement, which had driven Brent and WTI to settle down 1.8% and 1.7%,respectively, on Friday.
The U.S. said on Sunday itconducted "self-defence strikes" on Iranian radar and drone controlsites in Iran's Goruk and Qeshm Island over the weekend in what it said was aresponse to "aggressive" actions from Tehran.
Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said onMonday its aerospace force targeted an air base used in what it called a U.S.attack on a telecoms tower on Sirik Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he wouldsoon decide on a proposed deal to extend a ceasefire with Iran announced inearly April, giving negotiators more time to seek a permanent end to theconflict and find a solution to the underlying dispute over Iran's nuclearprogramme.
Israel would be key to any such deal, and Iran has also saidrepeatedly that Hezbollah must be included. The U.S. has proposed a"gradual de-escalation" plan, under which Hezbollah would first stopattacks on Israel in exchange forIsrael refraining from escalation in Beirut, a U.S. official said on Sunday.
Concerns are rising about mines in the Strait of Hormuz, akey oil and gas shipping lane, IG analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note. Thatcould slow the process of reopening the strait and mean that relief comes moreslowly for the oil market even after it is reopened.
"Even if an agreement is reached, it won't deliver aflood of supply," Sycamore said.
An Axios reportersaid on X on Friday that Iran had dropped more mines in the strait earlier inthe week, shortly after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that attemptsto lay more mines would be a violation of the ceasefire.
(REUTERS)
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