Oil prices surged Thursday after Iran's supreme leader reportedly ordered the country's enriched uranium stockpile to stay within its borders, a position that threatens to deepen the stalemate in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered Iran's enriched uranium to remain in the country, complicating U.S. peace talks and squeezing global supply
Germán Vogel / Getty Images
Oil prices surged Thursday after Iran's supreme leader reportedly ordered the country's enriched uranium stockpile to stay within its borders, a position that threatens to deepen the stalemate in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations.
U.S. crude climbed almost to 4% in morning trading, reaching $101.96 a barrel, while Brent, the international benchmark, gained roughly 3% to trade at $108.34.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has personally directed that the country's uranium enriched close to weapons grade must not leave Iranian territory, according to Reuters. Removing Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is a central U.S. condition for ending the war.
On Wednesday, Trump put Iran on notice that he would restart military operations unless negotiations produced what he called "100% good answers," while acknowledging he was prepared to allow diplomacy a few additional days to work. "If I can save war by waiting a couple of days, if I can save people being killed by waiting a couple of days, I think it's a great thing to do," Trump said.
Iran's ongoing blockade has choked off movement through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint critical to global energy flows. The IEA issued a warning Thursday that unless the waterway reopens, rising seasonal demand over the summer could push the market into what agency head Fatih Birol described as a "red zone," according to CNBC.
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