As soon as tensions over Trump's ambitions on the Greenland, the President of the United States now quickly moves on to another dossier, that of'Iran, sending oil prices soaring on supply concerns.
Yesterday the tycoon told reporters aboard Air Force One during his return trip from Davos, which the United States has an “army” heading towards Iran, while hoping not to have to use it, but renewing warnings to Tehran to don't kill the protesters or not to restart his nuclear program.
Some U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln e several guided missile destroyers will arrive in the Middle East in the next few days, reports ReutersAn official added that the use of additional air defense systems for the Middle East, which could prove essential to protect against possible Iranian attacks on US bases in the area. The United States had struck Iranian nuclear sites last June with an operation called the “midnight hammer”.
"We have many ships going in that direction, “Just in case… I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re monitoring them very closely,” Trump said upon returning to the United States after speaking with world leaders in Davos. “Yesterday I stopped 837 hangings. They would have died. They would all have been hanged. It’s like it was a thousand years ago. This is an ancient culture. Very intelligent people, by the way, but it’s an ancient culture. Yesterday, 837 men would have been hanged, mostly young men. And I said, if you hang those people, you’re going to be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit.”
Oil prices heat up on supply concerns
Just as it had happened with the operation last June, the announcement made inflame oil prices because investors are worried that military action could disrupt supplies. By late morning in Europe, Brent crude futures for March rose 29 cents, or 0,5%, to $64,35 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude also rose 29 cents, or 0,7%, to $59,65 a barrel.
Iran is the fourth largest producer The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a major exporter to China, the world's second-largest oil consumer. Brent and WTI are set to close the week with gains of about 0,6%, after prices surged earlier in the week due to Trump's threats to invade Greenland, potentially destabilizing the transatlantic alliance, but fell about 2% on Thursday after Trump withdrew any military action. Trump said Denmark, which controls the Arctic island, NATO, and the United States had reached an agreement that would allow "full access" to Greenland.
France intercepts a shadow Russian oil tanker
Meanwhile, the French navy intercepted a vessel in the Western Mediterranean Russian oil tanker suspected of being part of the shadow fleet which allows Russia to export oil despite sanctions.
“This operation was conducted… with the support of many of our allies and in full compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron on X. The interception took place in the high seas of the Mediterranean between the southern coast of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco, the French maritime police said. Navies of other countries, including Great Britain, supported the operation, the statement said.
The EU has imposed 19 sanctions packages on Russia, but Moscow has complied with most of the measures and continues to sell millions of barrels of oil to countries like India and China, usually at discounted prices. Much of the oil is transported by what is known as a shadow fleet of ships operating outside the Western shipping industry. The intercepted tanker was sailing from Murmansk, in northern Russia, and is subject to international sanctions and suspected of operating under a false flag, Macron said in his post. “The shadow fleet’s activities help finance (Russia’s) war of aggression against Ukraine,” Macron added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post on X that the operation was “exactly the kind of determination needed.”
