The images of two oil tankers set ablaze Thursday in Iraqi waters offered a jarring split-screen to President Donald Trump's declaration that "we won" the war against Iran.
The 79-year-old president held a campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday, where he insisted that joint U.S.-Israeli military operations had "virtually destroyed Iran," but that statement was quickly punctured by stepped-up attacks in the Persian Gulf, reported Reuters.
"You never like to say too early you won. We won," Trump told supporters at Verst Logistics. "In the first hour it was over."
"We don't want to leave early do we?" he added. "We got to finish the job."
However, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that U.S. intelligence found evidence that Iran's leadership was still mostly intact and the government was not at imminent risk of collapse, and Iran had escalated its attacks on cargo ships in the Straits of Hormuz.
"Undermining U.S. and Israeli claims to have knocked out much of Iran's stock of long-range weapons, more drones were reported on Thursday flying into Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman," Reuters said. "Iran has said it would not allow oil through the world's most important energy trade route – the Strait of Hormuz that runs along its coast – until U.S. and Israeli attacks ceased, and it would not conduct any negotiations with Washington."
Citibank closed its office in Dubai and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. told staffers there to stay away from their offices after Iran said it considered banks to be legitimate targets and warned Middle East residents not to go near them, and HSBC has closed branches in Qatar.
At least one person was killed after two oil tankers exploded in what is believed to be an Iranian attack, and an Iraqi-led investigation found evidence that explosive-laden boats linked to Iran rammed into the vessels transporting up to 400,000 barrels of Iraqi oil, reported International Business Times.
" Video footage of the fires shows flames spreading across the surrounding water, suggesting that oil is leaking from the large tankers," IB Times reported. "The targeted ships were identified as the Maltese-flagged Zefyros and the Marshall Islands-flagged Safesea Vishnu."
Oil prices have surged above $100 despite the announcement that developed countries would release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves, with nearly half coming from the United States, but that unprecedented coordinated intervention would take months to carry out and provide just three weeks supply.
"The only way to see oil prices trade lower on a sustained basis is by getting oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz," ING analysts said. "Failing to do so means that the market highs are still ahead of us."
