Brent crude is hovering just under $90 a barrel after separate attacks hit ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb strait, while Iran says the strait stays closed until its conditions are met. President Trump says the US controls the waterway, and prediction markets now give a near-term US-Iran deal much longer odds than a week ago.
Brent crude prices are near their highest level in a month, hovering just under $90 a barrel, as fresh attacks on shipping add to doubts over a near-term end to the Iran standoff.
The US and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis each said they endured separate attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb strait on Tuesday. Iran's top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said the strait would stay closed unless the US accepted Iran's conditions, including the release of its frozen assets and an end to other regional conflicts.
President Trump asserted the US has "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that points to a harder US posture as talks with Iran stall. Pricing for a US-Iran agreement by August 15 has dropped to 8.5% from 68% a week earlier. The odds of a deal by August 31 stand at 23.5%.
WTI crude oil traded at $83.98. It held above both its short-term trend line and its long-term 200-period moving average of $77.03.
Sources: Business | The Guardian, Crypto Briefing, Commodities & Futures News
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