Iran on March 10 declared that it would not allow any liters of oil to leave the Middle East if attacks from the US and Israel continued.
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would not allow "a liter of oil" to be transported out of the area in the event that the US and Israeli military campaign continues. According to Iranian state media, a spokesman for this force affirmed that Tehran will be the one to decide the time of end of the war.
The statement immediately met with strong reactions from US President Donald Trump. Mr. Donald Trump warned Washington would increase attacks if Iran tried to stop oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping route that transports about 1/5 of global oil supplies.
Speaking at a press conference, Donald Trump said that the US has caused serious damage to the Iranian military. He also predicted that the conflict could end earlier than the 4-week timeframe he had set out, although the winning criteria have not been clearly defined.
In a post on the social network Truth Social, Mr. Trump continued to warn that if Iran obstructs oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the US will attack this country "20 times stronger" than what it had done before.
The current war has caused the Strait of Hormuz to be almost closed. Oil tankers have been unable to move for more than a week, forcing many producers to stop exploitation as storage facilities gradually fill up.
Global financial markets fluctuated sharply after Iran announced the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, raising concerns that the war could drag on. Oil prices soared, while stock markets fell sharply before reversing when Donald Trump predicted that the war could end quickly.
After a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump said that the US may exempt oil-related sanctions against some countries to reduce supply shortages. Some other options are also being considered such as releasing oil from strategic reserves or restricting US oil exports.
According to the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, airstrikes and missile attacks by the US and Israel since the end of February have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and injured thousands.
