Iranian Energy War

After the energy phase of the war began last week with strikes on the oil infrastructure on Kharg Island, Israel increased the pressure by bombing major oil fields in Iran on Friday.

This was followed by Iran hitting an LNG pipeline in Qatar. The Israeli strikes ceased after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference that President Trump had called him and told him to stop the strikes on energy targets.

Over the weekend, with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, Trump issued a 48‑hour ultimatum to the Iranians. He threatened that if the strait was not opened within 48 hours, he would strike at the heart of Iranian energy production and destroy all of their major energy plants. On Monday morning, Donald Trump spoke to the press and announced that talks with Iran had begun and that the planned strikes tied to the deadline had been postponed. Although this pause is not a cease-fire and only applies to energy targets, it is the first cooperation between the two sides so far in the war.

Global oil prices fell today from 98 dollars to 88 dollars after this news was announced, still about 20 dollars above prewar prices but a significant step toward a return to normalcy.