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Oil prices keep soaring after Trump indicates Iran war likely to intensify with weeks yet to go
Oil prices continued to surge on worries of a prolonged Iran war but most Asian markets that were open rose moderately in cautious trading Friday.
In Europe, trading was closed in France, Germany and Britain for the Good Friday holiday.
U.S. markets trading also was closed, but S&P 500 futures are trading and slipped nearly 0.3% to 6,604.50. Dow futures were down 0.3% at 46,615.00.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.
“A more extended conflict raises the threat to physical infrastructure, extends disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, and will entail a longer post-war recovery period, with price impacts spilling over later into the year,” according to a report from BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.
The U.S. relies on the Persian Gulf for only a fraction of the oil it imports, but oil is a commodity and prices are set in a global market.
Iran makes new claim to have shot down an American F-35 fighter jet
Iran’s state media carried a new claim by the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Friday to have shot down a U.S. F-35 fighter jet.
The jet was “struck and downed over central Iran by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s new air defense system,” a spokesman for Iran’s central military headquarters said in a statement carried by state media. “Due to the severe explosion of the aircraft upon impact and crash, it is unlikely that the pilot ejected safely.”
It was the second claim by the IRGC to have shot down an F-35 this week, the first of which was flatly denied by the U.S. military on Thursday.
“All U.S. fighter aircraft are accounted for,” U.S. Central Command said in a social media post on Thursday, referring to the claim made by the IRGC on Wednesday to have downed an F-35 over the Iranian Persian Gulf island of Qeshm.
“Iran’s IRGC has made the same false claim at least half a dozen times,” CENTCOM added in its social media post.
CBS News asked CENTCOM about the new claim by the IRGC on Friday but did not receive an immediate response.
Iranian media posted images on social media showing various items of debris described as parts of a downed F-35, including a photo purported to show a badly damaged tail piece bearing insignia suggesting the debris was part of an aircraft based at RAF Lakenheath air base in the U.K., home to the U.S. Air Forces’ 48th Fighter Wing, which includes F-35s.
CBS News has not independently verified the authenticity of the photos shared by Iran’s state media.
Iranian attacks damage power, water desalination and oil and gas infrastructure in Gulf states
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said Friday that one of the country’s combined power and water desalination plants was “attacked as part of the heinous Iranian aggression against the State of Kuwait, resulting in material damage to some of the plant’s components.”
“Technical and emergency teams immediately commenced their work, in accordance with approved emergency plans, to address the repercussions of the incident and ensure continued operational efficiency, in full coordination with security and relevant authorities to secure the affected sites,” the ministry said.
Earlier, Kuwait’s national Petroleum Corporation said the Al-Ahmadi Port Refinery, one of the largest oil refineries in the region, was hit by an Iranian drone attack, “resulting in fires in several operating units.”
The company said emergency crews were “working to contain the fires and prevent their spread.”
To the north along the Persian Gulf coast, the government of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates said falling debris from an intercepted Iranian missile or drone struck the state-owned Habshan natural gas processing plant, causing a fire but no injuries.
The UAE’s Ministry of Defense had said earlier that air defenses were countering “missile and drone attacks coming from Iran.”
Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry also reported “intercepting and destroying 6 drones during the past hours” on Friday, as Iran continued its attacks against U.S. Gulf allies despite repeated assertions by the Trump administration that the Islamic Republic’s missile and drone launching capacity had been reduced by 90% during more than a month of relentless U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Iranian foreign minister says destroying “unfinished bridges” won’t make Iran surrender
“Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday on social media.
His message appeared to be a response to a post from President Trump on Truth Social, in which Mr. Trump wrote, “The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again,” along with a video of a bridge being destroyed.
Araghchi said such attacks “only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray. Every bridge and building will be built back stronger. What will never recover: damage to America’s standing.”
Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu/Getty
“There’s one striking difference between the present and the Stone Age: there was no oil or gas being pumped in the Middle East back then,” he said, again appearing to reference comments made by both Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying the U.S. would bomb Iran back to the Stone Age.
“Are POTUS and Americans who put him in office sure that they want to turn back the clock?” Araghchi wrote.
Strikes on an Iranian bridge kill 8, local authorities say
A set of strikes on Iran’s B1 bridge killed at least eight people and wounded 95 more, Iran’s state media said, citing authorities in the Alborz province.
People had gathered under the bridge, which was still under construction, and along the riverbank to celebrate “Nature Day,” Iranian state media said.
President Trump referenced the strike on the B1 bridge, located west of Tehran in the city of Karaj, in a social media post earlier Thursday. He urged Iran to “make a deal.”
“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow!” he said on Truth Social, posting a video of the collapsing bridge.
CBS/AP
Sen. Murphy says “we are losing this war” following Trump address
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said in a statement the president’s speech Wednesday night was “grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind.”
“We are losing this war,” Murphy said. “We cannot destroy all their missiles or drones, nor their nuclear program. Iran projects more power in the region than they did before the war, especially if they now permanently control the Strait of Hormuz. We are spending billions we don’t have and losing American lives in a war that is destabilizing the world and making us look feckless.”
