Oil prices surged on Thursday despite US President Donald Trump’s extension of the Iran war ceasefire.
Tehran has said it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to allow shipping traffic as long as a US naval blockade remains in place.
Crude prices jumped as much as 4% in early Asian trading, with the international oil benchmark Brent crude jumping 3.5% overnight to cross $100. Brent crude futures rose 0.6% to $102.47 a barrel.
Oil prices have climbed significantly since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Brent crude was trading around $70 before the start of the conflict.
Countries around the world are experiencing an energy security shock amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding the war.
The fragile peace in the Middle East teetered uncertainly on Wednesday as Iran fired on three and seized two international vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, casting a shadow over prospects for renewed peace talks, dw.com reports.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was extending the truce to allow more time for negotiations mediated by Pakistan. On Wednesday, the White House said Trump had not set a new deadline for the truce to expire.
But Iranian officials did not publicly endorse the move and said no decision had been taken on attending a new round of talks.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said a full ceasefire could only hold if Washington lifts its blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran considers the blockade an act of war.
“Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible with such flagrant breach of the ceasefire,” Qalibaf wrote on X.
In the meantime, Iran has not decided whether to join new talks, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told Iranian state media. Tehran accused the United States of acting in bad faith.
Earlier, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, the head of the Iranian mission in Egypt, told the AP news agency that no delegation would go to Pakistan until Washington lifts its blockade.
The impasse has effectively shut the crucial Strait of Hormuz, straining economies across the world.
“We should know where we stand. Is it going to be a ceasefire, peace, or the war is going to continue?” 59-year-old Tehran resident Mashallah Mohammad Sadegh told AP. “The way things currently are, one doesn’t know what to do.”
