WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Extending the losses from yesterday, crude oil prices have plummeted on Tuesday as investors saw the U.S. administration's move to completely isolate Iran economically in lieu of military strikes as a beginning sign for easing of gulf tensions.
WTI Crude Oil for October month delivery was last seen trading down by $2.83 (or 3.33%) at $82.18 per barrel.
Yesterday, the six-month-long U.S.-Iran conflict entered a significant phase of escalation.
Focusing on cutting funding coming from five lifelines to Iran that included digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an economic campaign against Iran, termed 'Operation Economic Outcast.'
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned nearly 60 entities, individuals, and vessels that aid Iranian operations. It also suspended multiple licenses that authorized remittance payments to Iran.
Threatening to impose secondary sanctions on Iran's 'enablers,' which could be countries, businesses, or organizations, Bessent called on world leaders to choose between the U.S. and Iran.
Bessent also warned that countries that do not severe their trade ties with Iran would be forced out of the dollar-based financial system.
Iran pledged to fight back against the economic offensive. Iran's Minister for Economy Ali Madanizadeh announced that Iran was prepared to respond to the new threats.
Iran also claimed that the U.S. was keen to revive talks. Iranian Parliament member Abbas Golroo stated that Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir brought a message from the U.S. to Iran aiming to revive the halted political process. The U.S. administration is yet to comment on this, though.
After his Iran visit, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi stated that Iran made 'significant progress' in talks on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and prospects for peace.
Experts point out that for weeks, there have been no major strikes launched by the U.S. against Iran nor by Iran on its neighbors.
Experts are of the view that with the U.S. adopting economic measures to force Iran to come to its terms in place of any military endeavor, concerns of a war in the Middle East, at least in the near-term, remain abated.
Further adding weightage to this perspective, the New York Times reported that the U.S. is preparing to send diplomats back to embassies in the Middle East, suggesting that the U.S. administration is not anticipating a full-blown war in the gulf in the immediate future.
These diplomats were evacuated from their respective embassies back to the U.S., before and during the war with Iran.
Meanwhile, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center stated that an oil tanker was struck on Tuesday by an unknown projectile and disabled, around 17 km northeast of Oman at Shisah region without sharing further specifications
Last Friday, Axios reported that around 40 tankers transited in and out of the Strait of Hormuz through its southern deep-water channel on Friday night. Reportedly, nearly 16 million barrels of oil were moved out.
Reuters reported, citing Kpler's data, that only one large gas carrier entered the strait from the Gulf of Oman on Monday, down from six vessels of different sizes on Sunday.
Traders are also waiting to see how U.S.-China relations change after yesterday's warning from the U.S. to all nations tied to Iran.
With China being the largest destination for Iranian oil exports as well as a provider of financial channels for Iran-related trade, any move by the U.S. against China could cause friction in U.S.-China economic relations and reignite a trade war. Of note, Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the U.S. on September 24.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, the Iran-linked Houthi rebel group of Yemen targeted a Saudi oil tanker, Amzan, in the Red Sea, off Yanbu with a ballistic missile and drones.
The U.S. dollar index was last seen trading at 98.92, down by 0.04 (or 0.04%) today.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
