【Iran Crisis】Oil prices once plummeted by 10% Trump press conference: Iran war will end soon, but not this week (updating)

Oil prices plummeted by 10%, with Brent crude falling 9% to $90.3, and WTI dropping 8% to $87. Reports indicate large-scale strikes erupted in Tehran and Karaj, with Isfahan and Tabriz also reporting protests. Tehran experienced widespread power outages.

President Trump held a press conference, stating that U.S. forces have dealt a heavy blow to Iran’s military, sinking 51 naval vessels, completely destroying its drone manufacturing facilities, and reducing its missile capabilities to less than 10%. Over 5,000 targets have been struck, including the elimination of Iran’s top leadership (two to three times). Deep underground nuclear facilities that Iran attempted to rebuild in secret have been destroyed, preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

He said that Iran’s power generation and core infrastructure have been preserved as leverage; if Iran retaliates, it will face catastrophic consequences. He claimed the most dangerous phase of the war ended within three days.

He expressed hope that Iran would nominate a new leader willing to pursue peace. He was disappointed that Iran chose Hassan Khamenei’s son as the new Supreme Leader.

He emphasized that the U.S. will not allow Iran to cut off global oil supplies. The U.S. military has deployed strong forces and mine-clearing equipment in the Strait of Hormuz, and will provide “political risk insurance” and escort for commercial ships if necessary.

He stated that maintaining the Strait’s open passage is mainly to stabilize the global economy, and specifically mentioned that this action actually helps countries like China that rely on the route. “I want to keep it open. I want to keep it good. You know, it doesn’t affect us as much as it does China. We’re actually helping China and other countries because they get a lot of energy through the strait. But we have a good relationship with China. I’m proud to do this.”

Summary of the press conference:

“Over the past weekend, the U.S. military and Israeli Defense Forces continued to execute Operation Epic Fury with unprecedented success. Over the past nine days, we launched the most powerful and complex military strikes and tactical exercises in history. If you combine these actions with our other achievements—such as Operation Midnight Hammer, which eliminated Iran’s nuclear threat entirely—and the significant successes in Venezuela and elsewhere, we have achieved great victories everywhere we went.

“However, while advancing these operations, we also made major progress in achieving military objectives. Some might say these goals are already quite well accomplished. We have thoroughly and completely destroyed every armed force within Iran. Most of Iran’s navy has been sunk, lying at the bottom of the sea. I just received notice that a total of 51 vessels have been sunk. I didn’t even know they had so many ships, but they didn’t last long. These are combat vessels meant for fighting, but they are no match for us.

“We continue to target Iran’s drone and missile capabilities. Their drone numbers have been greatly reduced. Their drone manufacturing plants are under full attack from today. We have seized all their drone production sites and are destroying them one by one. Their missile capability has dropped to about 10%, maybe even lower. We also precisely struck their missile manufacturing and transportation facilities. So far, we have hit over 5,000 targets, including very strategic ones. But we’ve kept some of the most important targets in reserve for future use. If we hit those,