Oil prices climbed more than $4 on Thursday after president Donald Trump said the US will continue to attack Iran, including energy and oil targets, over the next few weeks.
Brent crude futures rose $4.88, or 4.8 per cent, to $106.04 per barrel by 2am GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $4.17, or 4.2 per cent, to $104.29 per barrel.
In his address to the nation, Trump said almost all of America’s military objectives had been met, while rehashing many of his previous talking points about the conflict.
“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he said, though he offered no further information on what the objectives had been.“As we celebrate this progress, we think especially of the 13 American warriors who have laid down their lives in this fight to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran,” he added.
It comes after a new poll by CNN and SSRS found just one-third of Americans approve of the ongoing military action in the Middle East, with 67 per cent saying they don’t believe Trump has a clear plan for handling the situation.
Key points recap: Donald Trump’s address to the nation on Iran
On Wednesday night President Donald Trump delivered a 17-minute national address on Iran.
Here’s a recap of key points in case you missed it:
- Trump announced that the U.S. military’s “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” though offered no further information on those objectives.
- The president appeared to slur his words on several occasions during the speech.
- He claimed the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” had “delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield, victories like few people have ever seen before.”
- Trump repeated many of his same justifications for the month-old bombing campaign against Iran, including his claim there was an imminent threat of Tehran producing a nuclear weapon.
- He paid tribute to the 13 U.S. service members killed in the conflict and claimed their families had all told him to “finish the job.”
- Trump also once again blamed the rise in gas prices in the U.S. on the Iranian conflict and boasted the economy he had cultivated was strong enough to withstand it.
Mike Bedigan2 April 2026 03:33
China to work with Pakistan ‘to end hostilities in the Middle East’
China has said it will stay in “close communication with Pakistan and relevant parties” on the Iran war and “play a constructive role in promoting the end of hostilities”.
It comes a day after China’s foreign minister met Pakistan’s top diplomat in Beijing and said China supported efforts to de-escalate tensions.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi told his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar that it would not be an easy task and that China would be “willing to work with Pakistan” to end the “flames of war” as soon as possible and open the “window to peace talks.”
Wang said Pakistan’s efforts were in the interest of all sides, including averting spillover effects, preventing further casualties, stabilising international energy security and protecting supply chains.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar2 April 2026 06:30
Iran’s president says the world ‘stands at crossroads’ between diplomacy and confrontation
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian earlier issued his own message to the American people, warning that Iran can endure any aggression from the US.”Today, the world stands at crossroads.
Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before. The choice between confrontation and engagement is both real and consequential; its outcome will shape the future for generations to come,” Pezeshkian said.
“Throughout its millennia of proud history, Iran has outlasted many aggressors. All that remains of them are tarnished names in history, while Iran endures – resilient, dignified, and proud.”
Pezeshkian did not mention a ceasefire offer made last week by Donald Trump, as he accused Israel of dragging the US into its war against Iran.”Is it not also the case that America has entered this aggression as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime?” asked Pezeshkian.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar2 April 2026 06:00
The country that could be the first to run out of fuel due to US-Iran war
Majid Ali, who commutes 22km every day for work, has to stand in a queue for two hours to get the fuel he needs for his bike.
He is one of millions of people in Bangladesh who have been lining up outside petrol stations day and night amid concerns over the country’s declining fuel reserves triggered by Donald Trump’s month-long war on Iran.
“This motorcycle is the only convenient way for me to commute, but without the octane, how will I continue,” the 33-year-old private sector employee tells The Independent.
“I was lucky, I got the fuel. Dozens of motorists behind me were forced to return as the station ran out of fuel,” he adds. These days there are fewer vehicles spotted on the capital Dhaka’s otherwise overcrowded streets.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar2 April 2026 05:55
Israeli military ‘intercepting new missile launch’
The Israeli military said it was working to intercept a missile launch from Iran, less than half an hour after Donald Trump’s address to the nation.
Sirens went off across northern Israel, from the city of Haifa on the Mediterranean coast to the Sea of Galilee.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar2 April 2026 05:45
Democrats slam Trump speech for failing to offer answers
Democrats have criticised Donald Trump’s prime-time address to the American people on the war in Iran as “incoherent” and as doing little to answer “the most basic questions”.
Senator Mark Warner noted that Trump owed Americans more answers about a conflict that has driven up prices on gas “alongside rising prices for diesel, fertiliser, aluminium, and other essentials, with consequences that will continue to ripple through the economy for a long time to come” in his statement.
Senator Chris Murphy released a statement that said the “speech was grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind”.
Murphy said that “no one in America, after listening to that speech, knows whether we are escalating or de-escalating.”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar2 April 2026 05:13
Ex-counterterrorism chief says best time to end war is ‘now’
Trump’s former counterterrorism chief, Joe Kent, has warned that the best time to get out of the Iran war “is now”.
President Donald Trump said US forces will “finish the job” in Iran soon as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” offering a defence of the war on Wednesday night in his first national address since the conflict began more than a month ago.
“As we celebrate this progress, we think especially of the thirteen American warriors who have laid down their lives in this fight to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran,” he added.
Mr Kent in a post on X said: “We do not honor our fallen by getting more of our best men & women killed in the Middle East.
“We honor our fallen by learning from our past & only shedding American blood in defense of our nation. The best time to get out of a war of choice is now, before we lose more lives.”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar2 April 2026 05:06
Oil jumps over 4% after Trump’s speech on Iran war
Oil prices climbed more than $4 this morning after president Donald Trump said the US will continue to attack Iran, including energy and oil targets over the next few weeks, and did not commit to a specific timeline to end the war.
Brent crude futures rose $4.88, or 4.8 per cent, to $106.04 per barrel by 2am GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $4.17, or 4.2 per cent, to $104.29 per barrel.
Trump said in a televised speech to the nation that the US military had nearly completed its goals in its war with Iran, and that the conflict would soon end, but gave no specific timeline.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar2 April 2026 04:30
Trump criticised over Iran war address to nation
Members of congress and military experts have started expressing their reactions to Donald Trump’s address to the nation on his Iran war.
Brett McGurk, a former senior national security adviser under presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, said: “I think this war is going to continue for some time.”
Trump staunchly defended his handling of the month-old war on Iran, saying the US military was nearing completion of its mission while also reinforcing his threats to bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Age”.
Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in a post on X said: “I wanted so much for President Trump to put America First. That’s what I believed he would do. All I heard from his speech tonight was WAR WAR WAR.”
“Nothing to lower the cost of living for Americans. Nothing to reduce our near $40 trillion in debt. Nothing to save Social Security, which goes bankrupt in just a few years. Nothing to lower the cost of insurance. Nothing to address jobs for Americans. Nothing about education for our children. Nothing about our children’s future. Nothing for America’s future. I’m so beyond done,” she said.
Senator Chuck Schumer asked: “Has there ever been a more rambling, disjointed, and pathetic presidential war speech?”He added: “He is completely unfit to be Commander-in-Chief and the whole world knows it.”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar2 April 2026 04:28
In pictures: Donald Trump address nation on Iran
Mike Bedigan2 April 2026 04:00
