OIL PRICES FALL AS MARKETS AWAIT NEW US SANCTIONS ON IRAN

Mon 24 August 2026:

Oil prices fell Monday as investors awaited details on a new US sanctions package targeting Iran, which Washington has described as its toughest-ever economic campaign against Tehran.

West Texas Intermediate futures fell about 1.3% to $85.93 a barrel, while Brent crude declined 1.24% to $93.22.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to announce the measures later Monday.

“At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary,” Bessent said on the US social media platform X.

He previously said that Washington sought to “collapse” the Islamic Republic through the “toughest sanctions in history.”

President Donald Trump has also threatened the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country” and warned of severe penalties for countries helping Iran evade sanctions.

Tehran has rejected the pressure. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Iran has ways “to counter the adverse effects of the enemy’s war” and can “easily establish economic relations with countries,” according to Iranian state media.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) said oil prices could remain volatile through the second half of 2026, with Brent expected to trade between $70 and $100 a barrel.

“It is unclear whether US policy to economically isolate Iran will prove effective. But if the US measures do work as intended, Iran’s ability to respond via increased violence becomes a growing risk for energy markets to consider,” the bank said in a Monday note.

CBA added that even a partial recovery in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz could push prices toward the lower end of its forecast range by reviving expectations of a global supply surplus.

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Washington entering ‘economic D-Day’ against Iran

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the United States was entering an “economic D-Day” against Iran following what he described as the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Islamic Republic’s military and nuclear capabilities.

“President (Donald) Trump has dismantled Iran’s military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program,” Bessent said in a post on the US social media platform X.

“We are now entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary.”

Bessent said the administration intended to utilize every available resource to further isolate Iran economically and cut off sources of support for the Iranian government.

“The President has created the conditions to leverage every agency, every authority and action many assumed we would never summon. Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains the tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” he said.

He also warned governments and other actors against assuming that Washington would be unwilling to impose costs on those challenging its Iran policy.

“The Islamic Republic has subsisted by dressing extortion as security guarantees. It has drawn strength from a calculus that regards Iranian retaliation as certain and American enforcement as negotiable. Under President Trump, that era is over. And those who fear the danger of defying Tehran ought not to discount the cost of testing Washington,” he said.

Bessent did not provide details in the post on the specific economic measures or agencies that would be involved in the planned offensive.

-Source: AA

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