Iran War Day 10: Oil whipsaws on shifting US signals

GULF COUNTRIES - In Brief 09 Mar 2026 by Justin Alexander

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Highlights The US sent conflicting signals on the war's timeline. Brent crude briefly hit $119 before retreating sharply after Trump's comments and G7 reserve-release talk, dropping below $90. Iran's new Supreme Leader adviser Kamal Kharazi told CNN there is "no room for diplomacy" and that Tehran will prosecute a long war aimed at inflicting economic pain until third parties intervene. The first Bahraini was killed. US and Iran Today, Trump hinted at a short war, amidst growing concerns in recent days that it could last for months. At the House Republican retreat he called it a "short-term excursion”, in his first press conference since the start of the war he said military objectives are "pretty well complete" and the war could end "soon" and in a phone interview, he said "the war is very complete, pretty much" and that Iran has "no navy, no communications, no air force." (NBC, RC, CBS) However, in an apparent contradiction, the DoD posted on X: "We have Only Just Begun to Fight" and "no mercy". Asked to reconcile, Trump said both could be true: "It's the beginning of building a new country." (CNBC)Trump said he is "disappointed" in Mojtaba Khamenei's selection as Supreme Leader but stopped short of calling for his assassination. He said he has "someone else in mind" to lead Iran and declined to rule out taking control of Iranian oil. (CBS)Kamal Kharazi, an adviser to the new Supreme Leader, told CNN there is "no room for diplomacy", said Iran is ready for a long war, and that the conflict will only end when economic pain forces Gulf states and others to intervene against the US. He dismissed claims of degraded Iranian capability as a "false narrative."Iran’s foreign...