THE US IS to ease sanctions on Russian oil as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to choke global supplies.

The war continued to escalate on its 13th day as oil prices spiralled up again to 100 dollars per barrel, and stocks sank worldwide over fears that the conflict could drag on longer than hoped.

A fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway leading from the Persian Gulf towards the Indian Ocean.

To relieve the surge in prices, the US Treasury Department has announced it was further easing sanctions on Russian oil by granting a licence that authorises the delivery and sale of some Russian crude oil and petroleum products for the next month.

The new exemption applies only to Russian oil already at sea. Last week, analysts estimated there were about 125 million barrels loaded on tankers.

Iran has made clear it plans to keep up attacks on energy infrastructure across the region and use the effective closure of the strait as leverage against the United States and Israel.

New Trump threat

US president Donald Trump has issued a new threat online to Iran today, writing: “Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.”

Trump made the post today on his Truth Social website, saying: “Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.

“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them.

“What a great honor it is to do so!”

It comes after Iran’s secretive new leader issued his first public statements yesterday, resolving to keep fighting, promising more pain for Gulf Arab states and threatening to open “other fronts” in a war that has already disrupted world energy supplies, the global economy and international travel.

The hard-line stance revealed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying his country’s attacks were creating conditions for the Iranian population to topple the government.

“It is in your hands,” Netanyahu said at a news conference, addressing the Iranian people.

“We are creating the optimal conditions for the fall of the regime.”

However, today Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have vowed a “stronger response than seen in their crackdown on protests in January if new demonstrations erupt in the country.

Intense airstrikes

Intense airstrikes hit early this morning around Iran’s capital, Tehran, as well as outlying areas. It was not immediately clear what had been targeted.

In the statement attributed to him yesterday, Khamenei said that his country’s military must keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed and urged other states in the Middle East to shut US military bases.

It was Khamenei’s first statement since his father was killed in the initial US-Israeli attack on 28 February.

The statement was read out by a television news anchor and no new images or audio of Khamenei were aired.

There has been speculation about the status of the new ayatollah since he was reportedly injured in an attack. He is yet to appear in public since the bombing that killed his father and much of their family.

The statement also promised revenge for the deaths of the 1,200 people who have been killed in Iran since the war began.

Khamenei also advised countries in the Middle East to shut US military bases, which Iran has been attacking in retaliation.