conflict was all but over. Trump's argument that the war would be "ended soon" helped reverse the previous day's spike in oil prices, which have surged since Iranian attacks on shipping closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli strikes that killed its supreme leader. The price increase also followed strikes on an oil depot in Iran, and after attacks on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. After Trump's optimistic comments, European gas prices opened 15 percent lower, and Asian stock markets recovered from Monday's slump, but concerns remain high. Egypt increased the cost of fuels by up to 30 percent and Pakistan said it would provide naval escorts to commercial shipping. And the Islamic republic's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) mocked Trump's apparent bid to lessen the economic impact of the war, warning: "The Iranian armed forces... will not allow the export of a single litre of oil from the region to the hostile side and its partners until further notice."

"It is we who will determine the end of the war," the IRGC, seen as close to Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said, in a statement carried by Iranian media. "The equations and future status of the region are now in the hands of our armed forces. American forces will not end the war." And in a message directly to Washington, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS News: "We are well prepared to continue attacking them with our missiles as long as needed and as long as it takes." Tehran's top diplomat, who has remained in his post since Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei replaced his slain father as supreme leader, complained that the US had attacked Iran before while diplomatic talks were ongoing. "I don't think talking with Americans anymore would be on our agenda," he said. (Bssnews)