Mojtaba Khamenei appointed as Iran’s new supreme leader after father’s death
Mojtaba Khamenei became Iran’s supreme leader following the death of Ali Khamenei and heightened tensions due to the US attack on Israel.
Stocks tumbled, bonds sold and Wall Street’s “fear rating” soared as oil prices soared above $110 as the U.S.-Iran war worsened.
Brent crude, the international standard crude, soared to $119.50 per barrel in the early hours of Monday, March 9, before trading around $103 per barrel, up about 11%. West Texas Intermediate, the crude oil produced in the United States, was around $101 per barrel just before the New York opening bell.
The 10-day war reached a new milestone over the weekend when Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader.
Oil remains unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked. At the start of the war, many analysts expected prices to rise this high, but most also expected major corridors to reopen relatively quickly and price increases to be relatively contained. But so far, there are no signs that the hostilities will ease.
On Monday morning, the Financial Times reported that a group of major industrialized countries was planning an emergency meeting to discuss joint release of oil reserves.
How high will gas prices rise?
The soaring oil prices are beginning to have an impact across the country. Analysts previously told USA TODAY that gasoline prices have moved roughly in line with oil prices, which have soared nearly 50% in the past few weeks.
“When the price at the pump gets above about $3.50 a gallon, consumers really start to worry,” one oil industry analyst said last week. As of Monday morning, the national average was $3.455 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.
“I think there’s about an 80% chance that the national average price of gasoline will hit $4 a gallon within the next month or sooner,” independent energy analyst Patrick de Haan said on March 8.
“The economic impact is significant,” De Haan added. “For every 1 cent increase in the national average gasoline price, Americans will spend about $3.7 million more per day.”
