On Air Now

Wide Awake Club

2:00am - 5:00am

Now Playing

Taylor Dayne

I'll Wait (E-Smoove Hot Mix)

Iran war: Is Trump trying to end it because he's over a barrel?

Tuesday, 10 March 2026 02:21

By David Blevins, US correspondent

Words are cheap, but the price of oil is brutally honest.

Donald Trump's claim that the war could be over "soon" will grab headlines.

Iran war: Follow live updates

But traders don't trade on soundbites. They trade on risk.

That explains the sudden urgency from the commander-in-chief.

Ten days ago, he warned that the war could last four to six weeks.

Now, he's boasting that it could be over "very soon."

"Not this week," he added at a news conference in Florida, but objectives are "pretty well complete".

He listed battlefield successes - boasting 5,000 targets had been hit.

The president said he would "live with" the outcome of a report on a strike on a school.

But he tried to pin the blame for the attack, which claimed dozens of lives, elsewhere.

Trump said many countries, including Iran, use Tomahawks, a "generic" weapon.

The UK, Australia, the Netherlands, and Japan are the only other countries with Tomahawks.

Unless he's suggesting one of them carried out the strike, he has effectively implicated the US.

Read more: Evidence challenges Trump's claim

Trump's 'epic' problem

Nevertheless, he appears poised to declare victory and find an off-ramp.

But his newfound optimism lands in a space where politics and markets collide.

US crude surging to $119 per barrel, then dropping a record 4% on talk of an ending.

It's a problem for Trump that Iran had already acknowledged by mocking the military codename: "Operation Epic Fury."

"Operation Epic Mistake," the country's foreign minister posted, alongside a graphic of oil prices.

Read more from Sky News:
Inside the frontline ghost town
Erdogan's clear message on Iran war

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard says it will "determine the end of the war".

In a statement, it said Tehran would not allow the export of "one litre of oil" from the region if US and Israel attacks continue.

Trump posted on Truth Social: "If Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far."

For a trader sitting in London, Houston or Singapore, the question is not what Trump says but what happens on the ground.

In times of conflict, the price of a barrel speaks louder, and more truthfully, than a presidential promise of peace.

Sky News

(c) Sky News 2026: Iran war: Is Trump trying to end it because he's over a barrel?

Donate to Roch Valley Radio

 

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something happening in our Borough?

Let us know by emailing newsdesk@rochvalleyradio.com

All contact will be treated in confidence.

More from Videos

Donate to Roch Valley Radio

 

Recently Played

Newsletter

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated.

   

Coming up next On Air

  • Wide Awake Club

    2:00am - 5:00am

    For those who find themselves awake at 3am more often than they’d like. Calm music, understanding voices and quiet company.

  • Up Before the Alarm

    5:00am - 7:00am

    for early starters, commuters and anyone already on their second brew. Livelier music and new voices warming things up before breakfast.

  • Tuesday Breakfast

    7:00am - 10:00am

    getting you out of bed and to work and school with great music and headlines.

  • The Sean Show

    10:00am - Noon

    Sean Cummiskey brings you the The Sensational Spectacular Sctillating Supersonic Sean Show! Or for ease The Sean Show! Top music and musings with “Great Number 2’s” and the home of tenuous links to songs from the news and “on this day!”.

  • Phil Salter

    Noon - 2:00pm

  • The Mood Swing Shift

    2:00pm - 3:00pm

    with Jainy Smith , straight-talking perimenopause & menopause chat... The stuff we actually go through (no fluff, no shame, no whispering)