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Price of oil hits $116 a barrel after Trump says he wants to ‘take the oil in Iran’

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 571 words · By Lauren Almeida
Economic impacts Global oil prices Middle East Conflict
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What to know about Economic impacts

The price of oil has risen sharply to $116 a barrel after Donald Trump said he wanted to “take the oil in Iran”, sending Asian stock markets tumbling.

Claims checked 8
Techniques found 0
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage
Left14%
Center86%
Right0%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The price of oil has risen sharply to $116 a barrel after Donald Trump said he wanted to “take the oil in Iran”, sending Asian stock markets tumbling.

Why it matters

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose by 2% in early trading on Monday, after Trump said that he could seize the Iranian export hub of Kharg Island.

Common ground

Trump told the Financial Times in an interview on Sunday: “To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people.” “Maybe we take Kharg Island,…

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/30/price-of-oil-trump-iran-stock-m…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 6
verified Verified By Reference 2
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Claim 1: “In Asia, where economies are highly exposed to the shortage in oil and gas coming out of the Gulf, stock markets dropped sharply. Japan’s Nikkei dropped by 3%, while the South Korean Kospi fell 3.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed about 1%.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia evidence references Japanese constitution, diaspora, and South Asia demographics but contains no data about stock market declines or Gulf oil shortages impacting Asian markets.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan (日本国憲法第9条, Nihon koku kenpō dai kyū-jō) is a clause in the Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. T…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_9_of_the_Constitution_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Japanese diaspora and its individual members, known as Nikkei (Japanese: 日系, IPA: [ɲikkeː]) or as Nikkeijin (Japanese: 日系人, IPA: [ɲikkeꜜːʑiɴ]), comprise the Japanese emigrants from Japan (and thei…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_diaspora
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's popu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia
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Claim 2: “Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose by 2% in early trading on Monday, after Trump said that he could seize the Iranian export hub of Kharg Island.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to corroborate claims about Brent crude price movements linked to Trump's remarks on Kharg Island.
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Claim 3: “The price of oil has risen sharply to $116 a barrel after Donald Trump said he wanted to 'take the oil in Iran', sending Asian stock markets tumbling.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia evidence references 2025 US-Iran military actions and negotiations but contains no data about oil prices, stock market movements, or Trump's comments on Iranian oil. No direct correlation exists between the cited events and the claim's specifics.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On June 22, 2025, the United States Air Force and Navy attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran as part of the Twelve-Day War, under the code name Operation Midnight Hammer. The Fordow Uranium Enrich…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_strikes_on_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On April 12, 2025, Iran and the United States began a series of negotiations aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement, following a letter from U.S. president Donald Trump to Iranian supreme leader …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–2026_Iran–United_States_n…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Relations between Iran and the United States during Donald Trump's second term as the president of the United States (2025–present) were shaped by diplomatic pressure and military conflict. In Februar…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–United_States_relations_d…
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Claim 4: “Investors are growing increasingly nervous as the conflict in the Middle East has escalated in recent days as a further 3,500 US troops have arrived in the Middle East.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to corroborate claims about US troop deployments escalating Middle East conflict and investor nervousness.
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Claim 5: “Brent traded as high as $119.50 a barrel during March, its highest level since June 2022, after Iran all but closed the strait of Hormuz.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to corroborate claims about Brent crude reaching $119.50 due to Hormuz Strait closures.
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Claim 6: “The war in the Middle East has ramped up oil prices to historic levels, with Brent crude now on track for its biggest monthly gain ever – up more than 50% since the start of March – beating the previous record of 46% in September 1990 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to corroborate claims about Brent crude surpassing historical price gain records.
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Claim 7: “Houthi rebels in Yemen have now also entered the conflict, firing ballistic missiles at Israeli sites, in a dangerous spread of the war that could also worsen the global energy crisis.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to corroborate claims about Houthi rebels targeting Israeli sites or energy crisis impacts.
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Claim 8: “Industry figures have warned that there could be 'temporary shortages' at petrol pumps in the UK, as supplies are squeezed by the conflict in the Middle East, which has already driven up average petrol prices to above 150p a litre.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to corroborate claims about UK petrol price surges and fuel shortages linked to Middle East conflict.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.