Iran says oil blockade will continue

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday they would not allow "one litre of oil" to be shipped from the Middle East if U.S. and Israeli attacks continue, prompting a warning from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would hit Iran much harder if it blocked exports from the vital energy-producing region.



The heightened rhetoric did little to quell a sharp retreat in crude prices and a rally in global ⁠shares, which came after Trump expressed confidence in a swift end to hostilities even after Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader in a signal of defiance.



Trump said on Monday the United States had inflicted serious damage on Iran's military and predicted the conflict would end well before the initial four-week time frame he had laid out, though he has not defined what victory would look like.



Israel says its war aim is to overthrow Iran's system of clerical rule.



U.S. officials mainly say Washington's aim is to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and nuclear programme, but Trump has said the war can end only with a compliant Iranian government.