By George Glover and Anita Hamilton
Oil prices were rallying Tuesday as Iran stepped up its attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East and President Donald Trump said U.S. allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have declined to help with the Iran war and securing the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent international futures climbed 2.4% to $102.58 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate futures were 2.5% higher at $95.79 a barrel.
The benchmarks were clawing back their losses from Monday as fresh strikes by Israel and Iran fueled traders' fears about disruption of crude flows out of the Middle East.
In an Oval Office meeting with Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin Tuesday, Trump said that Middle Eastern countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Israel had helped U.S. efforts. That's in contrast to U.S. allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization who he said, "don't want to help us, which is amazing." He added, "I'm not happy about it."
Earlier in the day, the president said that NATO allies "don't want to get involved" in the Iran war, in a post on Truth Social. He also called out other non-NATO countries, including Japan, Australia, and South Korea, saying he did not need their help. "We do not need the help of anyone!" he wrote. This post comes after Trump's repeated calls to other countries to join an effort to secure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Joe Kent, the head of the U.S. counterterrorism center, resigned over the conflict. "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," he wrote on X.
Trump told reporters Tuesday that "it's a good thing that he's out."
Israel's defense minister said it had killed Iranian security chief Ali Larijani in drone strikes late Monday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Iraqi authorities condemned a series of attacks targeting key facilities and diplomatic missions including the Majnoon oilfield and the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, according to the Journal.
Meanwhile, a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while anchored east of the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center said. The projectile caused minor structural damage and no crew members were injured.
Loading berths at the Fujairah tanker terminal were suspended, the port and marine management company Inchcape Shipping Services said in a note early Tuesday.
Investors are worried the continuing conflict will trigger a prolonged oil rally that could drive up inflation.
"Recession is once again a serious threat," Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi warned in a post on X on Monday, citing a weak labor market as well as the recent events in the Middle East.
Other countries are also struggling to cope with the surge in energy prices. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he believed he would have "the honor of taking Cuba...in some form" amid a continuing oil blockade by the U.S.
Crude prices had dropped on Monday after Trump said other countries would help secure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping corridor that the U.S. has pledged to keep open.
Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 17, 2026 12:16 ET (16:16 GMT)
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