The price of Brent crude oil surged past $125 a barrel early this morning as stalled US-Iran talks raised doubts over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a permanent end to the Iran war.

Brent crude to be delivered in June jumped 6.2 per cent to $125.36 early Wednesday. Brent to be delivered in July rose 3.1 per cent to $113.85.

Before the start of the war in late February, Brent crude was trading around $70 per barrel.

President Donald Trump’s administration ​is seeking the participation of other countries to form an international coalition to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a State Department cable.

US secretary of state ⁠Marco Rubio approved the creation of the Maritime Freedom Construct (MFC), the cable dated 28 April said, which it described as a joint initiative by the state department and the Pentagon.

“The MFC constitutes a critical first step in the establishment of a post-conflict ⁠maritime security architecture for the Middle East. This ​framework ⁠is essential to ensuring long-term energy security, protecting critical maritime infrastructure, and maintaining navigational rights and freedoms in vital sea lanes,” the cable ⁠said.

The component of the initiative led by the state department would serve ​as ⁠the diplomatic hub between partner ‌countries and the shipping industry, while the Pentagon component operating out of CENTCOM headquarters in Florida would coordinate real-time maritime traffic and communicate directly with vessels transiting ‌the Strait, the cable said.

USS Ford aircraft carrier to leave Middle East after a record-breaking deployment.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier had been at sea for more than 300 days, including participating in the war against Iran and capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to two US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements.

The ship broke the US record this month for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span after leaving Naval Station Norfolk in June.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth will face a second day of grilling from Democrats on Capitol Hill, with senators getting their first opportunity today to confront or praise the Pentagon chief over his handling of the Iran war.

Hegseth battled with Democrats – and some Republicans – a day earlier during a nearly six-hour House Armed Services Committee hearing, where he faced sharp questioning over the war’s costs in dollars, lives and the diminishing stockpiles of critical weapons.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear a similar presentation on the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defence spending to a historic $1.5 trillion.

Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Dan Caine, will again stress the need for more drones, missile defence systems and warships.

They are now also likely to face tough questions about American troop levels in Europe after President Donald Trump on Wednesday levelled a new threat against Nato ally Germany, suggesting he could soon reduce the US military presence in the country as he feuds with chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.

Donald Trump has reshared an image on Truth Social bearing the message “The Storm is Coming,” alongside the phrase “Nothing can stop what is coming”.

In a separate post, he cited a Harvard Harris poll, which allegedly claimed that a strong majority of Americans supported his stance on stopping Iran’s nuclear program.

Oil prices rose today on a report the US is ‌considering potential military action against Iran to break the deadlock in negotiations to end the war, increasing concerns of more supply disruptions to already curtailed Middle East exports.

Brent crude futures for June rose $5.27, or 4.5 per cent, to $123.30 a barrel after gaining 6.1 per cent in the previous session.

The June contract, which ​has increased for a ninth day, expires today and the more active July contract was at $113.10, up $2.66, or 2.4 per cent, ​after gaining 5.8 per cent in the previous session.

President Donald Trump and his top officials met with oil and gas executives, including Chevron CEO Mike Wirth, at the White House on Tuesday.

The meeting, reported by Axios on Wednesday, addressed the energy fallout of the Iran war and other topics.

Donald Trump’s war in Iran has cost the US military $25bn so far, a senior Pentagon official ​said on ⁠Wednesday, providing the first official estimate of the price tag for the conflict.

Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the ​comptroller, told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee that most of that money was for munitions.

Hurst did not detail ​what that cost estimate included and whether it took into account the projected costs of rebuilding and repairing ⁠base infrastructure in the Middle East damaged in the conflict.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the cost was justified given the US goal of ensuring Iran will ​not have a nuclear weapon.

“What would you pay to ensure Iran does not get a nuclear bomb? What would you pay?” Hegseth asked.

The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely still at its Isfahan nuclear complex, which was bombarded by airstrikes last year and faced less intense attacks in this year’s US-Israeli war, the UN nuclear agency’s leader said.

Rafael Grossi said that the International Atomic Energy Agency has satellite images showing the effects of the latest US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran and that “we continue to get information.

“IAEA inspections ended at Isfahan when Israel last June launched a 12-day war that saw the US bomb three Iranian nuclear sites.

The UN nuclear watchdog believes a large percentage of Iran’s highly enriched uranium “was stored there in June 2025 when the 12-day war broke out, and it has been there ever since,” Grossi said.

“We haven’t been able to inspect or to reject that the material is there and that the seals — the IAEA seals — remain there,” he said. “I hope we’ll be able to do that, so what I tell you is our best estimate.”

US president Donald Trump ⁠is slated to receive a briefing ⁠on ​new ⁠plans for ⁠potential ​military action in ⁠Iran ‌on Thursday from the ‌leader of ‌the US ⁠Central Command, Brad Cooper, Axios reported.

On Wednesday, Trump discussed how to mitigate the impact of a possible months-long US blockade of Iran’s ports with oil companies, as he urged Tehran to “get smart soon” and sign a deal.