President Donald Trump said the United States would strike Iran “very hard over the next week,” as oil prices surged and fighting spread across the Middle East during the nearly two-week-old war involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran.

Trump made the remarks in a Fox News interview aired Friday, shortly after the United States issued a partial 30-day waiver allowing purchases of sanctioned Russian oil already at sea in an attempt to ease pressure on global energy markets.

Benchmark Brent crude traded near $99.50 in European markets, easing slightly but still up almost 40% since the conflict began. The spike has rattled global markets and raised fuel prices around the world.

The conflict has increasingly drawn in countries across the region, with Iran attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

Trump said the United States would escort commercial shipping in the strait if necessary.

“We’re going to be hitting Iran very hard over the next week,” Trump said in the interview, adding that Washington would act to protect shipping routes.

Rising energy prices have become a major economic concern, particularly in the United States, where retail diesel prices reached $4.89 a gallon on Thursday, the highest level since December 2022.

The International Energy Agency said the conflict was creating the biggest disruption to global oil supply in history.

Despite the waiver allowing certain Russian oil transactions, energy markets remain volatile as traders weigh the risk of prolonged disruptions to Middle Eastern exports.

Trump framed higher oil prices as potentially beneficial for the United States, which he said stands to gain as the world’s largest oil producer.

“The United States is the largest oil producer in the world,” Trump wrote on social media. “When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also described the surge in prices as a temporary disruption that could ultimately benefit the U.S. economy.

War spreads across region

After nearly two weeks of fighting, about 2,000 people have been killed, most of them in Iran, with casualties also reported in Lebanon and Gulf states that have increasingly found themselves caught in the conflict.

The U.S. military also confirmed casualties among its forces. Four of the six crew members aboard a refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq were killed.

Iran continued launching missiles and drones toward Israel, while Israeli forces carried out strikes across Tehran and intensified attacks against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, including in Beirut.

Iranian state media said a woman was killed by an airstrike near a rally in Tehran marking Quds Day, an annual event supporting Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attended the rally, Iranian media reported.

Israel’s military said its air force struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran in the past day, including missile launchers, air defense systems, and weapons production sites.

Iran vows retaliation

The escalating conflict has heightened fears of a prolonged disruption to global energy supplies, which briefly pushed oil above $100 a barrel on Thursday.

Trump has repeatedly said the goal of the campaign is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

In social media posts, he said the United States was “totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran.”

“We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time,” Trump wrote.

Western officials cited by Axios said Trump told leaders of the Group of Seven nations during a virtual meeting that Iran was “about to surrender.”

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed the country would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and warned neighboring states to shut U.S. military bases on their territory or risk becoming targets.

His comments were read by a television presenter rather than delivered in person, and it remained unclear why he did not appear publicly.

Iranian officials have said Khamenei was lightly wounded in earlier strikes, while Trump said he believed the leader was alive but “damaged.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his first press conference since the war began, also issued a veiled threat against the new Iranian leader.

Elsewhere in the region, French President Emmanuel Macron said one French soldier was killed and several others wounded during an attack on coalition forces in northern Iraq. An Italian military base in the same area was also targeted earlier.

In northern Israel, several homes in a Bedouin town near an air base were heavily damaged overnight. Officials said it was not immediately clear whether the damage was caused by a direct strike or debris from intercepted missiles. Most of the injuries reported there were minor.