Stock futures were mixed on Sunday evening and oil prices continued to rise as the deaths of American military personnel over the weekend further inflamed the war between the US and Iran.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61 points, or 0.12%. S&P 500 futures fell just 0.05%, but Nasdaq futures rose 0.08%.
West Texas Intermediate futures rose 2.75% to $84.76 a barrel and Brent crude rose 3.2% to $90.92. Gold fell 0.53% to $3,997 an ounce.
Two US soldiers died in an Iranian attack in Jordan and another was missing. A third soldier was killed in Iraq while trying to dispose of a downed Iranian drone.
The deaths at the hands of the Islamic Republic appear to be so cross a red line President Donald Trump reportedly described this as he considered the threshold for ending the previous ceasefire before signing the Memorandum of Understanding last month, which has since fallen through.
So far, the White House has not announced whether there will be a resumption of the all-out war. But the U.S. military continues its daily bombardment of Iran, with the latest salvo intended as punishment for the fallen.
But despite more than a week of airstrikes, the U.S. military has failed to secure an alternative corridor through the Strait of Hormuz that bypasses the route approved by Iran, as the regime’s drones and missiles deter merchant ships.
Show ship tracking data no intersections via the US-backed route and no “shadow fleet” movements, while the Iranian channel is still recording activity.
This gives Tehran even more influence as global oil supplies continue to fall to critically low levels. At the same time, Iran may deploy more advanced weapons that can evade U.S. air defenses, making bases around the Persian Gulf more vulnerable.
As a result, Trump’s military options are shrinking as the US military has already failed to topple the Iranian regime or break its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Retired Admiral James Stavridis, who served as NATO Supreme Commander, said CNN On Sunday, he said Trump now has three options, “and none of them are good.”
First, he could simply walk away, which would have a terrible outcome for the U.S., the Gulf and global trade, according to Stavridis, who said that was unlikely.
The second option would be to “go big,” which would mean a return to the hundreds of airstrikes per day at the start of the war — but this time perhaps with the addition of ground troops. However, he also doubted this step given the high costs and the lack of willingness to take measures on site.
The third and most likely option is the current “escalation to de-escalation” bombing policy plus stricter economic burdens, but still leaves the door open for negotiations, Stavridis added.
Meanwhile, he also warned that Iran or its proxies could ultimately threaten the Suez Canal, which sees even more shipping traffic than the Strait of Hormuz, and that Tehran’s attacks on Jordan could even be linked to such plans.
“The Iranians are starting to express rumors that they are trying to prevent this with the help of the Houthis in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula,” Stavridis said. “So that should be in the back of everyone’s mind.”