Oil prices jumped nearly 5% after US President Donald Trump demanded Iran's unconditional surrender and threatened the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. July futures for U.S. WTI were trading at $75.3 at the time of publication of this text, while Brent crude for delivery in August rose to $76.8. This is the highest in almost five months, CNN reports.

In a post on his Truth Social media page, Trump warned that "the patience of the United States is running out":  "We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He's an easy target, but he's safe for now. We have no intention of eliminating (killing!) him - at least not yet. But we don't want missiles flying at civilians or American soldiers."

As reported by Bloomberg sources, Trump met with his national security team in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the conflict in the Middle East. That sparked a new wave of speculation that the U.S. is on the verge of joining an Israeli operation against Iran, the agency noted. According to sourcesCNN, Trump is increasingly leaning toward the idea and is losing interest in a diplomatic way to resolve the conflict.

As the escalation continued, U.S. stock indices declined, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones losing 0.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite - 0.8%.

The VIX market volatility index, also called the Wall Street Fear Index, has jumped 13.5%, a bigger increase than it did on Friday, June 13, when Israel began striking Iranian nuclear facilities. The index thus once again broke the psychological mark of 20 points, around which it has been fluctuating all these days - usually indicative of a period of increased volatility and uncertainty;

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