Oil prices are pairing gains on Monday after an Iranian official said talks with the U.S. could be pursued again based on national interests.
Speaking in a press conference, Tehran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said officials had continued exchanging messages with intermediaries despite escalating clashes with Washington.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, edged higher and clocked in at $88.30 per barrel at 8:15 a.m. ET after hitting $90 per barrel hours earlier. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, dropped 0.45% and stood at $81.41 per barrel at the same time.
However, oil prices have climbed more than 15% last week, leading average U.S. gas prices to go back above $4 a gallon. It is the first time prices hit that level in over a month, NBC News reported. They had fallen to $3.79 on July 7, but have been climbing steadily as clashes continue to escalate.
A U.S. service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday, taking the death toll in the war with Iran to 17, according to the U.S. Central Command. More than 400 troops have been wounded.
Another attack against an American base in Jordan killed two service member, leading the U.S. to launch airstrikes on Sunday targeting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The US has targeted bridges, electrical facilities and water desalination plants in Iran, leaving 10,000 without water in the country. Tehran's has retaliated by hitting power and desalination plants in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The U.S. Central Command said late Sunday it had completed a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, targeting "Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran's ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz."
Tehran has also warned of further strikes in the region, after the United Arab Emirates sounded a warning on the imminent threat of the escalation spiraling out of control.
"The UAE calls for the utmost restraint to avoid serious repercussions and prevent the region from descending into new levels of violence and instability," the emirate's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Urging the U.S. and Iran to resume negotiations, the emirate stressed the need to end all hostilities. It also touched upon the contentious issue of the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that free and secure passage of vessels through the international waterway remains of vital importance to the global economy.
Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, on his end, has issued a warning threatening "unforgettable lessons" if Washington continues its attacks on the Islamic Republic. Iran's joint military command said that U.S. "covetousness, bullying, totalitarianism or brutality" would meet with a "devastating response."
