Oil tops $100 again despite historic release of reserves as war with Iran rages

Brent crude oil hovered around $100 a barrel Thursday, after Iran’s new leader purportedly said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut and as further attacks on ships in the Gulf spooked energy traders.

In comments delivered by an anchor on Iranian state television, Mojtaba Khamenei warned that the strait would remain closed as a “tool of pressure.” The message attributed to the Islamic republic’s new supreme leader – the son of former leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli strike at the start of the war – also contained a