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John Authers, Columnist

Is It Over When Trump Says It’s Over? We’ll See

Oil prices couldn’t wait to fall again, but it’s unclear what Iran has really agreed to.

Israel targeted Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

Photographer: Nikan/AFP/Getty Images

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What on earth is going on? In one of the strangest days of trading oil in history, Brent crude breached $80 per barrel at the first chance to react to the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, and then fell. When Iran retaliated by firing missiles at a US military base in Qatar — which might have been expected to send prices upward again — the fall turned into a rout, and Brent dropped below $70. That was a total decline of 13% in response to what appeared to be terrible news.