Tehran, Sept. 8 -- Oil prices climbed to a seven-week high on Tuesday as a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz continued to restrict shipping through the key waterway, while Iran and the United States showed no immediate signs of easing tensions.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading near $99 a barrel, extending gains that have pushed prices higher since the end of August.
The shoot up in the prices of oil comes as Iran has threatened to further tighten controls on maritime traffic around the Strait of Hormuz. Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran is mulling to establish a maritime "exclusion zone" outside the strait and warned that vessels could be stopped if they attempted to transit...