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Government spokesman says he does not know when the Stena Impero, which was impounded as part of the spiraling tensions in the Persian Gulf, will be allowed to sail.

"I have worked long and hard with Robert. He will do a great job!" Trump says on Twitter.

"If we yield to their pressure and hold talks with Americans ... This will show that their maximum pressure on Iran has succeeded. They should know that this policy has no value for us," says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Remarks are apparently meant to end all speculation about a possible US-Iran meeting at the UN later this month.

Washington blames Tehran for attack, which shut down 5% of global crude oil output. Russia urges nations worldwide not to rush to conclusions about who perpetrated the attack.

Benchmark Brent crude gains nearly 20% in the first moments of trading Monday before settling down to 10% higher as trading continued. A barrel of Brent trades up $6 to $66.28. At 5.7 million barrels of crude oil a day, the Saudi disruption would be the greatest on record for world markets.

Hamza bin Laden, the son of the late al-Qaida leader who had become an increasingly prominent figure in the terrorist organization, was killed in a US counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. American officials have said there are indications that the CIA, not the US military, conducted the strike.

Iran dismisses allegation it was behind operation that saw Houthi rebels launch drone attacks on world's largest oil processing facility, sparking huge fires and halting about half of the supplies from world's largest oil exporter. US Secretary of State Pompeo: "No evidence the attacks came from Yemen."

“We have cut off their money, and that’s the reason why, if they do come back to the negotiation table, they’re coming back,” said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The US president says the unnamed candidates are all "highly qualified." Deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman, a former Reagan administration official and defense contracting executive, is running the National Security Council on an acting basis.

Former deputy national security adviser Charles M. Kupperman may take up the post on a permanent basis; Islamic American organization CAIR “appalled” by the appointment.