Episode summary
Israel Says Strike Killed Iran’s Larijani as War Intensifies | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 47 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Dan Williams, Alex Vatanka, Ellen Wald, Mandeep Singh, Samantha Dart
Summary
Israel’s reported killing of Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani was framed as another escalation in a widening war that is now in its third week. A Bloomberg News Jerusalem journalist said the strike shows Israel and the US are trying to degrade Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities while also creating conditions for Iranians to pressure the regime from within. He argued that Israel’s public sees the conflict as a climactic battle against a multi-front threat, even as Americans are less supportive because they are farther from the danger.
A senior Iran analyst said Larijani’s death is a meaningful psychological blow, but not a decisive one, because the regime can still replace senior figures quickly. He said the more important question is whether the US and Israel would accept pragmatic insiders, such as former president Hassan Rouhani, if the goal shifts from total collapse to an orderly transition.
The program then turned to energy markets, where two analysts said oil, diesel, jet fuel, and shipping costs remain vulnerable even if prices eventually fall after a ceasefire. They argued the market is still pricing in disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, backlog effects, and damage to regional infrastructure, with longer-term pressure likely to keep reshaping supply chains, reserves, and North American energy ties.
Key takeaways
- The Jerusalem journalist said Israel and the US are aiming not just to hit Iran’s military, but to create space for Iranian protesters to challenge the regime.
- A senior Iran analyst said Ali Larijani’s killing is a psychological blow, but the regime can likely replace him quickly.
- The Iran analyst said former president Hassan Rouhani is one possible pragmatic figure, but his acceptability to Israel and the US is uncertain.
- One commodities analyst said crude could drop back into the low 80s if a ceasefire reduces the risk premium, but not all the way back to prewar levels immediately.
- Another commodities analyst said diesel and jet fuel are more exposed than gasoline because the Middle East exports heavier crude that feeds those refined products.
Notable quotes
“They said at the outset of this war that the secondary objective, the initial objective was to degrade, destroy um Iranian capabilities”
“Israel assesses that 70 to 80% of the Iranian populace oppose this regime or have opposed this regime”
“the regime is undermined massively. Certainly, it's never been uh under such amount of attack in its history”
“the more concerned the market becomes, that's when you tend to see your brand prices cross $100 a barrel”
“there's going to be a huge backlog. Uh we're going to need to see the stores of various uh products, crude oil”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio.
Well, Israel said it killed Iran's security chief that in an overnight attack intensifying a regionwide war that shows no signs of abating and we are well into our third week. President Trump earlier today from the uh Oval Office referred to that action. He also talked more broadly about the US war in Iran, including timing.
He talked around noon Wall Street time today. But we're not ready to leave yet, but we uh we'll be leaving in the near future. We'll be leaving in pretty much the very near future.
But right now, they've been uh decimated from every standpoint. And again, we've had great support from countries in the Middle East. Great support, but we've had no support from essentially no support from NATO.
And that of course is President Trump earlier today from the Oval Office. with more on what's going on. We want to head first of all to Jerusalem and to Bloomberg News Jerusalem journalist.
He is Dan Williams where it is later there of course in Israel. Um Dan, good to have you here with us. Glad we could check in with you.
Um glad to see you are still safe. There's so much going on. Um what do we know about this security chief in Iran that was said to be taken out?
I think it would be fair to say that he was the de facto at least publicly available ruler of Iran after Israel and the United States in the early hours of this war on February 28th killed the Supreme Leader Kame.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- gulf conflict
- iran drone attacks
- saudi oil infrastructure
- oil and natural gas markets
- ai and tech market news
Companies and tickers mentioned
- NVDA
- GS
- Nvidia
- Goldman Sachs
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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