The price of oil has risen sharply to $116 a barrel after Donald Trump said he wanted to “take the oil in Iran”, sending Asian stock markets tumbling.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose by 2% in early trading on Monday, after Trump said that he could seize the Iranian export hub of Kharg Island.

Trump told the Financial Times in an interview on Sunday: “To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people.”

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” he said.

In Asia, where economies are highly exposed to the shortage in oil and gas coming out of the Gulf, stock…