Oil prices rose on Monday while stocks showed mixed performance after United States President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meeting between his envoys and Iranian officials over the weekend.
The peace talks, scheduled to take place in Pakistan, were called off on Saturday with Trump stating there was no point “sitting around talking about nothing”.
Speaking on Fox News, Trump said he told his team: “We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.”
The president later told reporters that Iran had submitted a revised proposal within minutes of his cancellation decision.
“They gave us a paper that should have been better and, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better,” he said without providing further details.
When asked whether the cancellation signalled a return to hostilities, Trump said: “No, it doesn’t mean that. We haven’t thought about it yet.”
The prospects for negotiations were already uncertain before the cancellation, with Iranian state television reporting that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had no plans to meet US officials directly and that Pakistan would serve as an intermediary for proposals.
Axios reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources including a US official, that Tehran had submitted a new offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas passes, with nuclear talks postponed to a later date.
The talks between the two countries have stalled over Iran’s objections to a US blockade of its ports and Washington’s demands that Iran allow ships to transit the waterway.
Iranian state media reported on Monday that Araghchi had arrived in Saint Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, following visits to Islamabad and Oman.
After landing, Araghchi blamed the United States for the collapse of peace talks, citing “excessive demands” and stating that “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is an important global issue”.
Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday, with Brent crude trading at $108.02. Analysts suggest lingering hopes of an eventual agreement have prevented sharper increases.
Fawad Razaqzada of Forex.com warned that prices could surge again.
“If tensions were to escalate further, particularly into open conflict, there’s a clear risk of a sharper spike,” he wrote.
“For now though, as long as shipping through the Strait remains constrained, that premium is unlikely to fade. Until there’s a credible breakthrough, the path of least resistance still looks higher, with a move beyond $110 appearing increasingly plausible.”
The conflict between the US and Iran has now entered its eighth week.
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