Oil Plunges 9% as Trump Sets Monday Talks to Reopen Hormuz

Brent crude tumbled 9% intraday on Sunday evening. It slid from a previous close of $91.03 to a low of $82.83 after US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz begin Monday afternoon.

The price later clawed back some ground to trade near $84.06, still down 7.66% on the day.

Another Walk-Back, or Real Peace?

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that negotiations start the following afternoon. He made the comment a day after he called off what he described as a massive planned attack on Iran.

Trump said Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Iran itself all asked him to hold off. He said the request signals every side expects a Hormuz deal, with a separate nuclear agreement to follow.

Saudi state media confirmed part of that account. It reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushed Trump toward deescalation in a weekend phone call. Iran tells a different story.

State media gave no sign Tehran had shifted its stance on the strait. The semi-official Fars news agency went further and denied Iran ever asked Trump to pause the strikes, mocking his account directly.

“Trump the fool has run out of steam!”— Fars news agency, via CNN

Uncertainty Continues to Plague the Markets

The exchange fits a pattern. Trump credits regional pressure, not his own advisers, each time he delays a strike. He still maintains on social media that US forces stand ready to resume action at any moment.

Any nuclear deal would build on the memorandum of understanding both sides signed in June. That agreement gave both sides 60 days to negotiate, and the window is now closing.

The uncertainty already hits consumers and markets on both sides. Americans pay more at the pump as shipping and output disruptions persist. Months of conflict have strained Iran’s own economy.

Every Trump signal has whipsawed oil traders since, including Wednesday’s 9.6% Hormuz-linked jump that preceded this latest reversal.

Monday’s talks may still produce only another delay. Tehran remains publicly unmoved, and the MoU clock keeps running out.