Iran denies Monday talks as oil drops 4.7% on Trump plan

Iran's foreign ministry said it has no plans to host or send delegations in the coming days, directly contradicting President Donald Trump's announcement that US-Iran negotiations would resume Monday.

Iran's foreign ministry said it has no plans to receive or dispatch delegations in the coming days, contradicting Trump's announcement that US-Iran talks would resume Monday and sending crude prices down nearly 5 percent.

"These days there are no plans to receive delegations or dispatch Iranian delegations," Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, said, according to state media.

West Texas Intermediate fell 4.7 percent to $80.72 a barrel in early Asian trade Monday, while Brent dropped 4.69 percent to $83.81. The decline followed Trump's Saturday decision to call off planned strikes on Iran — which he said would have been "the biggest attack since World War II" — to pursue a deal covering the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program.

The contradiction shows how fragile the diplomatic track remains in a conflict that began Feb. 28 when the US and Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran, closing the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway carrying about 21 percent of global oil trade. If talks collapse, crude could spike again; if they hold, the geopolitical risk premium may keep unwinding.

Hormuz Remains the Flashpoint

Iran has tightened control over the strait since the war began, insisting on charging tolls and rejecting the free passage that existed before the conflict — a stance Washington rejects. On Sunday, Baqaei said Tehran was close to a deal with Oman over a new route through the waterway, though he insisted such an agreement would not mean reopening the strait.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on X that "we must strive to compel the enemy to remain committed to what it has signed," while lawmaker Hassan Ghashghavi, spokesman for parliament's national security commission, said mediators were trying to revive the US-Iran memorandum of understanding agreed in June. That agreement was meant as a stepping stone to broader negotiations, not a final peace deal.

Oil Risk Premium Unwinds

The last time tensions escalated in July, oil prices swung sharply as Tehran refused to let ships use any route other than one hugging the Iranian coast. Monday's drop marks the second major decline this month as traders price in a lower probability of renewed strikes on energy infrastructure, which US embassies across the region had been on alert for.

Iranian media denied that Tehran had asked Trump to hold off on the strikes, and the contradiction between Washington's announcement and Tehran's denial leaves the market guessing on the talks' fate. Gold and other safe-haven assets have held elevated levels as investors hedge against a breakdown, while defense-sector shares remain volatile on the prospect of either a deal or renewed conflict.

The diplomatic window is narrow: Trump said talks would begin Monday afternoon without detailing the venue or participants, while Tehran's denial suggests the two sides have yet to agree on even the format of engagement. For energy markets, the stakes are direct — a return to strikes would likely push Brent back above $90, while a credible negotiation track could extend the current slide toward $75.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.