Oil prices fell sharply in Asian trading Monday as investors unwound geopolitical risk premiums after United States President Donald Trump said he had called off a planned strike on Iran.
West Texas Intermediate futures for September delivery slid 4.5 per cent to $80.89 a barrel, while Brent crude for October delivery dropped 4.4 per cent to $84.10.
Trump said early Sunday he had canceled a strike following requests from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries.
“We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to,” he wrote on Truth Social.
He added that the proposed Iran agreement would involve the “Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”
The president has reportedly been weighing further military action against Iran amid fading prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, which began on 28 February.
Tehran reacted cautiously to Trump’s announcement. “Although the enemy’s recent statements are part of a psychological and cognitive warfare campaign, we consider every threat to be real and take it seriously,” said acting defense minister Seyyed Majid Ibn Al‑Reza, according to a state media post on X.
Iran’s Fars International news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, dismissed Trump’s proposal, saying in a Telegram post Sunday that his demands amounted to a “wish list.”
