President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. and Iran held “productive” conversations over the past two days that could lead to a “complete and total resolution” to the ongoing conflict, prompting oil prices to crater and U.S. stock futures to surge.
In a post on Truth Social, the president wrote that “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST,” had taken place over the previous two days.
He noted that as a result of this, he has ordered the Pentagon to: “POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD.”
The president’s post did not mention who was negotiating on behalf of Iranian regime and also did not specify if the ongoing U.S. operations will be paused.
It is also unclear if Israel, which is also striking Iran alongside the U.S. is a party to these negotiations.
The global benchmark Brent Crude index briefly fell below the $100 per barrel mark after Trump’s announcement before paring some of the losses and rising to $103.78. The index had remained above $112 per barrel early on Monday before Trump made his announcement. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate also slumped more than 8.5% after the president’s post, dropping just below $90 per barrel.
The stock markets cheered Trump’s announcement, with key U.S. futures suring more than 2%. In premarket trading early on Monday, Dow Futures rose more than a 1000 points, to 46,901 while the benchmark S&P 500 futures rose 2.15% to 6,700 points. The tech-centric Nasdaq futures also saw a big bump, soaring 2.1% to 24,606 points.
In a Truth Social post on Saturday evening, Trump wrote that if Iran does not “FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT,” the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, the U.S. military would “hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” The deadline was set to expire on Monday evening and Iran had warned it would retaliate against such an attack by targeting the energy and water desalination facilities of neighboring Gulf countries aligned with the U.S.
