Oil prices plunge as Trump says Iran deal is ‘all signed’
A memorandum of understanding aiming to end the Iran war in the Gulf has already been signed by US President Donald Trump and his vice president, sending oil prices tumbling.
Source: Al Jazeera
US and Iranian officials have reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary pact that sent oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Tehran’s nuclear program to further negotiations.
While still a framework, the deal marked the biggest breakthrough towards resolving the conflict that has killed thousands and upended energy markets since it began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
US President Donald Trump says the peace deal with Iran is “all signed” and details of the breakthrough agreement will be released “pretty soon”.
Trump on Tuesday (AEST) arrived in France for this week’s meeting of G7 world leaders.
He said details of the agreement would be released sometime after a formal signing on Friday, adding that the Strait of Hormuz would also be fully open.
Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said he did not know if he would attend Friday’s ceremony expected in Geneva. US Vice-President JD Vance will be there.
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“The deal’s all signed. And the strait is already partially opened, as you know,” Trump said shortly after arriving in Evian.
“On Friday, it’ll be completely open.”
Trump said he thought “a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle East right now”.
“Very importantly, the oil is plummeting down and the stock market is shooting up like a rocket today,” he said.
“The main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, they fully agreed to that with strong policing powers, and they won’t have a nuclear weapon, which is what it was all about, because they probably would have used it if they had it.”
A US official said a memorandum of understanding aiming to end the war in the Gulf had already been signed by Trump, Vance and Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who heads its negotiating team.
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The US official said there would also be a signing ceremony on Friday.
“You will see significant increase in traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, actually starting already, and that will ramp up slowly over time,” the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.
“We probably won’t return to normal in two weeks but we will see a significant increase in strait traffic.”
The US and Iran said on Monday (Australian time) they had agreed terms to end their war and reopen the strait, news that brought relief to markets.
Brent crude futures plummeted 5.3 per cent to $US82.73 a barrel in early trading on Monday while world stock markets jumped.
However, the pact may hinge on an end to hostilities in Lebanon and defers talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
While still a framework, the deal marks the biggest breakthrough toward resolving the conflict that has killed thousands and upended energy markets since it began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
Vance earlier on Monday said the agreement had been signed digitally on Sunday and that no money was released.
Asked when the text of the memorandum of understanding would be made public, Trump said: “Probably pretty soon. I would say after sometime after Friday … I think sometime in the very near future.”
Trump said any sanctions relief for Iran was “really a behavioural thing. If they do what they’re supposed to do, that starts taking effect”.
-with AAP
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