Oil prices dropped more than 5 percent on Monday after the United States and Iran paused attacks for a second straight day following weeks of strikes that had pushed Brent crude prices to above $100 per barrel.
Brent crude futures fell $5.70, or around 5.9 percent, to $91.08 a barrel by 3:04 a.m. ET after briefly slipping under the key support level of $90 earlier in the session.
The decline came after the two nations agreed to pause hostilities to negotiate a deal. An Iranian army spokesperson told state television on July 26 that Tehran had halted attacks on the same nights the U.S military stopped its strikes.
U.S. Central Command said in a July 25 update that a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect. So far, 12 commercial ships attempting to bypass the blockade have been redirected, two have been disabled, and two have been boarded to ensure full compliance, it said.
“American forces remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” the command said in a post on X.
Iran held talks with Oman to discuss arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway separating the two countries and a vital route for global oil and gas shipments, according to the state-run IRNA News Agency on July 26.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told the news outlet that the waterway’s maritime status remains unchanged.
The Trump administration signed a memorandum of understanding with Tehran on June 17 to halt the war that began in late February when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran to dismantle its nuclear program.
“What the president is doing right now, as we’ve seen all along, is giving some talks some space,” Waltz said. “Talks are ongoing, they’re happening at every level.”
