Oil slides as Trump signals new Iran talks

President Donald Trump said that negotiations with Iran would begin on Monday after he halted what he described as a massive attack on the country. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he said the discussions would “begin tomorrow afternoon” and framed the engagement as taking place in the form of a negotiation.

Trump said Iranian leaders "knew the extent of the attack because they saw it forming," referring to the operation he said was called off. He also indicated that discussions were focused on the outlines of a potential deal, including issues related to regional security and shipping routes.

Iranian state media publicly rejected Trump’s assertion that Tehran had asked for a pause in planned U.S. strikes. Mehr news agency described the claim that Iran requested a halt as “nothing but a new lie” and said the country’s armed forces were on high alert and prepared for any eventuality.

Other Iranian outlets similarly gave no indication that officials had sought to stop the attack or had changed their stance on talks. This created a visible gap between the U.S. narrative of impending negotiations and Iran’s public messaging about the confrontation.

Oil prices fell sharply as investors reacted to the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran standoff. Brent crude futures for October dropped as much as 7.3% intraday to $81.55 a barrel after a strong performance in July. West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $80 during the session.

In later trading, Brent was reported to have fallen by nearly 9% on Monday to close at about $88 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate declined more than 7% to finish close to $83. The moves underscored how quickly expectations for Middle East supply risk can shift in response to signals about conflict and negotiations.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 (SPX) pointed to a small increase when U.S. markets were set to reopen on Monday, even as crude benchmarks dropped. The modest uptick suggested equity investors were weighing potential reductions in geopolitical risk against uncertainty over whether talks would proceed or yield concrete outcomes.

The combination of a sharp oil sell-off and steadier equity futures highlighted diverging responses across asset classes to the evolving U.S.-Iran dynamic. Market participants entered the new week balancing the prospect of negotiations against the clear disagreement between Washington and Tehran over how the latest pause in hostilities came about.