U.S. President Trump Says 'No Need for a Deal With Iran' ... Global Oil Prices Surge 3%

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump told Vice President JD Vance, who had been leading peace talks with Iran, that there was no need to negotiate and directed him to focus on other duties. Airstrikes were reported again in Iran, and global oil prices surged.
On the 12th (local time), Trump posted on Truth Social, saying, “We don’t need a deal with Iran” and “Those days are long gone.” He claimed, “We have secured hundreds of billions of dollars of their money, and we have also taken control of their strait (the Strait of Hormuz).”
Trump also wrote, “I asked Vance to focus on the massive corruption and crime in cities and states where Democratic officials serve as local leaders.” He mentioned Minnesota, California and Illinois, calling those Democratic-led areas “disasters stained by corruption.” Trump claimed that the U.S. budget could be balanced quickly if massive corruption in those areas were addressed, adding, “Corruption runs in the blood of Democratic leadership.”
Trump did not say that day that he was halting negotiations with Iran. The previous day, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Vance was considering face-to-face talks with Mohsen Rezaee, secretary-general of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), who oversees Iran’s security policy. According to the WSJ, Trump had told his aides and officials from the other side that he could resume talks with Iran through Vance. Trump was also reportedly said to have given Vance authority to negotiate.
On the 12th, the WSJ described Trump’s post as a “sudden change in position” and noted that the remarks were further confusing the Trump administration’s strategy toward Iran.
On the same day, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported, citing sources and quoting an official, that Sirik in Hormozgan Province in southern Iran had come under an enemy attack. The agency said the strike was military in nature but did not disclose details such as the extent of the damage or whether there were casualties. Iranian authorities said that same day that two tankers traveling along an “unauthorized” route in the Strait of Hormuz had halted operations after an explosion while underway.
International oil prices surged on the 12th. Brent crude futures for January delivery settled at $95.82 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, up 3.30% from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $88.74 a barrel, up 2.55% from the previous session.
[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter