Oil Rises as Trump Says the US No Longer Needs a Deal With Iran

"We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed," Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Washington had Iran's money, "hundreds of billions of dollars", and "their Strait". He said Vance would give his "complete and total attention" to what Trump described as large-scale corruption in states including Minnesota, California and Illinois.

For Gulf producers, shipowners and insurers, the statement removes the most visible route to ending a confrontation that has choked one of the world's main energy corridors. Before the war began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, about 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the strait, according to The National. Brent crude traded around $93.40 a barrel on Thursday afternoon, according to Gulf News, erasing an earlier fall that followed Saudi Arabia's increase in output to near prewar levels.

The post came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance was considering face-to-face talks with a senior Iranian security official and that Trump had empowered him to negotiate. On Tuesday, Trump had said a return to military action against Iran was "quite unlikely" for now, while warning that the US remained "locked and loaded". He had also said in recent weeks that the war would end after the midterm elections and that fuel prices would fall once it did.

The November 3 midterms cost Trump's Republican Party its majority in Congress, with voters naming the economy and the cost of living as their main concerns. Vance was among Republicans who blamed the Iran war, and the fuel price rises it caused, for the losses.

Shipping in and around the strait remains under attack. At least 10 ships were hit in the first 10 days of November, after 37 attacks in October, the highest monthly total since the conflict began, according to Reuters figures. On Thursday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said two supertankers had been disabled by major explosions after taking what Tehran called an unauthorised route through the strait. Iranian state media blamed naval mines, a claim that could not be independently verified.

The US is keeping a naval blockade and economic pressure on Iran, and the two sides remain divided over nuclear limits, sanctions and control of the waterway. Even a settlement would not quickly restore normal traffic, Gulf News noted, because mine clearance, insurance costs and shipowners' confidence would all take time to recover. Spills from damaged vessels also threaten the coastlines of Oman and the UAE.

Pressure for renewed strikes continues. The Financial Times has reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been contacting Trump almost daily to press for military action, while regional leaders have urged restraint. Britain and Qatar warned on Thursday that a return to conflict would have profound consequences, according to The National.

Trump's post did not say whether other channels to Tehran remain open, and the White House has not set out how it intends to end the confrontation without either a deal or a new offensive.