(RTTNews) – Oil prices were sharply higher on Monday, recovering part of last week’s losses from a six-week low, amid uncertainty over the outlook for a peace deal to end the war in Iran.
Brent crude futures for August delivery jumped 3.3 percent to $94.15 a barrel while WTI crude futures for July delivery were up over 4 percent at $90.89.
Investors reassessed expectations for a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran negotiations amid a renewed exchange of military strikes between the United States and Iran.
The U.S. said it conducted “self-defense strikes” on radar and command sides in Iran over the weekend.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted an airbase allegedly used in a U.S. attack on a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island in southern Hormozgan province.
Both the U.S. and Iran exchanged messages over the weekend seeking changes to a draft agreement aimed at prolonging a ceasefire and opening the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington is close to securing a nuclear agreement with Iran, but Tehran insisted that such matters are not presently under discussion.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that Washington is prepared to resume military attacks on Iran if a deal could not be reached.
Iran has reasserted its control over Strait of Hormuz, declaring that all vessels must travel through designated routes and obtain permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
Addressing an online parliamentary session, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf stressed that Iranian negotiators had no trust in the enemy’s words and promises.
The Speaker said that Tehran would not agree to any deal with the U.S. until the rights of the Iranian people were secured.
Elsewhere, Israeli troops have captured the strategic site of Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon in the deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter-century.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the capture of the strategic fortress a “decisive shift” in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah.
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