A meeting in Oman between Gulf countries and Iran to discuss the Strait of Hormuz was postponed, Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said on X on Sunday, citing the need for “consensus.” Officials from Iran and Gulf nations had been expected to meet on Monday and sign an agreement establishing an Iran-Oman shipping route through the strait.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday the United States could continue its campaign against Iran and take control of its oil. “We’ll ultimately get out, unless we decide to stay and keep the oil like Venezuela,” he said at the Irish Open golf championship. He added that revenue from the Venezuela deal had “paid for the war many times.”
Under the August agreement, Venezuela ceded majority U.S. control of more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves — more than double America’s own — in exchange for $209 billion to its state treasury. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the deal would also bring close to $100 billion in private investment to Venezuela’s economy.
Trump said he expects the seven-month Iran war to end this year, possibly after the November midterm elections, and predicted gasoline prices would “drop like a rock” once it does. He said Tehran had been “calling constantly” for peace talks, a claim Iran has previously dismissed.
The Strait of Hormuz has been subjected to an Iranian and later U.S. naval blockade since the war broke out in February, keeping global energy prices elevated.
Oil prices soared past $100 a barrel for the first time since May and took a leg higher on Monday after Saudi Arabia closed a key East-West energy pipeline following damage from Iraqi drones. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 2.3% to $102.39 per barrel, while Brent crude traded 2.4% higher to $107.11 a barrel.