Oil tankers and cargo vessels remain anchored off Port Sultan Qaboos on June 21, 2026 in Muscat, Oman. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for the region’s oil and gas, was effectively blockaded since the outbreak of war between the United States and Iran in late February. On Sunday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland for high-level talks with the Iranian delegation, as the two sides seek to clarify the terms of ending the war.
Elke Scholiers | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Oil edged higher on Monday after renewed military strikes between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend reignited concerns over crude supplies from the Middle East.
West Texas Intermediate futures rose 1.3% to $70.17 a barrel. International Brent climbed 0.78% to $72.55. WTI futures settled below $70 on Friday for the first time since Feb. 27 — the day before the start of the Iran war.
Following clashes that threatened to derail negotiations aimed at ending the conflict, U.S. officials said both sides would pause hostilities and allow commercial vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz freely.
“Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU,” a U.S. official told CNBC on Sunday.
“Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” the official said.
The U.S. military attacked a number of Iranian targets after a commercial tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was reportedly struck by a projectile on Saturday. Iran’s neighbors, Kuwait and Bahrain, also reported incoming missiles and drones overnight.
The renewed violence prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to warn Iran on Sunday of devastating consequences.
“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he added.
U.S. Central Command said early Sunday that fighter jets struck 10 Iranian military targets in and near the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for a drone strike on the Panamanian-flagged tanker, the M/T Kiku. The vessel was transiting the strait with more than two million barrels of crude oil, CentCom said late Saturday.
— CNBC’s Azhar Sukri and Garrett Downs contributed to this report
