Trump Says Iran Talks To Resume After Halting Strikes

US President Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) announced Sunday that negotiations with Iran will resume on Monday afternoon, a day after he said he was calling off planned military strikes against the country.

Talks Back On After Strike Pause

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the US had been "locked and loaded" but agreed to hold off on military action subject to both sides moving quickly toward a deal. He said he had called off the strikes at the request of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iran, and described a deal covering the Hormuz Strait and Iran's denuclearization as "imminent."

The announcement came about a month after formal talks between the two sides unraveled and preceded a return to open conflict. An April cease-fire had created conditions for a memorandum of understanding to be signed in mid-June, but disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz led to a resumption in fighting last month.

Iranian state media gave no indication that Tehran had requested the pause in strikes, and Iran's Foreign Ministry distanced itself from any immediate concessions on the waterway. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the Strait of Hormuz "will in no way return to the status it was before February 28th," the day the war started.

What the Talks Are Expected to Cover

Trump indicated there would be "a deal on Hormuz, and then a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran." Monday's negotiations would be the first publicly acknowledged since early last month.

Washington's stated goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and the Trump administration has said it prefers a diplomatic solution through negotiations.

Markets responded to signs of a diplomatic breakthrough. Oil retreated on the news, with West Texas Intermediate futures for September delivery declining nearly 6% to $79.66 per barrel. The Strait of Hormuz handled around one-fifth of global oil supply before the war, but traffic has dropped to a trickle since.

Sources:
CNBC: Trump says Iran talks to resume Monday after calling off planned strikes
UPI: Trump says negotiations with Iran to resume Monday
CNN: Live updates: US-Iran war; Trump says talks to resume Monday