The oil market has been hit by heavy selling after Trump said that he’s been told the killing in Iran is stopping and that there are no plans for executions.
WTI crude oil is down more than $2 on the headlines.
In a separate (and less impactful) report, the US said additional sales of Venezuelan oil are expected in the coming days and weeks.
The comments from Trump suggest that he’s trying to de-escalate rather than escalate to war in Iran. He’s not exactly saying that the US will stay out of Iran but it’s not the kind of thing you would say before starting a bombing campaign, unless he’s doing it to hide his intentions.
For what it’s worth, a number of embassies of evacuated personnel and that’s often a better signal about what’s coming. Britain even temporarily closed its embassy, according to Politico.
Perhaps the US has concluded that the protesters are more likely to bring the government down than US military intervention, which is something that could rally the population.
It’s also not clear what Trump was saying about the executions is true as Tehran has signalled fast trials and executions
