NEW YORK: Oil prices were up about $5 a barrel on Monday after Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran is halting indirect negotiations with the US and plans are being made for Iranian forces and their allies to completely block the Strait of Hormuz and take action elsewhere, including another key shipping route.

Iran and the US traded strikes in recent days and Israel ordered troops to move further into Lebanon.

Brent crude futures were up $4.80, or 5.2 per cent to $95.92 a barrel at 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 GMT) while US crude futures rose $5.46, or 6.2pc, to $92.82 a barrel. Both benchmarks pared gains after US President Donald Trump shrugged off the suspension of indirect talks with Iran in a CNBC interview on Monday, saying he did not care if they were over.

Brent and WTI fell by around 19pc and 17pc last month, marking the biggest monthly drops in absolute terms for both contracts since March 2020.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026