Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off Musandam, Oman, April 18, 2026.
Stringer | Reuters
Oil prices rose about 2% on Sunday after plans for a second round of peace talks between the United States and Iran collapsed again.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also reportedly boarded two cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions in strategic sea lanes remain high.
international benchmark brent Crude oil futures rose another 2% to $107.89 a barrel by 6:27 p.m. ET. us crude oil The stock rose more than 2% to $96.63.
President Donald Trump on Saturday canceled plans to send U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan, to negotiate with Iran.
“Too much time wasted traveling and too much work! On top of that, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership’,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“No one knows who is in charge, including them,” the president said. “And we have all the cards and they have none! If they want to talk, they just call!!!”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Islamabad over the weekend, but only met with Pakistani officials before departing.
“There are no plans for talks to take place between Iran and the United States,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Bakaei said in a social media post late Friday.
CNBC’s Sarah Witten, Azhar Shukri and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.
