U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, September 16, that he had held direct contact with Iranian officials and that the conflict is nearing its end, according to Al Jazeera. The same day, U.S. crude closed at $102.43 a barrel, down 3.2%, according to El Universal Cartera.
The statement lands on a tense energy board. Iran is effectively keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed, the channel through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas passes, and last week crude topped $100 a barrel, Al Jazeera reported. The conflict has spread to Yemen, where the Houthis, aligned with Tehran, claimed attacks on Aramco facilities and the Khamis Mushait air base in Saudi Arabia, and warned they would continue until Riyadh lifts the blockade, El Universal Cartera reported. For Mexico the link is one of price: the Mexican blend is priced against international benchmarks, so a WTI sustained above $100 a barrel feeds into the country's oil revenue and its energy balance.
On the Iranian side, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, accused Trump of sending contradictory signals and maintained that there will be no talks until Iran's conditions are met, according to Al Jazeera. The exchange comes after the memorandum of understanding negotiated by Pakistan collapsed last month, with both sides accusing the other of violating it; the text provided for 60 days of peace negotiations and the reopening of Hormuz. In parallel, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Riyadh has "acted quickly" to export more oil through Hormuz while the Saudi pipeline remains closed, and called the disruption "temporary," El Universal Cartera reported.
The next checkpoint comes next week: Trump plans to meet with Gulf leaders at the UN General Assembly to address the conflict, Al Jazeera reported. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier this month that Tehran's return to the agreement was conditional on Washington doing the same, with the reopening of Hormuz as the indicator to watch in energy markets.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.