Iranian regime officials deny any talks over the weekend with the Trump administration, after Trump claimed on Monday morning that a COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION would be the result of productive conversations.
Trump said he instructed the Department of War to postpone strikes against Iranian power plants for five days.
Trump had threatened to “hit and obliterate” Iranian energy plants as a 48-hour ultimatum for the Iranians to open the Strait of Hormuz shipping route. Iran had said it would retaliate with hits to critical infrastructure in the region, including water plants.
From Axios:
Trump said the Iranian denial was the result of miscommunication within the Iranian leadership. He stressed that he thinks the people the U.S. is talking to inside Iran are representative of the regime.
Stocks, bonds and the price of oil swung sharply lower on Trump’s announcements.
Neil Wilson, market analyst at Saxo, invoked the market’s favorite acronym for Trump’s second presidency – TACO, or Trump Always Chickens Out – suggesting the president had looked at turbulent markets and moved to walk back a 48-hour ultimatum issued on Saturday without losing face.
“It takes two to TACO,” Wilson said, cautioning against reading too much into the development and raising many questions for the market.