By Anita Hamilton and George Glover
Oil prices fell Friday morning after Iran sent a new proposal for peace negotiations with the U.S. to mediators in Pakistan, according to its state-run media outlet, the Islamic Republic News Agency.
However, President Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House Friday afternoon that he isn't satisfied with the offer. "Iran wants to make a deal because they have no military left essentially, but I'm not satisfied with it," he said.
He also implied that Iran's disjointed leadership has complicated negotiations.
"The leadership is very disjointed," he said. "They all want to make a deal but they're all messed up."
By 12:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday, Brent crude international futures was down 2.7% to $107.40 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate U.S. futures had fallen 3.9% to $101.08.
Both benchmarks have been trading around $110 a barrel in recent days after a post by Trump on Truth Social suggested that renewed attacks were imminent.
But analysts at 22V Research wrote in a Friday note that any renewed strikes might not signal a longer war. Instead, "it is overwhelmingly likely that they will be of the latter 'wrapping up nature', and as such essentially helping cut short what might otherwise be a prolonged standoff of dueling U.S. and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz," they wrote.
April was a wild month for oil. Brent settled as low as $90.38 a barrel on April 17, but ended the month at more than $110 a barrel, having briefly touched its highest level since 2022 on Thursday.
"Oil had a U-shaped performance, ending not far from where it started, but with Brent crude up over 25% from the mid-month lows," said Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid. "So a fascinating month."
Write to Anita Hamilton at anita.hamilton@barrons.com and George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 01, 2026 12:58 ET (16:58 GMT)
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