June 18, 2026
Oil prices tumbled on Thursday after US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart separately signed an accord to end the Middle East war, with the Strait of Hormuz set to reopen but two months of tricky negotiations lying ahead.
In a sudden development after uncertainty over when the deal agreed earlier this week would be formally signed, Trump put his name to it in thick black ink at a candlelit dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris late Wednesday.
Macron — for whom the signing at the palace, which hosted the signing of the treaty that ended World War I, was an immense coup following his hosting of the G7 summit — shouted “bravo” as Trump signed.
“This was not easy, I can tell you,” said the US president of agreeing the memorandum of understanding.
