Iran Ghosts Witkoff in Doha, Oil Moons, and Bitcoin Just Watches 🛢️

Iran declined to meet US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Doha on Tuesday June 30, with Qatar's prime minister receiving the American delegation in place of Iranian officials, dimming hopes for a ceasefire in the ongoing war. Iran's Foreign Ministry said clearance of mines in the Strait of Hormuz falls under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in June and requires no external assistance, according to Al Jazeera.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf fear a Doha visit could backfire domestically. Ghalibaf said Tehran will not negotiate a final deal until Washington meets every MoU condition, including unfreezing Iranian assets and ending hostilities in Lebanon. "In Tehran they're asking where's the action on the MoU? Why are Iranian assets still frozen? Why is Israel still in Lebanon?" Vatanka told Al Jazeera. Iran signed the memorandum on June 17 and says the US has not yet fulfilled its terms.

Brent crude peaked at $74.75 a barrel on Tuesday before settling at $73.29 early Wednesday, as traders tracked Iran's interactions with the US envoys. Brent had briefly dipped after supertankers resumed Hormuz transit last week, with prices on watch as the fragile negotiations stumble. US Vice President JD Vance said tanker traffic through the strait has returned to pre-war levels and asserted Iran will not collect tolls from ships passing through Hormuz, telling Reuters, "This is not going to end in a place where the Iranians are collecting tolls on ships going through the Strait of Hormuz."

US crude inventories fell 6.1 million barrels last week, while the International Energy Agency warned in May that global markets would remain undersupplied through the third quarter of 2026. Brent lost roughly $45 a barrel between the first and second quarters, its steepest quarterly drop since 2008, with WTI falling around $31 in the same period for its biggest drop since 2020, before both benchmarks reversed course as the war de-escalated and pulled back from earlier gains triggered by Iran strikes.