Oil prices rise amid stalled US-Iran peace talks

Brent crude rises more than 2 percent after Washington and Tehran fail to hold second round of talks in Pakistan.Oil prices have climbed higher amid stalled peace talks between the United States and Iran.Brent crude rose more than 2 percent on Sunday after hopes for a second round of ceasefire negotiations between Washington and Tehran unravelled over the weekend.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4What’s driving attacks against gov’t and Russian forces in Mali?list 2 of 4Israeli settler attacks Hebron activist’s home as soldier looks onlist 3 of 4Iran’s foreign minister leaves Pakistan, heads to Russia for more talkslist 4 of 4Video: Israeli ‘ceasefire’ violations on the rise in Gazaend of listAfter easing slightly, Brent, the primary benchmark for global prices, stood at $106.99 as of 1:30 GMT.Stock markets in Asia shrugged off the impasse to open higher on Monday, with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI gaining 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, in morning trading.US President Donald Trump on Saturday cancelled a planned trip to Pakistan by his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, after Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi departed Islamabad before any direct engagement could take place between the sides.Araghchi arrived in Russia’s Saint Petersburg on Monday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials as Tehran seeks a way out of the diplomatic impasse.Araghchi’s trip, which follows a whistle-stop visit to Oman on Sunday, comes as uncertainty hangs over the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.Trump announced an extension to their two-week truce last week, without specifying a deadline for reaching a deal to end the war.As US and Iranian negotiators struggle to break the deadlock, Tehran’s threats against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz continue to constrain traffic, paralysing a sizeable portion of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas.