U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a campaign and economic policy event in the Eugene Levy Fieldhouse at SUNY Rockland Community College on May 22, 2026 in Suffern, New York. <\/p>\n
Roberto Schmidt | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.<\/p>\n
Chinese philosopher Lao Zi once said: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. <\/p>\n
But that pretty much assumes forward progress, something that isn’t necessarily happening for the U.S. in the Iran war.<\/p>\n
What you need to know today<\/p>\n The timing of any deal in Iran remains nebulous, but traders are relatively optimistic after U.S. President Donald Trump said that the talks were “proceeding nicely.”<\/a><\/p>\n Oil prices continued<\/a> to fall, providing some relief for energy markets, with Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures at $96.14 and $90.30 per barrel respectively. U.S. equity market futures<\/a> rose, with futures for all three major indexes advancing about 1% as markets come back from the Memorial Day weekend later today. <\/p>\n Ex-CIA director and retired four-star general David Petraeus suggested Iran could be blinking<\/a> over the Strait of Hormuz, a flashpoint that has defined the conflict.<\/p>\n This comes even as U.S. forces conducted “self defense” strikes in South Iran early Tuesday, with U.S. Central Command saying that this was to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”<\/p>\n CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins said targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines.<\/p>\n However, Trump also has introduced a new wrinkle into the negotiations, linking<\/a> the Iran peace deal to Arab countries also signing the Abraham Accords, an agreement to normalize relations with Israel. <\/p>\n Pakistan has roundly rejected the demand, reportedly saying that the two issues were “not interlinked and cannot be made so.” And Saudi Arabia said it would not sign the accords unless there is a pathway to Palestinian statehood, a deeply sensitive issue for Israel. <\/p>\n And with Trump insisting “It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” the question is whether the Abraham Accords demand will be the latest thing to cause negotiations to fall through.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lim Hui Jie<\/p>\n And finally…<\/p>\n