Oil prices plunge after Trump says hopeful over Iran talks

• Crude prices dropped over 3% on Monday after President Trump expressed hope for a deal with Iran, significantly cooling fears of a regional war that had been stoked by a US carrier deployment.
• Amid threats of US military action, Iranian authorities released 26-year-old protester Erfan Soltani on bail; meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister expressed cautious openness to new talks focused on a "fair and equitable" nuclear agreement.

Oil prices plunged Monday after Donald Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Iran, easing concerns about a conflict between the two in the crude-rich region.

West Texas Intermediate sank 3.4 percent to $62.99 while Brent shed 3.2 percent to 67.09 in early Asian trade following the US president's comments.

Trump on Sunday said he was hopeful of agreeing a deal with Iran after the country's supreme leader warned that any US attack on the Islamic republic would trigger a regional war.

Following the Iranian authorities' response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, Trump has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday likened the recent protests to a "coup", warning that a US attack would trigger a broad conflict.

"The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war," he said, telling Iranians they "should not be scared" of Trump's rhetoric.

"They (rioters) attacked the police, government centres, IRGC centres, banks, and mosques, and burned the Koran... It was like a coup," Khamenei said, adding that "the coup was suppressed".

Asked about the Iranian leader's warning, Trump told reporters on Sunday: "Of course he is going to say that.

"Hopefully we'll make a deal. If we don't make a deal, then we'll find out whether or not he was right," he said.

The demonstrations in Iran began as an expression of discontent at the high cost of living, but grew into a mass anti-government movement that the country's leaders have described as "riots" stoked by the United States and ‘Israel’.

Iranian authorities nonetheless ordered the release of detained 26-year-old protester Erfan Soltani on bail, his lawyer said on Sunday, after Washington warned he was on death row and threatened an attack if any anti-government demonstrators were executed.

He was arrested in January for what Iran's judiciary said were charges of propaganda against Iran's Islamic system and acting against national security.

Washington had warned he was due to be executed, though Tehran said he had never been sentenced to death and that the charges against him did not carry the death penalty.

As tensions heightened between Iran and the United States, Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said he was concerned about "miscalculations" but said he believed Trump was "wise enough to make the correct decision".

He said Iran has lost trust in the United States as a negotiating partner, adding that some countries in the region were acting as intermediaries to rebuild trust.

"So I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons," he said in an interview with CNN.