US-Iran war LIVE: US hopes to mediate Pakistan in efforts to end conflict | Today’s news
US-Iran war LIVE: Iran said the latest US proposal had partially bridged the gap between the warring parties, but comments by the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader on keeping Tehran’s uranium stockpile and the Strait of Hormuz toll dispute clouded prospects for a breakthrough.
Tehran is in the process of reacting to a text submitted by the United States that has “narrowed the loopholes to some extent,” the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency said on Thursday, without saying where it got the information. “Further tapering requires an end to Washington’s temptation for war.”
While that signaled progress, a Reuters report that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had issued a directive that the country’s weapons-grade uranium should not be shipped abroad initially sent oil prices higher. Afterward, President Donald Trump said he opposed efforts by Iran and Oman to establish some form of permanent toll system through Hormuz.
“We want it open, we want it free, we don’t want tolls,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House. “It’s an international waterway. They don’t collect tolls right now.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the toll system would make a deal with the US “unworkable”.
Conflicting statements on key issues have left it unclear whether the two sides are any closer to a deal after threats of escalation resurfaced in recent days.
Oil prices traded in a wide range on Thursday as traders kept a close eye on whether peace talks would progress. Brent crude fell more than 1.5% to trade below $104 a barrel after rising more than 3% earlier in the session.
