President Donald Trump has stated that Washington had “very good discussions” with Iran over the past 24 hours, suggesting that the two countries were close to reaching a peace agreement, although he did not specify when.
“They really want to make a deal. We’ll see if we can get there. If we can, they won’t have nuclear weapons,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Asked about a deadline for Iran’s response, he replied: “There is never a deadline. It will happen. But never a deadline.”
Donald Trump’s statement comes just hours after he threatened to resume bombing Iran if it did not agree to a deal.
“If they don’t agree, the bombings will start and unfortunately they will be at a much higher level of intensity than before,” he emphasized on Truth Social.
Iran has not yet responded to the new American proposal – a one-page memorandum – but Chief Negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on Wednesday that the United States was seeking to force the Islamic Republic to surrender “through a naval blockade, economic pressures, and media manipulation.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told local media that the plan to end the war was under review and Tehran would communicate its position to Pakistan “after finalizing its view.”
It is difficult to determine how this one-page memorandum differs from the 14-point plan presented by Iran last week.
Although there is no agreement yet, the provisions include a moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, lifting US sanctions, unfreezing Iranian funds, and opening the strait to ships.
American Forces Fire on Iranian Tanker
On Wednesday, the US military fired on an Iranian-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it attempted to head to an Iranian port, according to the US Central Command.
“After the crew of the Hasna did not comply with repeated warnings, US forces disabled the tanker’s rudder by firing several salvos from an aircraft launched from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln deployed in the region,” they stated, adding that “the Hasna is no longer heading to Iran.”
Meanwhile, ships remain blocked in the Persian Gulf as they cannot pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally sees a fifth of the world’s oil traffic and where Iran has effectively halted commercial traffic since the end of February.
As a result, oil prices have soared. They are unlikely to return to normal until the risk of attacks in the waterway diminishes, said Kaho Yu, head of energy and resources at intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.
“Refiners, shippers, and commodity traders will remain cautious until it is clear that disturbances in the Strait of Hormuz will not worsen,” he stated.
The Brent barrel, the international benchmark, exceeded $114 on Monday, gaining 6%. By Thursday, it was trading around $100. Before the start of the war at the end of February, it was trading around $70.
