War in the Middle East: Iran considers a resumption of war unlikely, Donald Trump asks for more concessions for an agreement

Iran deemed the resumption of hostilities with the United States unlikely on Wednesday, May 27, at a time when the two countries are negotiating an agreement to end the war, with Donald Trump declaring, however, that he was not satisfied with Iran’s proposals as they stand.

Iran”really wants to make a deal. They’re not there yet. We are not satisfied but we will be eventually. Or we’ll just have to finish the job.” said the American president during a cabinet meeting at the White House.

Before this intervention, blowing hot and cold as Donald Trump is wont to do, the markets had given in to renewed optimism about a possible settlement, with a decline in oil prices. At the same time, internet access was partly restored in Iran after a cut of almost three months, sending a signal of relaxation but without enthusing the Iranians in view of the restrictions maintained.

If the weapons have almost fallen silent since April 8 after more than a month of Israeli-American strikes which left thousands dead, the negotiations are laborious, and the Strait of Hormuz remains locked by Iran, which is causing the prices of black gold to soar and the world economy to falter.

The Revolutionary Guards, however, judged the likelihood of a resumption of the war “weak due to the weakness of the enemy”. More “the armed forces are on alert”warned Mohammad Akbarzadeh, a senior naval forces official quoted by the Tasnim news agency. The day before, Tehran had accused Washington of having violated the ceasefire in the south of the country, after the American announcement of night strikes on missile launch sites. Iran has not officially confirmed the information, but state media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas.

On Wednesday, oil prices plunged: around 3:45 p.m. GMT (5:45 p.m. in Paris), the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, a world benchmark, lost 3.94% to $96.10. “There remains an air of cautious optimism over the signing and details of a memorandum of understanding “, comments Chris Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone.

The Iranian agency Isna reported “overall positive negotiations” after the visit of senior Iranian officials to Qatar, a first since the start of hostilities marked by Iranian retaliatory fire on its Gulf neighbors. The challenge was to discuss the “modalités d’accès” to funds frozen abroad, including part in Qatar, due to American sanctions. Tehran demands the release of 24 billion assets, “with provision of half as soon as the memorandum of understanding is announced”according to Isna. This is one of the main points of contention, alongside the nuclear aspect which Iran wishes to address in a second step.

The United States is demanding the destruction of its stock of highly enriched uranium, the fate of which is uncertain. Tehran, for its part, denies that it wants to acquire an atomic bomb.

Iranian television reported on Wednesday a draft of the memorandum of understanding under discussion, including, according to it, a commitment by the United States to lift its blockade of Iranian ports in return for the re-establishment of commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the oil normally passes. crude and liquefied natural gas consumed worldwide.

“This information from Iranian state media is not true and the draft framework agreement is a total invention”reacted the White House. On Wednesday, the Revolutionary Guards insisted that only ships “ready to comply with Iranian orders” would be allowed to cross the strait, according to state television.