Two Chinese tankers laden with oil exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, shipping data showed, brightening hopes that the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran may soon be resolved after positive comments from the U.S. President and his Deputy.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the war would be over "very quickly" while Vice President JD Vance talked up progress in talks with Tehran about an agreement to end hostilities.
"We're in a pretty good spot here," Vance told a White House press briefing on Tuesday.
Trump made his comments a day after saying he had paused a planned resumption of hostilities following a new proposal by Tehran to end the conflict.
"I was an hour away from making the decision to go today," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
Iran's leaders are begging for a deal, he said, adding that a new U.S. attack would happen in coming days if no agreement was reached.
The United States has been struggling to end the war it began with Israel nearly three months ago. Trump has repeatedly said during the conflict that a deal with Tehran was close, and similarly threatened heavy strikes on Iran if it did not reach an accord.
The U.S. President is under intense political pressure at home to reach an accord that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz - a key route for global supplies of oil and other commodities. Gasoline prices remain high and Trump's approval rating has plummeted with congressional elections looming in November.
The conflict has caused the worst-ever disruption to global energy supplies, blocking hundreds of tankers from leaving the Gulf while damaging energy and shipping facilities across the region.
Two Chinese ships, among a handful of supertankers carrying Iraqi crude, exiting the Gulf this month, passed through the narrow strait carrying around 4 million barrels of crude, according to data from LSEG and Kpler.
Oil prices eased on the positive signals from the White House and in the Gulf, with Brent crude falling to as low as $110.16 a barrel, before regaining much of its losses.
"Investors are keen to gauge whether Washington and Tehran can actually find common ground and reach a peace agreement, with the U.S. stance shifting daily," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.
Speaking to reporters at a White House briefing, Vance acknowledged difficulties in negotiating with a fractured Iranian leadership.
"It's not sometimes totally clear what the negotiating position of the team is," he said, so the U.S. is trying to make its own red lines clear.
He also said one objective of Trump's policy is to prevent a nuclear arms race from spreading in the region.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said on X that Trump's pausing of an attack was due to the realisation that any move against Iran would mean "facing a decisive military response."
Iranian state media said Tehran's latest peace proposal involves ending hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, the exit of U.S. forces from areas close to Iran, and reparations for destruction caused by the U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Tehran also sought the lifting of sanctions, release of frozen funds and an end to the U.S. marine blockade, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as cited by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
The terms as described in the Iranian reports appeared little changed from Iran's previous offer, which Trump rejected last week as "garbage."
The U.S.-Israeli bombing killed thousands of people in Iran before it was suspended in a ceasefire in early April.
Meanwhile, Israel has killed thousands more and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in Lebanon, which it invaded in pursuit of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.
Iranian strikes on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states have killed dozens of people.
The Iran ceasefire has mostly held, although drones have lately been launched from Iraq towards Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, apparently by Iran and its allies.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they launched the war to curb Iran's support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear programme, destroy its missile capabilities and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers.
But the war has yet to deprive Iran of its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium or its ability to threaten neighbours with missiles, drones and proxy militias.
The Islamic Republic's clerical leadership, which had faced a mass uprising at the start of the year, withstood the superpower onslaught with no sign of organised opposition.
Iran claims its nuclear development is for electricity production.
A Russian strike on a gas station in Kyiv has killed two people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschk...
Turkic states are considering the creation of a new law enforcement agency, TURKPOL, as members of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) step up ...
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Daily Brief. Here are the top stories for the 11th of September, covering the latest developments about heal...
Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to the governor of the Krasnodar region. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks.
Overnight Iranian strikes on an air base in Jordan damaged multiple U.S. aircraft and left one without a wing, American media reported. Meanwhile, explosions were heard across parts of southern Iran according to local media reports.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, calling the strikes a response to a U.S. attack on five Iranian tankers.
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia and a seaport in Dagestan in the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss air defences for Ukraine over winter.
Iran said it destroyed a U.S. naval drone at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington announced sanctions targeting Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq.
Saudi Arabia is now facing pressure from both ends of the Arabian Peninsula. While the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting Gulf shipping and energy flows, fighting has intensified in western Yemen, bringing the Houthis back into direct confrontation with the kingdom.
Iran has warned it will retaliate against any future U.S. attacks, saying American energy interests and infrastructure across the Gulf could become targets in a further escalation of the conflict.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the United States must recognise that the “rules of the game” in its war against Iran had changed “before it is too late”, a day after Washington struck several Iranian tankers in the Gulf.
An Iranian tanker was hit by U.S. forces on Saturday near Iran's key oil export hub, Kharg Island, in the Gulf, the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported.
U.S. efforts to squeeze Iran’s economy through an oil blockade and sanctions are becoming increasingly difficult for Tehran to withstand, according to three senior Iranian sources. Washington is escalating pressure in hopes of securing concessions in future negotiations.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment