Oil prices are rising today as Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to the U.S. proposal to end the war.
At the same time, Tehran is warning France and Britain against any intervention in the region.
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called “representatives”.I don’t like it – it is totally unacceptable!”,” the Republican said, typing the last two words in capital letters, via Truth Social.
Before the Asian markets even opened, crude prices took.. the elevator and were back above $104 a barrel, with North Sea Brent up 3.29%,as the prospect of a quick opening of the Hormuz Strait, through which a fifth of the oil consumed in the world – and which Iran effectively shut down after the US-Israeli attack on it began on 28 February.
More than a month after the truce was declared, talk between Washington and Tehran seems, more than ever, at an impasse and hopes of a settlement seem to be fading. Neither side has publicly disclosed exactly what it is proposing. The US president did not even clarify yesterday whether negotiations would continue.
After days of waiting, Iran made clear yesterday that it had responded to the US proposal, but did not go into details.
Iranian public television limited itself to saying that the response, delivered to the US through Pakistan, called for “an end to the war” on “all fronts, particularly Lebanon” and “security guarantees for navigation.”
Opening the Strait;
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the dossier, the proposal submitted by Tehran calls for the gradual opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the simultaneous lifting of the blockade of Iranian ports by the US Navy.
According to the US newspaper Tehran also says it is willing to “dilute” some of its highly enriched uranium and send it to a “third country,” possibly Russia.
Drones in the Gulf
In the Gulf, new raids by unmanned aerial vehicles were reported yesterday.
In the territorial waters of Qatar, a bulk carrier coming from Abu Dhabi was hit by a drone, but it continued on its way, according to the emirate’s defense ministry.
According to Iran’s FARS news agency, it was “sailing under the US flag” and “owned by the US.” The agency did not explicitly say whether it was targeted by Iran.
Other countries suffered drone strikes. Kuwait did not clarify where they were launched from. The UAE directly blamed Iran.
Since the war broke out, the Gulf monarchies, allies of the US, have been repeatedly hit by Iranian strikes.
France and Britain in the crosshairs
Britain and France are continuing their initiative to establish an international coalition to take action to guarantee the security of the strait after a settlement of the war.
Defence ministers from the two countries will co-chair a video conference session tomorrow with about forty counterparts from countries willing to have input into the project, London said.
Tehran warned that any intervention would trigger a “decisive and immediate reaction” from the Iranian armed forces, after Paris and London announced that they had sent warships to “pre-position” themselves in the region, notably the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
France has “never” considered conducting military operations in Hormuz; all it wants is to conduct an operation to guarantee the security of the strait “in coordination with Iran,” French President Emanuel Macron
countered.
