Iran and the United States remain far apart on ending their war despite holding their first shuttle talks in months, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly that Tehran would never surrender to US pressure, while oil prices rose as traders weighed the standoff.
Iran and the United States are still far apart on ending their war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, even after the first shuttle talks between the two countries in months. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tehran was reviewing Washington's response to peace proposals that prioritize lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Pezeshkian rejects pressure at the UN
Speaking to the 193-member General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused US President Donald Trump of a bullying mentality, after Trump had used the same forum on Tuesday to threaten to annihilate the Islamic Republic if no deal is reached. According to Reuters: "The Iranian people will not bow to pressure," Pezeshkian said. He also reiterated Iran's position that it is not seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran wants to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz and collect fees from ships that use it; Washington rejects this and says the strait must stay fully open to international shipping. Oil prices were up almost 2% on Wednesday in choppy trade as markets weighed the dueling speeches.
Indirect contact since the ceasefire collapsed
Iranian and US officials held their first known indirect talks since a ceasefire collapsed in July, with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating through mediators. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran conveyed its conditions during a two-hour exchange of messages with Washington via a Qatari mediator, including an end to the war on all fronts, a halt to what it called US aggression, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
The contact triggered a backlash among Iranian hardliners. An opinion piece run by the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Araqchi was wrong to have contacts with Witkoff and Kushner, framing it as a favor to Trump. Iranian sources told Reuters the delegation had been ordered not to meet the Americans face-to-face by the Supreme National Security Council.
Sanctions threat and oil supply strain
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters a deal with Iran would involve hard work over time, adding that Trump also had military options. Washington has also said it will impose secondary sanctions against any country that allows Iranian flights after Wednesday. In response, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state TV that Iran would ensure neighbouring countries' airports could not function if they stop Iranian flights.
The war has disrupted global energy supplies since Trump launched it alongside Israel in February. A third of Gulf oil is estimated to be missing from global supplies, and shortages have particularly hit refined products such as diesel, causing inflation and pushing up interest rates. Despite near-daily attacks, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has picked up in recent weeks, with the UAE's exports already recovered to pre-war levels and Saudi Arabia having sold 60 million barrels of Gulf oil for this month and next.
Source: Commodities & Futures News
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