Iran said on Monday it still controls the Strait of Hormuz and has not asked to resume peace talks with Washington, after President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing campaign. Brent crude fell around 7.8% in the hope that disrupted global supplies could resume flowing, while Iranian state media said six ships were turned back at the waterway.
Iran said on Monday it remains in control of the Strait of Hormuz and is not seeking to resume peace talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing campaign that his top brass told him had run its course.
Trump stopped the campaign over the weekend, following 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing that provoked Tehran to fire on U.S. bases. Iran said it would pause its own attacks for as long as the U.S. pause endures.
Commanders told Trump they were running out of targets
A U.S. official told Reuters that military commanders had advised the president they were running out of targets. The official said General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had also expressed concern over the depletion of air defence weapons used to protect U.S. bases in the region.
Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Sunday that Trump had paused the campaign to allow room for negotiations. But Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, told a televised press conference on Monday that Iran had not asked to resume peace talks.
Brent crude drops back under $90
The end of the bombing campaign sent oil prices tumbling in the hope that disrupted global supplies could resume flowing. Brent crude, which had briefly ticked above $100 a barrel last week for the first time since May, fell around 7.8% by mid-morning on Monday to just under $90.
Yet Tehran moved to signal that the bombing had failed in its objective. Several Iranian state media outlets carried the same report, citing an informed source who said Iran had turned around six ships on Monday morning that had attempted to cross the strait without its permission. Iranian state media quoted the source as saying: "the traffic route in the Strait of Hormuz is the route specified by Iran".
The two sides read the June memorandum differently
Trump launched the renewed campaign to punish Iran after Tehran fired on ships using a route through the strait promoted by the United States, which has told vessels to sail close to the coast of Oman. Iran says ships may pass only through a channel that runs closer to its own coast, where it intends to impose transit fees.
Washington and Tehran reached an agreement in June on a framework for talks meant to take place by the end of August to resolve major issues such as Iran's nuclear programme. But the sides have disputed the memorandum's language about the strait, with Washington insisting it requires Tehran to allow free travel while Iran says it grants it the authority to supervise transit.
Iran aims to formalise its control by reaching an agreement with Oman, which controls the opposite shore, and a senior Omani delegation was in Tehran over the weekend discussing the future of the strait. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who launched the war in February alongside Trump but has not participated in the U.S.-Iranian negotiations to end it, is due to meet Trump in Washington early this week.
Source: Investing.com
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