(Bloomberg) — Iran said the latest proposal from the US partly bridged the gap between the warring sides, but comments from the Islamic Republic\u2019s supreme leader about keeping Tehran\u2019s uranium stockpile and a dispute over tolls in the Strait of Hormuz clouded the outlook for a breakthrough.<\/p>\n
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Tehran is in the process of responding to a text submitted by the US, which \u201chas narrowed the gaps to some extent,\u201d the semi-official Iranian Students\u2019 News Agency reported on Thursday, without saying where it got the information. \u201cFurther narrowing requires an end to the temptation for war on Washington\u2019s part.\u201d<\/p>\n
While that signaled progress, a Reuters report that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive that the country\u2019s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad initially sent oil prices higher. Then President Donald Trump said he opposed efforts by Iran and Oman to establish some form of permanent toll system through Hormuz.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want it open, we want it free, we don\u2019t want tolls,\u201d Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House. \u201cIt\u2019s an international waterway. They are not charging tolls right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a toll system would make a deal with the US \u201cunfeasible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conflicting statements on key issues left it unclear if the two sides were any closer to a deal after renewed threats of escalation in recent days.<\/p>\n
Oil prices swung in a wide range on Thursday as traders kept a close watch on whether peace talks would progress. Brent crude prices were down more than 1.5% to trade below $104 a barrel after rising more than 3% earlier in the session.<\/p>\n
Global stockpiles of crude oil and products are being drawn down at a record pace this month, Goldman Sachs said, as the world\u2019s supply buffer rapidly shrinks.<\/p>\n
The US has repeatedly demanded Tehran hand over its enriched uranium \u2014 fearing Iran could use it to build an atomic bomb \u2014 and commit to ending enrichment for at least a decade. Iranian leaders have balked at those terms in public, and the country\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday \u201cwe will never back down\u201d in talks.<\/p>\n
Trump on Wednesday had warned he may resume attacks soon if Iran didn\u2019t agree to his terms, a threat he has made multiple times since a ceasefire took effect on April 8. \u201cWe\u2019ll either have a deal or we\u2019re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty,\u201d he said. \u201cBut hopefully that won\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The outlook had appeared more positive after that, when Iran suggested differences were narrowing with the US over a 14-point text from several weeks ago. That proposal essentially suggested a short-term deal that would see Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the US lift a blockade of Iranian ports, with the warring sides then going into deeper negotiations over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
Iran gave no indication of when it would formally answer the US. The Iranian foreign ministry reiterated it wants a commitment that fighting will end \u201con all fronts, including Lebanon.\u201d It also called for the unfreezing of sanctioned assets.<\/p>\n
Nearly three months into the conflict, Pezeshkian has insisted his country was not on the brink of giving in. \u201cForcing Iran to surrender through coercion is nothing but an illusion,\u201d he posted Wednesday on X.<\/p>\n
Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir, who acted as a mediator throughout the war, put off plans to visit Tehran on Thursday, Al Arabiya reported, after earlier reports that he would travel to the Iranian capital. Al Arabiya cited a \u201chigh-level source\u201d without naming the person.<\/p>\n
Axios, citing unnamed sources, also reported that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a tense call on Tuesday. It didn\u2019t give details on what the US leader told Netanyahu, who has said he doesn\u2019t trust Iran to abide by any peace deal and has signaled that strikes on the Islamic Republic must resume at some point. Israel has argued that Iran\u2019s military should be degraded further.<\/p>\n
The report came shortly after Trump told reporters that Netanyahu would \u201cdo whatever I want him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s energy minister, Eli Cohen, said there would be no \u201csacred cow\u201d in Iran if fighting restarted. \u201cThe next stage will entail hitting economic targets, energy sites – oil, gas and power stations,\u201d he told Kim Baram radio on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Another key point of contention is Lebanon, where Israel \u2014 whose attacks on Iran alongside the US started the war in late February \u2014 is fighting Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants.<\/p>\n
Israel has resisted the idea of pulling its troops out of the Arab country. A ceasefire on that front is fragile, with Israel and Hezbollah continuing attacks daily.<\/p>\n
In Washington on Thursday, House Republican leaders abruptly canceled a vote on the war as absences in their ranks threatened an embarrassing defeat for Trump. The maneuver followed a tie vote in the House last week on a resolution to halt American military action against Iran.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, a Senate resolution to end the war advanced past a procedural hurdle for the first time, though that legislation hasn\u2019t yet come to a formal vote.<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Arsalan Shahla, Patrick Sykes, Eltaf Najafizada, Devika Krishna Kumar and John Harney.<\/p>\n
(Updates with US House vote canceled, in final two paragraphs.)<\/p>\n
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