US-Iran War LIVE: Iran said the latest proposal from the US partly bridged the gap between the warring sides, but comments from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader about keeping Tehran’s uranium stockpile and a dispute over tolls in the Strait of Hormuz clouded the outlook for a breakthrough.
Tehran is in the process of responding to a text submitted by the US, which “has narrowed the gaps to some extent,” the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported on Thursday, without saying where it got the information. “Further narrowing requires an end to the temptation for war on Washington’s part.”
While that signaled progress, a Reuters report that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive that the country’s 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.
“We want it open, we want it free, we don’t want tolls,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House. “It’s an international waterway. They are not charging tolls right now.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a toll system would make a deal with the US “unfeasible.”
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.
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.
US-Iran War LIVE: US pins hopes on mediator Pakistan in push to end Iran war
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope of progress on ending the war with Iran, as he looked to Pakistani mediators to help advance efforts to strike an agreement.
Previous comments by President Donald Trump had suggested weeks of stop-start negotiations to strike a permanent end to the war were teetering on the “borderline” between a deal and renewed attacks.
“I believe the Pakistanis will be travelling to Tehran today. So hopefully that’ll advance this further,” Rubio told reporters on Thursday.
A ceasefire on April 8 halted the war launched weeks earlier by the United States and Israel, but negotiation efforts, including historic face to face talks hosted in Islamabad have so far failed to yield a lasting agreement.
— Inputs from AFP
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