Source: Sharecast
Speaking to Fox Business, Donald Trump reiterated his demand that Iran gives up its nuclear programme. But asked if the war was over, he said: "I think it’s close to over. I view it as very close to over…I think they want to make a deal very badly."
Vice president JD Vance, meanwhile, told an ABC News reporter he did not think the current ceasefire would need to be extended when it expires next week: "I think you’re going to be watching an amazing two days ahead," he said. The vice president led the US delegation during the first round of talks in Islamabad, which failed to secure a peace deal.
Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, confirmed talks were taking place albeit "under very difficult conditions" through Pakistani mediators. He said no agreement had yet been reached.
Both sides also continued to threaten each other, however, even as talks were ongoing. Military leaders in Tehran said they would look to strangle trade in the Red Sea as well as the Gulf should the US continue to blockade Iran, while The Washington Post reported that over 10,000 American troops would reach the Middle East this month.
Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said around 6,000 personnel were aboard the aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush and its accompanying warships, which are currently sailing around Africa on route to the region. Another 4,200 troops are expected to arrive towards the end of April.
The deployments are reportedly being use to bolster America’s presence in the region ahead of the ceasefire ending on 22 April. There are already around 50,000 US personnel in the region.
However, Brent ticked only marginally higher in response, putting on just shy of 1% at $95.32 a barrel by 1430 BST, while West Texas Intermediate was ahead 1% at $91.83. Brent, which was trading around $70 a barrel prior to the US first attacking Iran at the end of February, has reached as high as $119 during the conflict. European natural gas futures were also tracking lower.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "The physical oil market is still suggesting that supply is tight - because it is - and the oil market remains in an extreme case of backwardation, whereby future prices are higher than spot prices. However, it seems like the worst of the volatility has passed and investors have exhausted their capacity to respond to the shifting narratives about the war from the Trump administration."