Oil prices jump as US-Iran peace talks falter
Oil prices jumped $3 a barrel on Monday as the United States and Iran failed to agree to a peace proposal drafted by Washington while the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed, keeping global energy supply tight.
Brent crude futures climbed $3.21 or 3.17% to $104.50 a barrel by 2203 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was at $98.48 a barrel, up $3.06, or 3.21%.
Trump to press Xi on Iran during Beijing summit
US President Donald Trump will press China’s Xi Jinping on Iran when they meet in Beijing in coming days, but their “highly symbolic” superpower summit will focus on easing trade tensions, officials said Sunday.
Trump’s first trip to China in his second term will feature pomp and ceremony including a tour of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and a lavish state banquet, the White House said.
Topics including tariffs, Taiwan, and the race for AI technology and critical minerals are also set to come up in the meeting between the leaders of the world’s biggest economies.
“This will be a visit of tremendous symbolic significance,” Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told reporters on a call.
UK and France to host defence talks on Hormuz shipping mission
“The Defence Secretary John Healey will co-chair a meeting of over 40 nations, alongside his French counterpart, Minister Catherine Vautrin, for the multinational mission’s first Defence Ministers’ meeting,” a British defence ministry statement said Sunday.
The virtual meeting follows a two-day gathering in London in April of military planners who thrashed out the practicalities of a multinational mission led by the UK and France to protect navigation in the key waterway following a sustainable ceasefire.
“We are turning diplomatic agreement into practical military plans to restore confidence for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Healey said.
Iran releases Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi on bail for medical treatment
Iranian authorities on Sunday released Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on bail following growing alarm over her health and she has already been transferred to Tehran for medical treatment, her supporters said.
After 10 days of hospitalisation in Zanjan in northern Iran where she had been serving her sentence, Mohammadi “has been granted a sentence suspension on heavy bail”, her foundation said in a statement, without detailing the amount.
It added she had been transferred by ambulance to a hospital in Tehran “to be treated by her own medical team”.
Trump rejects ‘unacceptable’ Iranian proposal for ending war
President Donald Trump said Sunday he has rejected Iran’s response to a US proposal for ending the Middle East war, deeming it “totally unacceptable.”
“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, without describing elements of Tehran’s response.
Iran proposal demands end of war and lifting of sanctions, news agency reports
An Iranian proposal sent to the United States through mediator Pakistan stresses the need for an end to the war on all fronts and the lifting of sanctions on Tehran, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Sunday, citing an informed source.
The proposal emphasizes the necessity of lifting sanctions by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control on Iranian oil sales during a 30-day period and ending the naval blockade on Iran, Tasnim added.
Iran’s two navies and the fate of its “Midget Submarines”
Trump expected to ‘apply pressure’ on Xi over Iran: US official
Donald Trump is expected to press Chinese President Xi Jinping on Iran when he visits Beijing next week, a senior administration official said Sunday, as the US president seeks a deal to end the Middle East war.
“I would expect the president to apply pressure,” the official said in a call with reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that Trump has done so in previous calls with the Chinese leader.
Trump warns Iran ‘will be laughing no longer’ amid negotiations
US President Donald Trump on Sunday accused Iran of “playing games” and laughing at America for decades, but said it soon would be made to stop — without commenting directly on reports of Tehran’s response to Washington’s latest peace proposal.
“Iran has been playing games with the United States, and the rest of the World, for 47 years (DELAY, DELAY, DELAY!),” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
He also accused Tehran of “laughing at our now GREAT AGAIN Country” but added: “They will be laughing no longer!”
Macron says France has ‘never envisaged’ sending warships to Strait of Hormuz
President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said that France had “never envisaged” a naval deployment in the Strait of Hormuz but rather a security mission that would be “coordinated with Iran”.
At a news conference in Nairobi, Macron said he was sticking to his position after Iran warned of a “decisive and immediate response” to any French or British deployments in the strategic waterway.
Iran warns France, UK of ‘immediate response’ to any Hormuz deployment
Iran warned Britain and France on Sunday that its armed forces would launch “a decisive and immediate response” to any warships being sent to the Strait of Hormuz, after Paris and London dispatched vessels to the region.
“We remind them that both in times of war and in times of peace, only the Islamic Republic of Iran can establish security in this strait and it will not allow any country to interfere in such matters,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X.
Britain and France are leading efforts to create an international coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but only after a peace deal between the US and Iran is secured.
Pakistani official says Iran’s reponse to ceasefire plan has been sent to the US
Pakistan has received Iran’s response to the United States’ proposal on the Iran war and the response has been sent to the US, a Pakistani government official involved in the talks said on Sunday.
The source did not provide further detail about the proposal.
This comes after Iranian state media reported on Sunday that Iran had sent its response to a US proposal to begin peace talks to end the war.
Iran war ‘not over,’ uranium must be removed, says Netanyahu
Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium must be “taken out” before the US-Israeli war against Iran can be considered over, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview Sunday.
It’s not over, because there’s still nuclear material — enriched uranium — that has to be taken out of Iran. There’s still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled,” Netanyahu said in an excerpt of an interview due to air later Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes” program.
“You go in and you take it out,” the Israeli leader said when asked how the uranium could be removed.
Iran responds to US ceasefire proposal amid cautious talks
Iran has replied to a US 14-point proposal via a Pakistani mediator, with both sides keeping details tightly under wraps. According to Iranian state media, the response centres on a possible cessation of hostilities and efforts to ease tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, while major sticking points – including uranium enrichment and sanctions relief – remain unresolved. FRANCE 24’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports.
Iran’s proposed text in response to US focuses on ending war on all fronts, especially Lebanon – state media
Iran response to US focuses on ‘ending war, maritime security’
Iran’s response to the latest US peace proposal focuses on “ending the war and maritime security”, local media reported on Sunday, shortly after Tehran said it had delivered its answer to Pakistani mediators.
“It should be noted that the main focus of Iran’s response to the US proposal is on ‘ending the war and maritime security’ in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” the ISNA news agency said, without offering further details.
Iran says it has sent response to US peace proposal
Iran has sent its response to a US proposal to begin peace talks to end the war, the IRNA news agency reported on Sunday, as two carriers were allowed to pass through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
The IRNA report said the response to a U.S. proposal to end fighting before starting talks on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear program, had been sent to Paksitan, which is mediating.
Bulk carrier bound for Brazil passes through Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Tasnim reports
A Panama-flagged bulk carrier bound for Brazil passed through the Strait of Hormuz using a route designated by Iran’s armed forces, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.
Tasnim identified the vessel as the Mdl Toofan, saying it had departed from Saudi Arabia’s Ras al-Khair port and was headed to Rio Grande.
The ship had previously attempted to transit the strait on May 4 but was turned back by Iranian armed forces, the agency said, adding that it was the second vessel since Saturday to use the Iranian-designated route through the waterway.
Iran warns of retaliation as US tensions threaten fragile peace talks
Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated after reports of US fire on Iranian-linked tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Tehran warned of retaliation against American targets in the region as diplomatic efforts continue over a proposed deal involving sanctions, nuclear limits, and maritime security.