Peace Negotiations With Iran Stall Out Amid Renewed Strikes
Iran said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as a result of the stalled talks, which, surprise, surprise, has caused oil prices to spike again.
Black News 
SEO: Iran, Strait of Hormuz, Oil Prices
We are now three months into what was originally pitched as a two-to-four-week conflict with Iran. While the Trump administration signaled it was close to reaching a deal with Iran last week, that has all gone out the window as Iran and the U.S. renewed airstrikes against the country over the weekend. As a result, Iran announced on Monday that it will no longer continue negotiations to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite ostensibly being under a ceasefire, AP reports that the U.S. and Iran have exchanged several missile strikes over the last week. The first wave of strikes came on Wednesday, as the U.S. launched several missiles into Southern Iran. Iran retaliated by launching missiles at a U.S. military base in Kuwait, but those were intercepted.
U.S. Central Command said that it launched more strikes on Saturday and Sunday, targeting air defenses, a ground control station, and two attack drones, which it said posed a threat to ships in the area. Central Command has maintained that both of the strikes last week were acts of “self-defense.”
“The measured and deliberate strikes occurred … in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” Central Command said.
In addition to the U.S. strikes, NBC News reports that Israel, which was also under a ceasefire with Iran, launched strikes against Tehran, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia is located. The strikes by Israel are what have caused Iran to walk away from peace negotiations.
“Due to the continuation of the Zionist regime’s actions in Lebanon and given that Lebanon was one of the preconditions of the ceasefire and that this ceasefire has now been violated on all fronts … the Iranian negotiating team will suspend ‘talks and the exchange of texts through mediators,’” the semiofficial news agency Tasnim reported.
One of the big sticking points of a peace deal has been the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Nearly a quarter of the world’s oil supply traditionally passes through the strait, and Iran’s blockade has greatly disrupted the flow of oil and fertilizer. Iran has signaled it’s willing to exacerbate the issue by targeting the Bab al-Mandab Strait, where 15% of the world’s maritime trade passes through.
Oil prices have been wildly fluctuating due to inconsistent messaging about a peace deal with Iran. Prices spiked last week amid the renewed strikes, only to briefly dip over the weekend as a peace deal seemed tangible. CNBC reports that the halt in peace talks has caused West Texas Intermediate futures to increase by 7.8% to $94.20 per barrel on Monday morning, and International benchmark Brent crude futures rose 6.7% to $97.23.
For a guy who built his brand around “the art of the deal,” President Donald Trump seems pretty terrible at negotiating.
The longer this conflict continues, the more likely it is to push the global economy into a recession. Gas prices skyrocketed shortly after the initial wave of strikes against Iran and have remained stubbornly high for the last three months. Last month, the average price of gas reached $4 in all 50 states for the first time since the pandemic-driven inflation of 2022.
The fact that this unnecessary war over a nuke that doesn’t exist has only worsened the ongoing cost-of-living crisis for U.S. citizens hasn’t phased Trump at all. He’s on record saying he doesn’t think about the financial impact the war is having on everyday Americans, and called the increase in gas prices “peanuts.”
So don’t be surprised if the war only ends after it triggers a financial crisis and Trump winds up giving Iran everything they want.
SEE ALSO:
Renewed Strikes Between US And Iran Cause (Another) Spike In Oil Prices
Strait Of Hormuz Still At Standstill Despite Ceasefire
