CNN: The US and Iran are signaling progress in efforts to end the conflict, but crucial details of a framework agreement are still under negotiation. President Donald Trump said the US will not rush into a deal, while Iran’s Foreign Ministry said a “degree of understanding” was reached on many issues, but an agreement is not imminent…
Iran and US play down hopes for imminent breakthrough in war
Iran and the United States played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough in the three-month-old war on Monday, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying there will either be a good agreement or Washington would deal with the country in “another way.”…
Republican hardliners warn Trump is giving up too much in Iran talks
Foreign policy hawks including Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz spoke out after reports that US negotiators were closing on a deal that would grant concessions to Iran while extending the existing ceasefire, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and laying the groundwork for more talks on dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme…
Fertiliser groups cut production as Iran war squeezes sulphur supplies
Disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has hit global supplies of sulphur — required to make phosphate fertilisers that are used on crops including corn, soyabeans, rice and palm oil.
“This situation around Hormuz was in the beginning a raw material problem that has turned into a fertiliser supply shock,” said Faris Derrij, chief executive of OCP Nutricrops, whose parent OCP Group is the world’s biggest phosphate exporter…
Swiss Trader Had Lucrative Role Getting Iraqi Oil Through Hormuz
The role of Lytton SA, a Geneva-based trading house with links to Iraq, has not previously been reported. It highlights how the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz is creating vast money-making opportunities for traders and shipping companies willing to brave the risks of the voyage…
Abu Dhabi, Qatar Quietly Slip More Tankers Through Hormuz
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has been using its own fleet to ferry oil and gas shipments out of the Persian Gulf, clearing both the Iranian navy and US warships to reach customers.
Adnoc has been using practices including dark transits, where vessels cross the Strait of Hormuz with their transponders switched off, to move cargoes through the waterway.
The company’s method allows it to send ships back into the Persian Gulf for more cargoes, keeping oil and fuels flowing, with vessels typically transferring their cargoes to clients’ tankers in safer waters after passing through Hormuz…
Oil and LNG tankers exit Hormuz, heading for Pakistan and China
Ship-tracking data showed three liquefied natural gas tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, heading to Pakistan, China and India, as well as a supertanker with Iraqi crude for China after being stranded for nearly three months…
Why Trump’s possible Iran deal may be almost as divisive as his decision to wage war
Indications, for instance, that Washington may unfreeze some Iranian assets and gradually dismantle its own blockade to persuade Iran to reopen the strait would effectively validate the leverage the Islamic Republic seized in the war and hand away key US bargaining chips.
Any undertaking from Iran in the memorandum that it will not chase nuclear weapons would be greeted with great reservations in Washington…
What happens when the war really ends
Once the strait has truly reopened, a logistical nightmare is about to unfold.
Step one: Clearing the strait’s bottlenecks. That’s going to take a long time, since tankers move about as fast as you can ride a bicycle…