Iran-US war: The US Iran conflict which seemed almost ceaseless is finally coming to a conclusion apparently as the two seem to be onboard for an agreement. This might bring down the fuel prices worldwide which had already taken a huge rise owing to the conflict.
Iran on Monday said a final agreement with the United States to end the ongoing West Asia conflict was still not close, despite progress in negotiations.
The statement came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested during a visit to New Delhi that a deal could possibly be reached soon. His remarks briefly pushed global oil prices lower amid hopes of easing tensions.
However, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said talks had advanced on several issues but stressed that no immediate agreement was expected.
“It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion,” Baqaei said.
“But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent — no one can make such a claim.”
Iran also defended charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz for “navigational services”, clarifying that it was not imposing transit tolls.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing as Islamabad continued mediation efforts between Washington and Tehran.
US President Donald Trump also said negotiations were still incomplete and warned that the US naval blockade on Iran would remain until a deal was finalised.
Statement by Marco Rubio on negotiations
The US has made significant progress in negotiations with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but President Donald Trump is maintaining a cautious approach and will not accept a bad deal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.
The remarks by the US Secretary of State, currently on a four-day trip to India, came amid indications that the US and Iran are looking at a preliminary deal to reopen the shipping lane before hammering out a comprehensive peace agreement.
“Work is still in progress. We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today,” he told a small group of reporters before leaving for Agra.
“So we have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of get the Strait open, enter into a very real, significant time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters and hopefully we can pull it off,” Rubio said
The US Secretary of State said there has been global support for the ongoing efforts to end the conflict in West Asia, but added that the road to peace is not very easy.
