CNN: Trump touts progress: US President Donald Trump trumpeted a “great settlement” that could resolve the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting Iran’s supreme leader is on board and an agreement would be finalized in the coming days. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said Vice President JD Vance could soon attend a signing ceremony in Europe.
Skepticism from Tehran: However, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the country has not reached a final decision on any agreement, according to state media. The spokesperson said “a large portion of the text had already been finalized,” but the US has taken shifting positions since negotiations began…
U.S.-Iran Strikes Risk Dangerous New Phase
The tit-for-tat strikes this week risked pushing the conflict into a perilous new phase, with no clear signs of whether the fighting could be contained. Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that the latest round of U.S. strikes on Iran had effectively rendered the cease-fire “meaningless,” and warned of “highly dangerous consequences,” without giving specifics…
US and Iranian attacks dent ceasefire, Iranian sources say talks intensify
Three Iranian sources and a European official said the U.S. and Iran were exchanging messages on details of a memorandum after reaching a political understanding, but some issues still had to be discussed in detail, including a mechanism for the release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds…
India Says U.S. Strike on Tanker in Iran Blockade Killed Three Nationals
Three Indian sailors were killed in a U.S. operation to enforce its blockade of Iran, an Indian official said Thursday, the first reported deaths from the American effort to starve its foe of petrodollars and force it to make a deal to end the war…
Why a frustrated Trump is turning again to bombs to force Iran’s hand
New US raids underscored three factors driving the conflict. First, Trump is increasingly and publicly frustrated that Tehran won’t cave to his termsfor reopening the strait and ending its nuclear program. Second, the new US military action reinforced a sense that Trump believes only confrontation can compel an adversary to close a deal. It also again showed the president’s tendency to risk upsetting talks at a delicate moment by using force…
Analysis of Satellite Image and Videos Suggest Precision U.S. Strikes on Iranian Water Facility
It is unclear if the U.S. intentionally struck the facility or knew what it was. Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime…
Iran’s media posts photos purportedly showing US bomb remains at destroyed water reservoir
The photo, released by Mehr alongside images of the destroyed water tank in Bamani, Iran, shows components of a GBU-39 series bomb, a precision-guided munition produced in the United States, according to munitions experts Trevor Ball, a former US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member, and N.R. Jenzen-Jones, the director of Armament Research Services…
With Inflation Bearing Down, Europe Is Facing Higher Interest Rates
The European Central Bank is set to raise rates, the first such move since September 2023, as energy disruptions caused by the Iran war drive higher prices…
Women Who Fled Iran Are to Be Deported to Central African Republic, Lawyers Say
The women are among nearly two dozen people slated to be sent to a country where the U.S. government has advised “Do not travel for any reason.”…
China Is Propping Up the World Economy by Importing a Lot Less Oil
Clues are emerging in the mystery of the missing three million barrels—the oil that China would normally be importing but isn’t now. Chinese people are driving fewer gasoline-powered cars and taking trains instead of planes. The country is dialing back operations at the plants that turn crude oil into feedstock for materials such as plastics. And Beijing is beginning to draw down reserves.
The question is how long the import cuts can last—and what would happen if China needs to start buying more again…
Trump’s Iran war has propelled China’s cleantech industry
At Sany, one of China’s top producers of electric trucks, executives also pointed to a more than 70 per cent year-on-year increase in industry-wide sales since the war started. The company said that with diesel prices high, electric trucks can recoup their extra purchase cost within 12 to 14 months.
“We have to thank Trump. He created an opportunity for us,” Huang Tie, deputy general manager of the group’s truck manufacturing unit, told the FT…
Trump’s most tone-deaf comments on Iran and the economy, ranked
On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump responded to Iran downing a US Army Apache helicopter during a ceasefire by telling the Wall Street Journal that it “wasn’t a big deal.” About 24 hours later, he responded to inflation surging above 4% for the first time in three years by saying, “I love the inflation.”…