President Donald Trump’s swift rejection of Iran’s response to a U.S. peace proposal sent oil prices higher yesterday amid concerns the 10-week-old conflict will drag on, keeping shipping through the Strait of Hormuz paralysed.
Days after the U.S. floated an offer in the hopes of re-opening negotiations, Iran on Sunday released a response focused on ending the war on all fronts, especially Lebanon, where U.S. ally Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Tehran also included a demand for compensation for war damage and emphasised Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state TV said.
It also called on the U.S. to end its naval blockade, guarantee no further attacks, lift sanctions and end a U.S. ban on Iranian oil sales, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
Within hours, Trump dismissed Iran’s proposal with a post on social media.
Following Trump’s rejection of its demands, Tehran said yesterday it believed its proposal to end the war was “generous and responsible”.
“Our demand is legitimate: demanding an end to the war, lifting the (U.S.) blockade and piracy, and releasing Iranian assets that have been unjustly frozen in banks due to U.S. pressure,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.
“Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and establishing security in the region and Lebanon were other demands of Iran, which are considered a generous and responsible offer for regional security.”
Oil prices rose nearly three per cent yesterday on news of the continued deadlock that leaves the Strait of Hormuz largely closed.
Before the war began on February 28, the narrow waterway carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows, and has emerged as one of the central pressure points in the war.
While traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is at a trickle compared to before the war, shipping data on Kpler and LSEG showed three tankers laden with crude exited the waterway last week, with trackers switched off to avoid Iranian attack.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post that Iran would “never bow down to the enemy” and would “defend national interests with strength.”
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