Expectations of dialogue bring down oil prices this Tuesday (21); Pakistani source revealed that talks could resume on Wednesday (22)
The United States expressed trust that peace talks with Iran would be held in Pakistan and a senior Iranian official said Tehran was considering participatingbut significant obstacles e uncertainties remain as the end of the ceasefire approaches.
The two-week truce in the war is due to expire within days and although Iran had previously ruled out a second round of talks this week, a Pakistani source involved in the discussions told Reuters there was a favorable climate for talks to resume on Wednesday (22).
“Things are progressing and negotiations are on schedule for tomorrow,” the source said on Tuesday (21), on condition of anonymity, adding that US President Donald Trump could appear in person or virtually, if an agreement was signed.
US Vice President JD Vance will travel to Pakistan on Tuesday for the talks, Axios reported, citing US sources, and the Wall Street Journal said Iran had told regional mediators it would send a delegation to Pakistan also on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports. An Iranian official, speaking to Reuters, said Tehran was “positively reviewing” its participation in the talks, but emphasized that no decision had been made.
Oil price falls
Os oil prices fell by more than US$1 and shares recovered at the start of talks in Asia on Tuesday, with peace talks between the US and Iran expected to resume this week after a previous meeting in Islamabad broke down without an agreement. Oil prices in negotiations on Monday (20), due to doubts about the negotiations.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 fell $1.04, or 1.1%, to $94.44 per barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 for May lost $1.66, or 1.9%, to $87.95.
But tensions remained high on Tuesday, with defiant rhetoric from Iran raising uncertainty over whether talks can take place.
Tehran’s top officials rebuked Washington for blockade of Iranian ports and by seizure e Touska, on Sunday (19), which they called ceasefire violations which were obstacles to diplomacy.
A senior Iranian military commander said forces were ready to make an “immediate and decisive response” to any renewed hostility from adversaries, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said, while Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, in a post on X, said any nation with a great civilization would not negotiate under threat or force.
Chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf accused Trump of increase pressure via blocking on an X post on Monday night, saying he was deluded in trying to “turn the negotiating table into a table of submission” or justify renewed warmongering.
Trump wants a deal that avoid further increases in oil prices e impacts on the stock marketbut insisted that Iran cannot have the means to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran hopes to leverage its control of the Strait of Hormuz to reach a deal that prevents the resumption of war, eases sanctions but does not impede its nuclear program.
Washington has not specified when the two-week ceasefire will end. A Pakistani source involved in the talks said it would end at 8pm ET on Wednesday, or 3:30am on Thursday in Iran.
Iran’s demands
Maritime security sources said on Monday that the Iranian ship Touska was likely to have on board what Washington considers dual-use items that could be used by the military. US Central Command said the crew failed to comply with repeated warnings within a six-hour period and that the ship violated the US blockade.
China, the main buyer of Iranian oil, expressed concern about the “forced interception”.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure on Tuesday and demanded the immediate release of the vesselof your crew and of their familieswarning that Tehran would use all its capabilities to defend its national interests and security.
“The United States would take full responsibility for any further escalation in the region,” he said, according to Iranian state media.
Thousands of people were killed by Israeli and American attacks on Iran. The war provoked a historical shock in global energy supplies and fears that prolonged conflict could lead to the global economy on the brink of recession.
The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports infuriated Tehran, which lifted and then reimposed its own restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, which normally moves about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply e liquefied natural gas. Pakistan, the mediator, lobbied Washington to end its blockade.
*With information from Reuters
