Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog.
The City is returning from the Bank Holiday break to find the tensions in the Middle East continuing in a stalemate – or perhaps a further escalation than last week.
After days of threats President Donald Trump has issued a strike on Iran, which he framed as “self-defence“, targeting “missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines”.
Regardless of the reasoning behind, its amplified fears that a full-blown conflict could re-emerge with oil prices moving higher on the news after a major drop last week.
Still, there does seem to be some progress on the table with both the President and Iranian officials indicating there was steps in the right direction.
An Iranian spokesman said the two warring nations had “reached a framework” of what the deal could look like, though confirmed nothing had been inked. Reports suggest Iran has sought to get a deal that would pause fighting whilst allowing for discussions around Tehran’s nuclear programme, which has consistently been a non-starter for the US.
Trump said the “final details” were being discussed, but said he wants a “great and meaningful” peace deal with Iran or “no deal”. He added the Strait of Hormuz would “soon be opened” though appeared to walk comments back later, stating “both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!”
The current deal is expected to include the full re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz with a 60-day pause for fighting. During this pause, both nations would begin to negotiate the trickier issues like Iran’s nuclear programme.
We’ll be bringing you the latest on this and more.
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