US fires at Iranian oil tanker as Trump pushes for peace deal
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Tehran has yet to respond to Washington's plan, but Iran's chief negotiator warned the US is seeking to force the Islamic Republic's 'surrender'. It it unclear how the one-page memorandum differs from the 14-point plan proposed by Iran last week.
US President Donald Trump said Washington had "very good talks" with Iran over the last 24 hours, suggesting the two are near to reaching a peace deal, though he did not elaborate on when.
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"They want to make a deal badly. And we'll see if we get there. If we get, they can't have nuclear weapons," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, .
Asked whether there was a deadline for a response from Iran, he replied: "Never a deadline. It'll happen. It'll happen. But never a deadline".
Trump's statement come only hours after he threatened to restart bombing Iran if it does not agree to reach a deal.
"If they don't agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before," Trump said on Truth Social.
Iran has yet to respond to the new US proposal—a one-page memorandum—but chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on Wednesday that the US is seeking to force the Islamic Republic to surrender "through a naval blockade, economic pressure and media manipulation".
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told local media that the plan to end the war is under review and that Tehran would communicate its position to Pakistan "after finalising its views".
It is unclear how the one-page memorandum differs from the 14-point plan Iran submitted last week.
There is no deal yet, but provisions include a moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, lifting of US sanctions, distribution of frozen Iranian funds and opening the strait for ships.
US forces fire at Iranian tanker
On Wednesday, the US military fired at an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it tried to sail towards an Iranian port, US Central Command wrote on a post on X.
"American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the US blockade," US Central Command wrote, adding that a fighter jet shot out the rudder of the tanker.
Meanwhile, vessels remain bottled up in the Persian Gulf as they cannot pass through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil normally transits and where Iran has effectively halted commercial traffic since late February.
As a result, oil prices have skyrocketed. These will likely not return to normal until the risk of attacks in the waterway has receded, Kaho Yu, head of energy and resources at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft said.
“Refiners, shippers and commodity traders will remain cautious until there is clearer evidence that Hormuz disruptions will not re-escalate,” he said.
Brent crude, the international standard, surged above $114 a barrel on Monday, gaining nearly 6%. Before the war began in late February, it was trading near $70.
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