US-Iran Peace Deal Highlights: Trump says negotiations proceeding nicely; ‘Iran ready to ship out enriched uranium if…'

Iran is ready to transfer its highly enriched uranium out of the country but has made the move conditional on the stockpile being sent to China, and will also seek guarantees from Beijing before advancing a possible deal with Washington, Al Hadath reported, citing informed sources.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said in his first message to the Iranian public that the country would not step back, Iran International reported.

“There will be no retreat,” Zolghadr said, adding that this had been shown on the military front, in diplomacy and by the Islamic Republic's supporters in the streets through what he called their “resistance.”

Oil prices dropped sharply on Monday after US officials signaled that the United States and Iran edged closer to a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Both countries have, however, downplayed chances of a successful deal being signed soon.

The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, fell roughly 6% to about $97 a barrel. That’s down from $104 a barrel at market close on Friday, but still much higher than the $74 a barrel price before the war, CNN reported.

Senior Iranian diplomat Hossein Nooshabadi told ISNA news agency on Monday that the possible framework deal included the end of the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, the release of blocked Iranian assets, the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade and opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the withdrawal of US forces from the vicinity of Iran and freedom to sell Iranian oil.

Nooshabadi said Iran's draft for an initial agreement contained no commitments on Iran's nuclear programme.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that any deal with Iran would have to be “great and meaningful,” adding that otherwise there would be no agreement.

“The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told confidants in private conversations that Israel has little ability to influence Donald Trump's decision-making on Iran as the US president negotiates a deal in the nearly three-month-old war, two sources told Reuters.

As peace hangs by the precipice in West Asia and the Gulf region, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that progress has been made in the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States, according to a report by Dawn.

The Pakistani media outlet quoted Sharif, who said, 'Things moving in the right direction' in the context of the US-Iran talks.

Sharif, who is currently visiting China, made the remarks while speaking at the Great Hall of the People.

"We hope that peace will be restored, and lots of ground has already been covered; things are moving in the right direction," PM Shehbaz said. As per Dawn, he thanked the Chinese leadership for their support to Pakistan's mediation efforts, ANI reported.

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: As peace talks continue, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that the framework for the deal has been reached but that does not mean the signing of it is now imminent.

“We have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the discussion topics this is correct but this does not mean that the signing of an agreement is imminent,” he said.

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is touring India, has said that the United States has been making progress with Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz but Donald Trump remains cautious as he wouldn't want to make a bad deal.

“The US has made significant progress in negotiations with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but President Donald Trump is maintaining a cautious approach and will not accept a bad deal,” Marco Rubio said.

Gold prices rose more than 1% on Monday, as optimism for a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations weakened the dollar and eased oil prices, which softened the inflation outlook.

Spot gold was up 1.1% at $4,557.46 per ounce, as of 0542 GMT. U.S. gold futures for June delivery gained 0.8% to $4,558.80.

While U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that he was in no hurry to finalise a deal with Iran, investors seem to rely more on his Saturday statement that Washington and Iran had "largely negotiated" a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"Trump has been raising market hopes for some sort of deal with Iran, which could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. That prospect has weighed on oil prices and, by extension, given gold a welcome lift from an inflation perspective," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

The U.S. will either have a good agreement with Iran or deal with the country "another way," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.

— Reuters

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: Stocks surged on Monday while the U.S. dollar and oil prices slid as the prospect of a deal to end the Iran war buoyed risk appetite, although a lack of clarity over when the Strait of Hormuz would open kept enthusiasm in check.

The nearly three-month-long conflict in the Middle East has driven energy prices sharply higher and reshaped the global rates outlook, as inflation concerns intensify following Tehran's effective shutdown of the key strait.

(Reuters)

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: Hinting that the deal could materialise on Monday, Marco Rubio, who is touring India, said, “We have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open.”

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: The Indian stock market has gone up as oil prices fell over anticipation of a peace deal between Iran and the United States.

The BSE Sensex jumped 826.09 points or 1.10 per cent to 76,241.44 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty 50 rose 239.90 points or 1.01 per cent to 23,959.20.

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the deal would be made on Sunday, but the President doesn't want to make a bad deal.

Speaking in Delhi, Marco Rubio said, “Work still in progress. We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today. So we have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the Strait, get the Straits open, enter into a very real, significant time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters and hopefully we can pull it off.”

“It has a lot of support in the Gulf, has a lot of support globally. Every country that we've walked through understands it's not just very reasonable, but it's the right thing for the world to get done. As the President said, he's not in a hurry; he's not going to make a bad deal. I mean, the President is not going to make a bad agreement. So let's see what happens. We're going to give diplomacy every chance to succeed before we explore the alternatives,” he said.

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: In Delhi for US-India talks, Marco Rubio pitches in for Israel and says that the country has a right to defend itself in any deal with Tehran.

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: According to the reports, there have been some gaps in the negotiations between Iran and the United States – such as the uranium enrichment and unfreezing of the Iranian assets. While the two nations have so far extended the ceasefire, it is likely that it might be extended again if the peace talks fall through.

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: Uranium and sanctions are said to be the gaps that have remained in the peace deal between the United States and Iran.

There are reports in Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency that mention that the peace deal could collapse as the US was blocking Iran's demands that its assets be unfrozen.

It is now likely that the proposed ceasefire be extended.

US-Iran Peace Deal LIVE: Donald Trump has been under domestic pressure to finalise the deal with Iran and end the conflict in the West Asia, but he recently instructed his officials to not rush into a deal. According to him, the US wants a deal that would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and negotiating the details of the nuclear measures would take more time.