IRAN said Monday it had demanded the release of its frozen assets and the end of a US blockade of its ports, after President Donald Trump angrily rejected Tehran’s terms for ending the Middle East war.
The sharp exchange of messages raised the spectre of a return to open conflict in the Gulf, dashed hopes of a quick negotiated deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping and sent oil prices higher. Trump reacted with fury after Iran responded to the latest US proposed outline for peace talks with a counteroffer he deemed, in a brief social media post, “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE”. The impasse unnerved global energy markets, with international benchmark Brent crude prices rising 4.65 per cent to $99.95 a barrel during early Monday trade in Asia.
The US leader did not say what had offended him in Iran’s response, but Tehran’s foreign ministry said it had called for an end to the US naval blockade and to the war “across the region” — implying a halt to Israel’s strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Crucially, ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters, Iran demanded the “release of assets belonging to the Iranian people, which have for years been unjustly trapped in foreign banks”.
AFP
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