WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said additional talks with Iran will take place this week and that the war will end soon. With gasoline prices surging at home ahead of the midterm elections, the remarks are seen as an attempt to talk down oil prices by continuing to hint at a possible end to the conflict.
Trump made the comments in an interview with the U.S. online outlet Axios on the 27th, saying Iran wants a deal. He criticized Tehran for demanding too much, saying the deal Iran wants is not the one he wants and is something that could only have been agreed to a year ago. Asked whether he was considering resuming strikes on Iran, he said he is always thinking about it.
A day earlier, Trump said he had rejected Iran's proposed "seven-day plan" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. By turning down the offer while leaving the door open to negotiations, he appears to be managing tensions with Iran to prevent oil prices from climbing further.
Multiple sources in the Middle East told Axios that indirect talks between the United States and Iran could begin as early as the 28th. But the outlet said it is unclear whether the two sides can narrow their differences, as Iran is focusing on the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. naval blockade while the Trump administration is demanding nuclear concessions. The U.S. online outlet Politico also noted that talks could be held on the 28th but that few seriously expect a substantive breakthrough.
Trump told Axios that the largest volume of oil since the war with Iran began passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, putting the figure at more than 20 million barrels. Citing a U.S. Defense Department official, Axios reported that 22 million barrels of oil moved through the strait on the 25th.
Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for Chicago that morning, Trump said the war will end soon and oil prices will plunge, adding that prices are now lower than they were under the Biden administration. He had earlier posted a chart on Truth Social analyzing how many days international oil prices topped $100 a barrel during each president's term. According to the chart, prices exceeded $100 a barrel for 308 days across former President Barack Obama's two terms and for 83 days under the Biden administration, compared with zero during Trump's first term and 24 in his second. The post is seen as an effort to stress that while Americans feel oil prices are high, prices were in fact above that level more often under Democratic administrations.
