Trump Hints He’ll Hold Off Iran Strike, Give Diplomacy Time
US President Donald Trump signaled he would give diplomacy a chance before deciding whether to strike Iran, dialing back on recent comments that suggested military action could be imminent.
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Trump said in a dictated message, according to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
Yet, Iran maintained Friday it won’t negotiate with the US while Israel’s assault continues. The only way to end the imposed war is to “unconditionally stop” the enemy’s aggression, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday in a post on X.
Trump, who is scheduled to attend a national security meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, has publicly mused for days about the US joining the fray. His latest stance signals a step back after a run of tough rhetoric, including demands for residents of Tehran to evacuate, and his early departure from this week’s Group of Seven summit in Canada to return to Washington.
Markets were taking a breather after the White House comments. European equities climbed and oil fell 2.3% to temper gains from earlier in the week. Brent crude is still up more than 10% since the war began a week ago, trading around $77 a barrel.
Businesses operating in the region are wary the conflict could spread and engulf other countries.
On Thursday, US airlines took the unusual step of suspending flights to countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. American Airlines Group Inc. halted its route to Doha until June 22. United Airlines Holdings Inc. did the same for Dubai, saying flights would resume “when it’s safe. And AP Moller-Maersk A/S, the Danish container-shipping giant, on Friday said it will suspend stops to Haifa, Israel’s biggest port.
“Within two weeks” has become a staple of Trump’s two mandates in the White House. Over the years, the term has come to signify a pending decision, with the president sometimes following through on the deadline and in other instances missing it or not acting at all. Leavitt declined to elaborate on his timeline, including on how Trump views the chances of success of any further negotiations.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is scheduled to meet counterparts from the UK, France and Germany later Friday in Geneva. Those talks will be “limited to nuclear and regional issues,” he said in an interview with the country’s state television.
Global financiers have become increasingly concerned about the potential regional fallout from the fighting. In Dubai, often regarded as the region’s main financial hub, more than half a dozen investors and financial executives agreed that any US intervention would impact their plans for the Gulf.
“The situation in the Middle East remains perilous,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement. “A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.
European governments made the case for diplomacy, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling on Trump to keep the door open to resuming talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Thursday at the White House with the UK’s Lammy. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani held separate phone calls with Rubio and Araghchi on Thursday, according to the ministry in Rome.
The Israel Defense Forces on Friday said it completed a series of strikes in Tehran, hitting dozens of targets, according to a Telegram post. They included missile production sites and the headquarters for research and development of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
“The recent air strikes pose risks to the new energy market landscape; however, further fallout for global energy prices seems, for now at least, limited,” said Kieran Calder, head of Asia equity research at Union Bancaire Privee in Singapore. “Markets tend not to price in geopolitical risks until there is a conflagration, and they are currently showing little sign of factoring in a worst-case outcome.”
Source : Bloomberg
