Main developments
Iran said on Wednesday it was reviewing a US-backed peace proposal as hopes rose for a deal to end the two-month-long war in the Middle East.
According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, Iran’s foreign ministry said Tehran was looking at the US proposal and its response would be conveyed through Pakistani mediators once it had reached a “conclusion”.
However, the Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, quoted an unnamed official who said the latest US proposal contained some “unacceptable provisions”.
Donald Trump said earlier on Wednesday that the war with Iran would end and the Strait of Hormuz would be “open to all” if Tehran strikes a deal with Washington.
But he warned that if Iran failed to comply, the US would launch renewed strikes at “a much higher level and intensity than before”.
Oil prices had tumbled earlier on Wednesday after Axios reported that Washington had presented Iran with a one-page framework for ending the war, anticipating a response from Iran in the next 48 hours.
The unnamed official quoted by Tasnim said that “today’s propaganda in US media” was intended mainly to “justify Trump’s retreat from his recent hostile act”.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the report.
Brent crude fell as much as 11 per cent to below $98 per barrel, its lowest level since April 22.
It climbed back above $100 after Trump’s social media post but was still down 7.9 per cent on the day, at $101.22.
Stocks leapt, with the S&P 500 up 1.3 per cent in afternoon trading.
The one-page peace agreement involved Tehran agreeing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, according to Axios. The US would in exchange release frozen Iranian funds and lift sanctions.
Both sides would end restrictions on transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran said on Wednesday that it would allow safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz since the “aggressor’s threats” had been neutralised.
But it added that such passage would be reliant on “new protocols in place”, without elaborating on any such mechanisms.
France also sought to accelerate the implementation of a maritime coalition to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, so long as Iran and the US agree to certain conditions.
US Army to launch effort to build cheaper missile interceptor
The US Army is set to announce an effort to build a new missile interceptor costing no more than $250,000, having burned through expensive versions of the weapon during the war against Iran.
“We want to see if we can create, from scratch, an interceptor that we can then own the IP for and then go find contract manufacturing to build,” US army secretary Dan Driscoll said on Wednesday.
The army is in the “early stages” of an effort to solicit ideas from experts, with the goal of firing the first one a year from the announcement, which he expects in the next four to six weeks.
“I think a successful interceptor should be less than a quarter-million dollars,” Driscoll said.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank estimated that the US had an inventory of 2,330 Patriot interceptors before the war started and has used 1,060 to 1,430 of them during the conflict. Each Patriot interceptor costs about $4mn.
France seeks to speed up maritime coalition plan for Strait of Hormuz
France is seeking to accelerate the implementation of a maritime coalition to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, if Iran and the US agree to certain conditions.
“What we are proposing is that Iran gains passage for its ships through the strait and in return commits to negotiating with the Americans on issues of nuclear materials, missiles and the region, and we propose that the Americans, for their part, lift their blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and, in return, obtain Iran’s commitment to negotiations,” a French presidency official said.
France and the UK have been coordinating talks among about 40 countries about how they could help secure the crucial shipping artery.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday to impress on him the need to open the strait.
France on Wednesday dispatched its aircraft carrier and strike group to the south of the Red Sea to be closer and ready to help in the strait.