By Humeyra Pamuk, Ahmed Elimam and Ahmed Tolba
WASHINGTON/DUBAI, May 1 (Reuters) – A senior United Arab Emirates official said on Friday Tehran could not be trusted over any unilateral arrangements it makes for the Strait of Hormuz, in a sign of deep mistrust on all sides as efforts to end the Iran war remained at an impasse.
Two months into the conflict, the vital sea channel is still largely closed because of an Iranian blockade and the U.S. Navy is blocking exports of Iranian crude oil. The blockade has choked off 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies, pushing up global energy prices and increasing concerns that there will be an economic downturn.
A ceasefire has been in place since April 8 but reports that U.S. President Donald Trump was to be briefed on plans for new military strikes to compel Iran to negotiate pushed global oil prices up to a four-year high at one point on Thursday.
Iran has activated air defences and plans a wide response if attacked, having assessed that there will be a short, intensive U.S. strike, possibly followed by an Israeli attack, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
‘TREACHEROUS AGGRESSION’
Washington has not said what its next steps are. Trump said on Tuesday he was unhappy with the latest proposal from Iran, and mediator Pakistan has not set a date for new talks on ending a war that has killed thousands, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.
After U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on February 28, Iran fired at U.S. bases, infrastructure and U.S.-linked companies in Gulf states, while the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah launched missiles at Israel, which responded with strikes on Lebanon.
Underlining the concerns of the Gulf states, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the “collective international will and provisions of international law” were the primary guarantors of freedom of navigation through the strait.
“And, of course, no unilateral Iranian arrangements can be trusted or relied upon following its treacherous aggression against all its neighbors,” Gargash wrote.
Trump faces a formal U.S. deadline on Friday to end the war or make the case to Congress for extending it under the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
The date looks set to pass without altering the course of the war after a senior administration official said that, for the purposes of the resolution, hostilities had terminated due to the April ceasefire between Tehran and Washington.
Financial and energy markets remained on edge because of concerns about the impasse over negotiations and worries that there could be a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose again on Friday, up slightly at over $111 a barrel and poised for a 5.7% gain over the week after hitting $126 a barrel on Thursday, the highest level since March 2022.
IRAN SAYS NOT TO EXPECT QUICK RESULTS FROM TALKS
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei cautioned on Thursday against expecting quick results from talks.
A senior official of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said any new U.S. attack on Iran, even if limited, would usher in “long and painful strikes” on U.S. regional positions, while Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi was quoted by Iranian media as saying: “We’ve seen what happened to your regional bases, we will see the same thing happen to your warships.”
Trump repeated on Thursday that Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and said the price of gasoline – an important concern for his Republican Party before midterm elections in November – would “drop like a rock” as soon as the war ended.
Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes.
Trump said on Thursday that Iran’s economy was “a disaster”, but analysts said that if he expects Iran to blink first in a game of economic chicken, he may be waiting a while.
The conflict has aggravated Iran’s dire economic problems, risking calamity after the war, but it looks able to survive a standoff in the Gulf for now, despite the U.S. blockade that has cut off its energy exports.
Axios news site reported that one plan to be shared with Trump during a briefing by top U.S. military leaders that was scheduled for Thursday involved using ground forces to take over part of the strait to reopen it to commercial shipping. Trump is also considering extending the U.S. blockade or declaring a unilateral victory, officials have said.
Washington did not immediately announce any details of its plans.
In a sign that the U.S. was also envisaging a scenario where hostilities cease, a State Department cable due to be delivered orally to partner nations by May 1 invited them to join a new coalition, called the Maritime Freedom Construct, to enable ships to navigate the strait.
France, Britain and others have held talks on contributing to such a coalition but said they would help to open the Strait only when the conflict ends.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Gareth Jones)
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