President Donald Trump said on Thursday he's calling off renewed attacks against Iran as a result of progress in negotiations to end the war.
"Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening. Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others. The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly," Trump said in a social media publication.
Oil fell sharply following the announcement, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropping more than 2% and hovering around $90 a barrel at 2:08 p.m. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, also fell more than 2% and stood above $88 at the same time.
Trump had anticipated new strikes earlier on Thursday, saying the U.S. would also be "taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets."
Tensions escalated sharply this week as the U.S. launched several rounds of strikes against Iran, which reacted with defiance.
The country's foreign ministry issued a statement on Thursday condemning them and calling them a "flagrant violation" of international law that "effectively rendered the April 8 ceasefire meaningless."
The document went on to say that the Trump administration will be responsible for the "extremely dangerous consequences" of the attacks.
Elsewhere, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), a newly created entity aimed at managing navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and charging fees for it, said the key waterway would be "closed until further notice."
However, Reuters had also reported that efforts to reach an interim deal to end the war had intensified even amid the attacks, with both sides discussing the release of frozen Iranian funds.
Reuters detailed that Washington and Tehran were exchanging messages about the release of frozen Iranian funds, part of a memorandum of understanding to halt the war.
Iranian sources told the outlet that a political understanding has been reached, but there were some details still being discussed, particularly related to the mechanism to release the funds from foreign banks.
"Iran wants $6 billion to $12 billion of its frozen funds to be released to Tehran, while Washington wants to release funds in stages for humanitarian goods and rejects returning funds to Iran outright," one of the people with knowledge of the matter said.
