US, Iran Inch Closer To Extending Ceasefire As Trump Says War 'Very Close' To Ending: Report

• The report adds that three sticking points derailed talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad last week.
• This includes Iran’s nuclear program, navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and compensation for wartime damages.
• President Trump added that he thinks Iran wants to make a deal “very badly,” while noting that if the U.S. did not attack the Middle Eastern country, it would have had a nuclear weapon.

The U.S. and Iran reportedly inched closer to extending the two-week ceasefire, with mediators making progress in restarting negotiations between the two countries.

According to a report by The Associated Press, regional officials stated that the U.S. and Iran had reached an “in principle” agreement to extend the ongoing ceasefire to allow more time for diplomatic efforts between the two countries' representatives.

The Sticking Points That Derailed Last Week’s Talks

The report adds that three sticking points derailed talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad last week.

This includes Iran’s nuclear program, navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and compensation for wartime damages. It’s not clear yet if the wartime damages are a demand from only Iran or both sides of the conflict, given that the Iranian forces have hit several other countries in the Middle East.

Trump Insists Iran War Drawing To A Close

This comes amid President Donald Trump’s remarks during an interview with Fox Business that the Iran war is “very close” to being over.

“We’ve beaten them militarily, totally. I think it’s close to over, I view it as very close to over. If I pulled up stakes right now it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country, and we’re not finished,” he said.

President Trump added that he thinks Iran wants to make a deal “very badly,” while noting that if the U.S. did not attack the Middle Eastern country, it would have had a nuclear weapon.

He also warned that the Iranian regime would have attacked Israel, other countries in the Middle East, as well as the U.S. if it managed to develop a nuclear weapon.

President Trump also stated that the crude oil and gasoline prices could fall “tremendously” once the Iran war is over. However, since the beginning of the Iran war in February this year, WTI and Brent crude futures have risen by nearly 39% and 34%, respectively.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices inched higher on Wednesday, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures maturing in May rising by more than 1% to $93 per barrel. Brent crude futures maturing in June surged about 2%, hovering at $96 per barrel.

The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) rose about 1%, while the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO) was up more than 2% at the time of writing.

Trump Signals US-Iran Talks This Week

On Tuesday, President Trump signaled that the second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran could take place in the next two days.

President Trump initially stated that while discussions were happening between the two countries, they were a little slow.

“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” he added later.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was flat; the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) edged lower by 0.05%; and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) fell 0.06%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits regarding the S&P 500 ETF was in the ‘neutral’ territory.

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