US Vice President JD Vance has spoken on the latest developments today, fuelling more optimism around the delicate Iran negotiations as oil prices slide backwards.
Vance says negotiations with Iran have made serious progress despite President Donald Trump publicly threatening renewed military action while talks were underway.
He has also declared that Tehran has agreed to admit inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a move Washington has long sought.
It comes as one of Trump’s close political allies, US Senator Lindsey Graham, has predicted the peace talks with Iran will “fail” and the President may restart the conflict.
“Let’s try this. Let’s try a diplomatic solution. I think it’s going to fail. What happens next?” Mr Graham said during an appearance on the CBS show Face the Nation today.
“I spent four-and-a-half hours with President Trump on Friday. Here’s what I think will happen next. If this deal fails, President Trump is going to take the Strait of Hormuz over by force.
“The United States will control the Strait of Hormuz. We’ll charge a fee for all those who go through, to pay for the operation, and we’re going to expand the Abraham Accords in calendar year 2026, we’re going to get Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, which is the biggest change in 5000 years in the Middle East.
“And if Iran contests the control of the Strait of Hormuz by the United States, we’ll obliterate them. So all the people listening: if this diplomatic effort fails, President Trump is going to take over the Strait of Hormuz. We’re going to run it.”
The Abraham Accords, an initiative from Mr Trump’s first term, saw a handful of nations normalise relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia has made it plain it won’t consider signing up until there is palpable progress towards the creation of a Palestinian state – something to which the current government of Israel is intractably opposed.
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