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In comments on Tuesday night, President Trump said he is hoping to make a deal with Iran, but only if the Iranians are willing to pledge to never develop nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make a deal but we haven’t heard those secret words: \u2018We will never have a nuclear weapon,'” Trump said.<\/p>\n
“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world\u2019s number one sponsor of terrorism, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon \u2014 cant let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Futures on US pricing benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CL=F) and international benchmark Brent crude (BZ=F) ticked up by roughly 0.7% earlier in the day and remained unchanged throughout the evening.<\/p>\n
Conflict between the two nations could threaten the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping chokepoint largely controlled by Iran that is vital to the global oil trade.<\/p>\n
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who has been representing Iran in negotiations with the US, said in an X post on Tuesday that “Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.”<\/p>\n
Over the past few weeks, the US has amassed a large armada in the Gulf region, including two aircraft carriers and the largest air power buildup in the region since the country’s 2003 invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n
During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Trump cited Iran’s military capabilities, including ballistic missiles that can reach Europe and attempts to build missiles that could reach the US, as serious national security concerns.<\/p>\n
“I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump said Tuesday night. “We wiped it out [the Iranian nuclear program], and they want to start it up all over again.”<\/p>\n
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who are leading US negotiations, are set to meet with their Iranian counterparts in Geneva on Thursday in what is seen as a last-ditch attempt to find a diplomatic solution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n