Trump admits an early end to the strikes on Iran. What the media is writing
US President Donald Trump has sent signals that he may soon stop attacks on Iran and end the military conflict. Against this background, oil prices dropped sharply. At the same time, the head of the White House did not rule out that he would raise the issue of seizing Iranian oil, and the State Department continues to evacuate employees. How the media reacts to a possible de—escalation is in the Izvestia digest.
Bloomberg: Trump signals the possible end of the war
Trump said he would lift oil-related sanctions and instruct the US Navy to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, and predicted that the war with Iran would end "very soon." The US president noted that he did not believe that the conflict would end this week, but insisted that the military operation was ahead of schedule. He promised to bomb "at a much tougher level" if Iran interferes with oil supplies.
Bloomberg
"Together with our Israeli partners, we are crushing the enemy with overwhelming technical prowess and military force," Trump told Republican lawmakers earlier on Monday. At a press conference, the president said that the United States had hit 5,000 targets in the country, said that Iran's missile potential had decreased to 10%, and the number of drone launches from the country had decreased by 83%. The US military objectives can be described as "practically fulfilled," Trump said.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Trump is considering a number of options to deal with the sharp rise in oil prices after the war with Iran. These may include the release of emergency reserves, the suspension of federal gasoline tax collection, and the Ministry of Finance's involvement in the oil futures market. The head of the department, Scott Bessent, had previously suggested that the United States could lift additional sanctions against Russian oil, and had already temporarily allowed Indian refineries to purchase more of it.
Reuters: oil prices fall amid Trump's forecasts of de-escalation
Oil prices have fallen from a more than three-year high after Trump predicted the imminent end of the war in the Middle East. This has eased concerns about prolonged disruptions in global oil supplies. Brent crude futures fell 4.2% to $94.79 per barrel, while U.S. WTI crude fell 4% to $90.96 per barrel. Previously, both contracts fell by as much as 11% before partially offsetting the losses.
Reuters
Oil prices topped $100 per barrel on Monday, hitting their highest level since mid-2022, as supply cuts from Saudi Arabia and other producers during the expanding U.S.-Israeli war with Iran heightened concerns about major disruptions to global supplies.
Trump said that, in his opinion, the war against Iran was "completely over" and that Washington was "well ahead" of its initial forecasts of four to five weeks of conflict. However, in response to Trump's statements, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would "determine the end of the war" and Tehran would not allow "a single liter of oil" to be exported from the region if the US and Israeli attacks continued.
Associated Press: Trump says Vance has a different position on Iran
Trump said that his vice president, J. D. Vance, was "philosophically a little different" in his position on the war in Iran, although he rejected the suggestion of disagreements between them. Speaking to reporters at his golf club in Florida, the president said Vance "may have been less enthusiastic about the idea," but insisted that the decision to launch airstrikes on Iran along with Israel was necessary.
Associated Press
Ahead of a difficult election year, the war in Iran has heightened tensions among Republicans, with some expressing concerns about how the operation fits into the America First movement, an isolationist position that the party espoused during the Trump era. Few have epitomized this movement as vividly as Vance, who rose from writer to U.S. senator and eventually vice president in a decade. He is now considered one of the main contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, which gives him the opportunity to continue the Trump movement in the future.
Vance, a former Marine, has often supported Trump's vision of an America more focused on solving domestic problems than intervening in conflicts abroad. In a 2023 article, Vance wrote that Trump enjoys his support because "he will not recklessly send Americans to fight abroad." On the eve of the strikes on Iran, Vance said that "there is not the slightest chance" that the United States will get involved in a protracted war similar to the one that occurred in Iraq. If Vance has the doubts that Trump hinted at, it should be noted that he publicly supported the president from the very beginning of the strikes.
NBC News: Trump says it's "too early" to talk about seizing Iranian oil
Trump has left open the possibility of seizing Iranian oil as part of the ongoing war, which officials say was initially aimed at stripping Iran of its nuclear weapons. Trump said he did not want to discuss the issue, but added that he had been having conversations on the subject. The US president noted that 80 million barrels have already been obtained from Venezuela.
NBC News
Gaining control of some of Iran's oil could strain U.S. relations with China. About 80% of Iran's crude oil exports go to China, the world's second-largest economy and America's biggest geopolitical rival. Over the weekend, oil prices topped $100 per barrel in response to the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran. Iran is the ninth largest oil producer in the world, accounting for about 5% of total production.
Trump also expressed dissatisfaction with the way Iran chose a new supreme leader after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an airstrike. Shiite clerics named his 56-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is considered a hardliner, as his successor. Trump called this choice a "big mistake."
The Washington Post: The United States ordered several more diplomats to leave the Middle East
The Trump administration has ordered more American diplomats to leave the Middle East. This indicates the continuing security threat posed by Iran's retaliatory attacks more than a week after the conflict began. Staff at the U.S. Consulate in Adana in southern Turkey, who are not related to their main activities, and their family members were ordered to leave. A similar notification was sent to the staff of the US diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia.
The Washington Post
Additional mandatory departures are possible in the near future. According to a State Department cable from last week, American diplomats coordinated a plan for the "ground evacuation" of the remaining American consulate staff in Erbil to be sent to Turkey. American personnel at the U.S. missions in Baghdad and Erbil were ordered to leave the country last week, but the main group of staff remains.
The evacuation orders are likely to increase criticism of the State Department's leadership, which is accused of being caught off guard by Iran's attacks and retaliatory actions. The danger threatening American diplomatic institutions does not seem to be limited to countries located near the Persian Gulf and Israel. On March 1, the U.S. Consulate in Karachi was attacked by a large crowd, resulting in the deaths of at least ten people shot dead by police.
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