Live NewsMiddle East Conflict

The United States has reportedly agreed to a temporary lifting of sanctions on Iran’s oil sector as part of a new draft negotiation framework between Washington and Tehran, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency. The report said the latest text differs from previous proposals because it allows certain sanctions to be waived during the negotiation process itself rather than only after a final agreement is reached.

Citing a source familiar with the talks, Tasnim reported that Iran continues to insist on the complete removal of all US sanctions as a core condition for any long-term deal. Tehran has argued that sanctions relief must be guaranteed as part of Washington’s commitments under a future agreement.

However, the United States is currently offering only a temporary waiver mechanism that would remain in effect until a comprehensive and final deal is concluded, the report added.

Iran insists that the removal of all sanctions against the country must be part of the US commitments. The United States, however, has proposed a waiver of OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) sanctions until a final understanding is reached, according to Tasnim.
Earlier today, Reuters reported that Iran shared a revised offer to end the Middle East conflict, which was conveyed to the US via Pakistan.

Islamabad had hosted peace talks between Iran and US recently, which ended in stalemate. Meanwhile, Iran on Monday said that it responded to a fresh US proposal to end the war.

Meanwhile, Trump threatened “there won’t be anything left” of Iran if no peace deal is reached, as their truce came under further strain with drone attacks on US allies in the Gulf.

Washington, locked in a war with Iran since US and Israeli forces launched strikes in late February, has struggled to break an impasse in negotiations and end the conflict, which has shaken the Middle East and sent energy prices climbing.

“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”

The two sides have been communicating via mediator Pakistan but have failed to reach a lasting agreement amid a shaky temporary truce, which was tested again on Sunday by fresh strikes on Gulf nations.

Saudi Arabia reported intercepting three drones entering the country from Iraqi airspace, while the United Arab Emirates said a drone sparked a fire at its Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, one of three UAVs that entered from the “western border direction”.

– Agencies

Commercial oil stocks are falling “very fast” as Gulf supplies remain disrupted by the Middle East war, even with the release of strategic reserves by governments worldwide, the head of the International Energy Agency (IAE) said on Monday (May 18).

Fears of shortages are rising with the summer travel season approaching in the northern hemisphere. Airlines have warned of jet fuel scarcity in weeks if supply disruptions persist.

“The commercial inventories are declining ... I think it’s depleting very fast now,” Fatih Birol told journalists as he arrived for a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Paris.

“We have still several weeks but we should be aware of the fact that they’re declining rapidly,” he said, warning that “these are not endless”.

Iran has effectively halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes launched in late February, choking off oil and gas traffic and sending prices soaring.

The IEA said this month that countries are tapping into oil inventories and their strategic reserves at a “record pace” as talks to end the war founder.

US President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday that “the clock is ticking” and “there won’t be anything left” of Iran if no peace deal is reached amid a fragile truce.

The IEA has coordinated the release of 426 million barrels from emergency stocks by its 32 member countries, and said this month that around 164 million barrels have already been drawn.

Source: AFP
– Agencies
 

Iran’s top security body announced on Monday (May 18) the formation of a new body to manage the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively closed and wants to charge ships to traverse.

On its official X account, the Supreme National Security Council shared a post for the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) saying it would provide “real-time updates on the #Hormuz_Strait operations and latest developments”.

The account of the Revolutionary Guards navy shared the same post.

It was not immediately clear what the new body would do, but earlier this month, Iranian English-speaking broadcaster Press TV said it constituted a “system to exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz” and that ships passing through the strait were sent “regulations” from the email info@pgsa.ir.

Iran has largely blocked shipping through the vital strait since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on Feb 28. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since Apr 8.

Iran’s grip over the waterway has rattled global markets and given Tehran significant leverage, while the United States has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports.

In peacetime, the route accounts for roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, along with other key commodities including fertiliser.

Since the war began, Iran has repeatedly said that maritime traffic through the strait would “not return to its pre-war status” and last month it said it had received the first revenue from tolls on the waterway.

On Saturday, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, said Iran “has prepared a professional mechanism to manage traffic” through the strait, adding that it will be “unveiled soon”.

Source: AFP

– Agencies