The United States is “highly unlikely” to extend the U.S.-Iran ceasefire that expires in the coming hours, U.S. President Donald Trump told Bloomberg News in a telephone interview late on Monday.
The truce announced on April 7 expires on “Wednesday evening Washington time,” according to President Trump, a day later than many analysts had assumed – Tuesday— as the end of the two-week ceasefire.
At any rate, President Trump said it was “highly unlikely that I’d extend it”, referring to the ceasefire, if no deal is reached before then.
“I’m not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world,” the President told Bloomberg News.
The U.S. will keep the naval blockade outside the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump said.
“The Iranians desperately want it opened. I’m not opening it until a deal is signed,” he noted.
Following a brief opening for a few hours on Friday, the Strait of Hormuz was closed again on Saturday after Iran linked the opening of the vital oil shipping lane to the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s First Vice President, Mohammad-Reza Aref, early on Monday, warned that security at the Strait of Hormuz comes at a cost.
“The security of the Strait of Hormuz is not free. One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” Aref wrote in a post on X.
“The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” the senior Iranian official said.
Early on Tuesday, as the two-week ceasefire is approaching its end, oil prices were slightly lower in Asian trade as the market appeared cautiously optimistic that U.S.-Iran negotiations would resume on Tuesday or Wednesday, per President Trump’s most recent comments on the status of potential talks.
The oil price action in early morning trading today reflects hopes of progress in scheduled peace talks between the US and Iran, “Too much hope, perhaps,” ING’s commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a note on Tuesday.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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