The Middle East is emerging from a third consecutive night without strikes after the American ambassador to the UN assured that Donald Trump wanted to give diplomacy a chance, causing oil prices to fall on Monday.
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“What the president is doing at the moment (…) is leaving room for negotiations. The negotiations are continuing,” Mike Waltz assured Sunday in American media, while emphasizing that Mr. Trump had not given up on the new escalation with which he threatened the Islamic Republic: he “keeps all options on the table.”
No US bombings have been reported in Iran since Friday evening, marking a pause in hostilities after two weeks of unprecedented strikes since the April ceasefire.
For its part, Iran has not claimed any attack against its Gulf neighbors, allies of Washington, and the latter have not reported any night alerts. “As our strategy is essentially based on response, we have also suspended our operations,” commented Iranian army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia.
A sign of relief, oil prices fell sharply on Monday: around 12:40 a.m., Brent from the North Sea, an international benchmark, fell by almost 5%, around $92 per barrel, after even briefly falling below the $90 mark.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), fell similarly, to around $84.
While the war has lasted for almost five months, the American press is reporting a possible lack of ammunition.
According to the New York Times, which cites two sources familiar with the matter, the government is concerned about the weakening of the stock of Patriot missile interception systems and other defensive equipment protecting countries in the region.
The American army has “everything it needs to carry out this campaign with all the required efficiency,” replied Mike Waltz, announcing the deployment of “more resources” to the Middle East.
And Donald Trump insisted to the Wall Street Journal: “We have far more ammunition than anyone in the world, and far more than we need.”
Netanyahu support
For Tehran, the United States is in a “difficult and unstable” situation and is probably looking for “a new strategy,” said Mohammad Akraminia.
Ahead of Tuesday’s visit by hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Akraminia warned the Americans: if they “allow themselves to be deceived again” by Israel and “insist on continuing the war, particularly through air strikes, it will expand geographically.”
Benjamin Netanyahu said he “fully supports the efforts” of Donald Trump to succeed in putting an end to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. “If he can get there without going back to high-intensity fighting, that’s great,” he said on Fox News on Sunday.
In the capital, Tehran, spared from bombings since the resumption of hostilities at the beginning of July, life is following its normal course, between usual traffic jams and heatwave, according to the AFP team on site.
The war in the Middle East began on February 28 with an Israeli-American bombing campaign against Iran, leaving thousands dead in the region. It also shook the world economy by blocking traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, through which a fifth of world hydrocarbon trade passed before the war.
The Islamic Republic, which blocks this strategic sea route and wants to charge for passage, announced that it had held new discussions on Friday and Saturday with Oman, whose coasts also border the strait, on its future management.
The United States resumed its blockade of Iranian ports in retaliation.
Yemeni Front
A memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 by Washington and Tehran, providing for a 60-day round of peace negotiations, shattered less than a month after its entry into force.
On the new front of the war, pitting Saudi Arabia against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, supported by Tehran, hostilities have intensified.
It was the control of the country’s skies that aroused discord on July 13: Iran had sent a plane carrying a rebel delegation to Sanaa without seeking authorization from Riyadh, contrary to custom for ten years, triggering strikes attributed to the kingdom on Sanaa airport.
In return, the Houthis attacked Saudi territory for the first time since 2022. They notably targeted oil sites on Saturday.
