Oil Prices Climb as Iran Stops Negotiations With America

Tehran and Washington trade strikes in the Middle East.

American sailors carry chocks and chains on the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East last week. Photo: U.S. Navy

Negotiations to end the conflict with Iran hit a speed bump Monday when the Islamic Republic stopped indirect talks with the United States over Israel’s further incursions into Lebanon to combat Tehran-backed Hezbollah forces.

“No dialogue will take place” until Israel withdraws completely from Lebanon and ends attacks in Lebanon and Gaza, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-backed Tasnim News Agency said. “Also, the resistance front and Iran have resolved to completely block the Strait of Hormuz and activate other fronts including the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, in order to punish the Zionists and their supporters,” Tasnim added. The latter strait is a chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and, like Hormuz, an important trade route.