Trump said Wednesday he does not want a deal with Iran, following reports that the U.S. military is preparing for possible strikes against the country. "I think the deal isn't really something that I want to do, but they're willing to offer us anything to stop," Trump said at a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas. He added that Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, has been working on talks and "doing very well."
NBC News reported Wednesday that Trump and his national security team have discussed possibly resuming large-scale U.S. military operations in the coming weeks. Axios reported earlier that a possible resumption in armed conflict could include "massive bombing" of Iranian energy, infrastructure and nuclear targets, and that military action could influence the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections.
Trump's approval ratings have fallen to a record low amid concerns over high living costs spurred by soaring gasoline and diesel prices, according to the source material.
Earlier this week, Trump said the biggest problem for Washington was that nobody knew who was running Iran during the talks. Iranian officials rejected those claims. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeli Baghaei said the "problem is actually the opposite," pointing to "contradictory positions and mixed messaging from U.S. officials."
Crude oil prices remain elevated even as Middle East exports have been recovering to near pre-war levels. According to Kpler, combined crude volumes exiting the Gulf, excluding Iran, plus volumes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were around pre-conflict levels of 18.5 million barrels per day.
Matt Wright, lead freight analyst at Kpler, said "normalisation no longer needs to wait for a deal," forecasting "slower, uneven normalisation" under continued conflict, with traffic recovering through operational adaptation rather than waiting for a diplomatic trigger.