The talks were reportedly cancelled because Iran refused to engage in non-nuclear issues, according to Axios.
We heard earlier that talks wouldn’t be about ballistic missile stockpiles but the US seemed to accept that at the time. Evidently, they’ve had a change of heart or the reporting was wrong.
I flagged a few weeks ago that the US was demanding that Iran would limit or cut its number of ballistic missiles. From that start, that sounded like a tall (impossible?) ask. No country is going to give up its missiles and that seems like an ‘ask’ that’s framed to be rejected.
Secretary of State Rubio said earlier today that talks would need to address Iran’s ballistic missiles, its sponsorship of terrorism in the region, its nuclear program, and its treatment of its own people.
There were hints of other problems as well. Earlier this week, Iran wanted to move talks from Istanbul to Oman and make them bilateral rather than including a group of countries. The US rejected the request, saying it’s “this or nothing,” and Iran chose “nothing.”
Now we will find out how badly the US wants to negotiate or if this was all a setup for military action anyway.
WTI crude oil prices are up more than $1 so you can see which way the market is leaning. US equities are also at the lows of the day but I think that’s more about the Nasdaq finding out that not every tech company is an AI winner, though the Iran-US headlines aren’t helping.
The big question if there are attacks are around the scope, the retaliation and whether or not we get a real war.
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.