• OIL PRICE SURGE: Brent crude oil prices, the global benchmark, surged above $125 per barrel Thursday morning after setting a new wartime high, as US President Donald Trump lays the groundwork for an extended blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s oil minister, meanwhile, urged Iranians to cut consumption.
• DEFECNCE HEARING: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed opposition to the Iran war during a congressional hearing Wednesday, describing lawmakers who criticize the effort as “the biggest adversary.” The hearing marks the first time he has testified since the conflict began and comes as the White House seeks roughly $1.5 trillion for its defense budget.
• PEACE TALKS II: Pakistan could receive Iran’s revised peace proposal by Friday, sources say, as Trump responded to the current deadlock in peace talks by warning Iran “better get smart soon,” posting a mocked-up image of himself holding a gun on his Truth Social platform.
•TRUMP-PUTIN CALL: Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the Iran ceasefire and other topics in a 1.5-hour call. Trump said afterward that Putin had offered to help with Iran’s uranium stockpiles, and the president also told CNN the Ukraine and Iran wars could end “on a similar timetable
• IRANIANS TO CUT OIL CONSUMPTION: Tehran’s oil minister urged the public to cut consumption, calling “conservation and saving” a “religious duty” as he dismissed the impact of the US naval blockade.
• US TROOPS IN GERMANY: Trump said the US is considering reducing the number of troops in Germany, one day after he pushed back against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s comments that the US was “being humiliated” by Iran.
• PEACE TALKS I: US President Donald Trump does not appear open to Iran’s proposal to end the war, sources said. The proposal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz but leave questions about Tehran’s nuclear program for later negotiations. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously gave Pakistan a list of “red lines” to be conveyed to the US, according to state media.
• IRAN’S DIPLOMATIC PUSH: Russia’s Vladimir Putin said he received a message last week from Iran’s new supreme leader, who has not been seen since he was announced as his late father’s successor. Putin made the remarks in a meeting with Araghchi in Russia, where they discussed the war.
• US HUMIALATED: Germany’s leader Friedrich Merz said the US is “being humiliated” by Iran, as he criticized Washington’s attempts to extricate itself from the war.
Oil prices surge to highest level since 2022 as Trump mulls Iran blockade extension:
Oil prices surpassed $126 a barrel on Thursday morning, its highest price since 2022, as President Donald Trump mulls an extended blockade of Iranian ports.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up more than 12% overnight into Thursday, before paring some gains to trade at $124 as of 2:28 am Thursday. WTI crude, the US benchmark, was up more than 3%, surpassing $110 per barrel.
The latest surge comes as the national average US gas price reached a four-year high of around $4.23, according to AAA data, as a result of the skyrocketing energy prices triggered by the US-Iran war, which has driven prices up more than 27%.
Global crude prices have risen in recent days as face-to-face negotiations between the US and Iran broke down, keeping the Strait of Hormuz – a critical oil and gas shipping channel – effectively shut still.
With energy supplies strained, China says it found more than 200 new oil and gas fields:
China has found 225 new oil and gas fields within its borders over the past five years, Beijing officials said Thursday, a potential boost as the world is battered by energy shortages and cost increases.
Among the newly discovered sites are 13 oil fields holding more than 100 million tons and 26 gas fields with reserves exceeding 100 billion cubic meters, the Natural Resources Ministry said.
Though it didn’t specify how much of that fossil-fuel bounty is currently available, it said the country’s natural gas production could increase year by year and oil production was holding steady at 200 million tons per year, “thanks to the significant increase in the newly discovered energy reserves.”
Officials vowed to “resolutely safeguard our energy security,” and push ahead with oil and gas exploration.
The ministry said it has invested over 450 billion yuan ($66 billion) to almost double China’s known crude oil and natural gas reserves, compared with a decade ago.
The move comes as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint in the transit much of the world’s oil, has led to a global energy shortage.
China is the world’s biggest energy importer. It imports around 10% of its oil from Iran and so isn’t insulated from the shocks. But it is so far faring better than most major economies due to a long-running energy self-reliance drive.
Iran “will not tolerate” blockade extension, top military adviser says:
Mohsen Rezaei, the senior military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iran “will not tolerate” an extension of the US’s naval blockade, according to state media.
“If the blockade continues, Iran will respond,” Rezaei said in a televised interview, Iran state broadcaster IRIB reported early Thursday.
“Such a blockade has essentially achieved nothing and they have not been able to enforce it. The Indian Ocean is extremely vast, and we can easily pass through it; we have already done so,” Rezaei added.
His comments came as US President Donald Trump mulls an extended blockade of Iranian ports.
Rezaei also urged the public not to listen to rumors about status of Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard from since he was announced as Iran’s new supreme leader more than six weeks ago.
“The Supreme Leader is young, healthy, and energetic, and is managing the affairs of the country,” Rezaei said, according to IRIB.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the US “has indications” that Khamenei is still alive, though he said it’s not clear how much credibility the new supreme leader has in Iran.
Iran’s revised peace proposal could come by Friday. Here’s what Trump is saying:
All eyes are on Tehran as the United States awaits Iran’s revised peace proposal, which could come by Friday, according to sources familiar with the mediation.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that negotiations to end the war with Iran are happening “telephonically” because “we’re not flying anymore” for 18-hour flights to Islamabad after the first round of in-person talks ended without a deal, and the second ended up canceled.
Trump said his response to any proposal from Iran will depend on how far they go on its nuclear program, saying “there will never be a deal unless they agree that there will be no nuclear weapons.”
Remember, Iran’s earlier proposal, which Trump rejected, called for ending the war first and dealing with Iran’s nuclear weapons at a later stage.
