The US-Iran truce — agreed 60 days ago ostensibly to give room for the belligerents to agree a more durable peace — expires today, with little progress on the horizon for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The situation is “static,” a senior White House official told Politico. Iran’s foreign minister said his country had “not yet made a decision” over restarting negotiations with the US, and indeed is readying for escalation, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited Arab and Iranian officials.
Oil prices are back up above $90 a barrel over the persistent tensions. “The war in Iran has become a battle of the clocks,” a leading US analyst warned, “with each side betting the other will cave first.”