*Reuters: 50 days of war led to loss of $50bn worth of oil
*Tehran rejects new talks after Trump threat
*US seizes Iranian ship trying to pass naval blockade
*American team heads to Pakistan for fresh talks
*Netanyahu: War not over yet
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
US President Donald Trump yesterday renewed his threat to “knock out” Iran’s power plants and bridges, unless the Iranian regime reaches a deal to end the war, however revealing that he was sending representatives back to Pakistan for further peace talks. The US delegation is expected to arrive this evening, according to Trump.
In a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform, the US president, who responded directly to Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz again, which included some attacks on shipping, said many of the attacks were aimed at “a French Ship” and a UK “Freighter”.
Trump had earlier claimed, in another post at the weekend, that Iran had agreed to never close the strait again. But in the new post, Trump claimed that the US “loses nothing” from the closure of the strait, but said Iran was losing millions of dollars.
Recall that the American president had warned Iran that the US would bomb its power plants before in the conflict, before finding ways to back down from the threat. Striking power infrastructure is also widely condemned by the international community and considered to be a breach of international law, Sky News reported.
Trump’s latest post ended with the all-caps message, stressing that: “It’s Time for The Iran Killing Machine to End!”
The president’s latest intervention has been markedly more aggressive than his first reaction to Iran’s closure of the strait. On Saturday, the US president appeared to shrug it off, saying Iran “got a little cute as they have been doing for 47 years”. But he also stressed that both sides “have very good conversations going on”.
“They wanted to close up the strait again, as they’ve been doing for years, they can’t blackmail us,” Trump said on Saturday.
“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz – A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it? My representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan – They will be there tomorrow evening, for negotiations.
“Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our blockade has already closed it. They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 million a day! The United States loses nothing.
“ In fact, many ships are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be “the tough guy!” We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran.
“No More Mr. Nice Guy! They’ll come down fast, they ‘ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the deal, it will be my honour to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. It’s Time For The Iran Killing Machine to End,” Trump wrote.
Report: World Lost over $50bn Worth of Oil to War
Also, a report has said that the world lost over $50 billion worth of crude oil that has not been produced since the Iran war began nearly 50 days ago and the aftershock of the crisis will be felt for months and even years to come.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday the Strait of Hormuz was open following a ceasefire accord agreed in Lebanon, while Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come “soon”, though the timing remains unclear.
Since the crisis began at the end of February, more than 500 million barrels of crude and condensate have been knocked out of the global market, according to Kpler data – the largest energy supply disruption in modern history, Reuters reported.
Put differently, 500 million barrels of oil lost to the market is equivalent to:nCurtailing aviation demand globally for 10 weeks; no road travel by any vehicle globally for 11 days; or no oil for the global economy for five days, said Iain Mowat, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
It’s also nearly a month of oil demand in the United States, or more than a month of oil for all of Europe, according to Reuters estimates. It could also be compared to roughly six years of fuel consumption for the U.S. military, based on annual usage of about 80 million barrels from fiscal year 2021 or enough fuel to run the world’s international shipping industry for around four months, the report showed.
Gulf Arab countries lost about 8 million barrels per day of crude production in March, nearly equivalent to the combined production of Exxon Mobil and Chevron, two of the biggest oil companies in the world.
Jet fuel exports from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman fell from about 19.6 million barrels in February, to just 4.1 million barrels for March and April so far combined, according to Kpler data. The loss in exports would have been enough for around 20,000 round-trip flights between New York’s JFK airport and London Heathrow, according to Reuters estimates.
With crude prices averaging around $100 a barrel since the conflict began, those missing volumes represent roughly $50 billion in lost revenues, said Johannes Rauball, a senior crude analyst at Kpler. That equates to a 1 per cent cut in Germany’s annual gross domestic product, or roughly the entire GDP of smaller countries such as Latvia or Estonia.
Even as Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi said the Strait of Hormuz was open, recovery of output and flows is expected to be slow. Global onshore crude inventories have fallen by about 45 million barrels so far in April, according to Kpler. Since late March, production outages have reached roughly 12 million bpd.
Trump: US Navy Seized Iranian Vessel in Blockade Standoff
In the meantime, Trump said Sunday that US forces fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after it tried to get past the US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman.
“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump wrote in a post.
“The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel,” he stated.
Trump’s announcement comes as he accused Iran of violating the current ceasefire agreement with its actions in the vital waterway. Tehran has once again blocked the passage of most ships through the strait, alleging US “breaches of trust.”
Tehran Rejects New Talks After Trump Threat
Also, Iran has rejected holding a second round of talks with the US, despite Trump suggesting direct talks would be held in Pakistan tomorrow (today). He was planning to send JD Vance, his vice president, to lead the negotiations.
Trump also renewed his threat to “knock out” Iran’s power plants and bridges unless the Iranian regime reaches a deal to end the war. The end of the ceasefire is approaching fast, with Trump warning he may not extend it beyond Wednesday.
Iran has accused the US blockade, which began on Monday, of violating the two-week ceasefire agreement between the two countries.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf described the blockade as “a foolish and stupid decision”. The blockade is against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
The US military has previously warned any ships attempting to get past the blockade would be boarded and seized.
Netanyahu: War Not Over Yet
Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israel’s conflict with Iran is far from finished. The two countries are currently observing a ceasefire as part of an agreement between the US and Iran, while Israel has also agreed to a 10-day truce in Lebanon.
But, speaking during the visit of Argentina’s President Javier Milei to Jerusalem, Israel’s prime minister said his country remained alert to changes in the current agreement.
Netanyahu said: “We have been engaged with the United States in a battle against the Great Tyranny of Iran, which terrorises the world, which seeks our destruction and seeks to bring down the United States, seeks to bring down Western civilisation as we know it.
“We have achieved enormous things. It’s not over yet. And any moment could bring us new developments.”
US Negotiators to Head to Pakistan Today
President Trump said U.S. negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran, raising hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday, even as Washington and Tehran remain in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.
But several hours later, Iran had not confirmed that it would attend. Its chief negotiator, parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in an interview aired on state television late Saturday that “there will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy,” while acknowledging that a wide gap remained between the sides.
Host Pakistan also did not confirm a second round, but authorities began tightening security in Islamabad. A regional official involved in the efforts said mediators were finalising preparations, and U.S. advance security teams were on the ground. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss preparations with the media.
The White House said Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of historic face-to-face talks over 21 hours last weekend, would lead the U.S. delegation to Pakistan with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States. It was unclear whether either side had shifted stances on issues that derailed the last round of negotiations, including Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and control over the Strait of Hormuz.
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