Featured Image Credit: Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Topics: News, US News, Donald Trump, Iran
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: News, US News, Donald Trump, Iran
Donald Trump told reporters that progress is being made by Iran as he revealed the nation gave the US a gift they accepted.
The war in Iran between Israel and the US has resulted in a lot of questions, namely when the conflict will end.
With no exact date or clear objective in sight, many remain fearful this will be another Middle Eastern conflict that will go on for years.
However, Donald Trump has insisted that progress is being made and explained how that is happening.
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Trump gave an update about the potential end of the conflict when he spoke in the White House on Tuesday (March 24).
When asked if he trusted the Iranians, the president admitted that he didn’t trust anybody but alluded to a receiving a gift from the nation and added that the US is ‘dealing with the right people’
He said: “They gave us a present, and the present arrived today. It was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. And I’m not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize.
“It was a very nice thing they did. But what it showed me is that we’re dealing with the right people.”
When asked for more detail Trump admitted that it was ‘oil and gas related’ but went no further in his explanation.
Trump also said Iran wants ‘to make a deal,’ and he claimed his team held talks with an Iranian leader.
Most interestingly, Iran has denied talks have been held.
Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf posted on X: “No negotiations have been held with the US.”
They added that ‘fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets.”
Despite the possibility of progress being made and the supposed gift being tied to oil and gas, domestic energy costs are set to remain high for many.
This is also despite the claim’s on Monday that there had been 'productive conversations' with Iran regarding a 'complete and total resolution of our hostilities'.
One of the most immediate concerns for oil and gas production across the region has been the threat of cheap Iranian Shahed drones, which cost mere thousands to make but can cause millions of dollars in damage to critical energy infrastructure from Saudi Arabia to Oman.
This has already seen major damage to key facilities in the Saudi kingdom, with two of its largest refineries being struck by Iranian drone and closed, temporarily in the case of Red Sea port Yanbu's SAMREF, while one of the largest refineries in the world, Ras Tanura, was shut for several weeks.