Oil prices hit two-week lows on Monday on optimism that the U.S. and Iran were moving closer towards a peace deal even though they remained at odds over key issues, including blockades on the Strait of Hormuz that continued to restrict oil supply from the Middle East. Brent crude futures fell $4.71, or 4.55%, to $98.83 a barrel by 2234 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was at $92.03 a barrel, down $4.57, or 4.73%. Both contracts touched their lowest since May 7 earlier in the [Read more]

U.S. lawmakers appearing on Sunday morning talk shows split sharply over a potential deal to end the Iran war, with Republicans mostly backing the publicly reported contours of an agreement being negotiated by President Donald Trump and Democrats dismissing it as accomplishing little. * Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the reported outlines of a deal sounded like little more than "the pre-war status quo" with Iran. "I [Read more]

Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Sunday that managing the Strait of Hormuz was Tehran's "legal right" in order to ensure national security. "Iran's management of Hormuz Strait ends 50 years of insecurity in the Persian Gulf," Iranian news agencies quoted Rezaei as saying. (Reporting by Hatem Maher and Muhammad Al Gebaly Editing by Bernadette Baum) [Read more]

A potential deal between Iran and the United States stipulates that the number of ships able to transit the Strait of Hormuz would return to the pre-war level within 30 days, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency. The naval blockade must be completely lifted within 30 days according to a memorandum of understanding, Tasnim said, adding that part of Iran's frozen funds must be released in the first phase. (Reporting by Elwely Elwelly; Editing by William Mallard) [Read more]

A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday that Tehran has not agreed to hand over its highly enriched uranium stockpile. The source said Iran's nuclear issue was not part of the preliminary agreement with the United States. "The nuclear issue will be addressed in negotiations for a final agreement and are therefore not part of the current deal. There has been no agreement over Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile to be shipped out of the country," said the source. (Reporting by [Read more]

The Strait of Hormuz would remain under Iran's management according to the latest exchanged text between Iran and the U.S., Iran's Fars news agency reported on Sunday. It dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of reopening the strait as part of a "largely negotiated" deal as "incomplete and inconsistent with reality." (Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din) [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal has been "largely negotiated" with Iran and will open the Strait of Hormuz, with details to be unveiled soon. "Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly," Trump wrote on Trump Social. Trump posted the announcement after separate calls with the leaders of Muslim majority nations and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reporting by Ryan [Read more]

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that negotiators for the United States and Iran were "getting a lot closer" to finalizing an agreement to end the war, according to an interview with CBS News. He said a final agreement would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and would ensure that Iran's enriched uranium would be "satisfactorily handled," according to CBS. "I will only sign a deal where we get everything we want," Trump was quoted as saying. Iran, the United States and [Read more]

Iran said on Saturday that any mechanism concerning the Strait of Hormuz should be agreed between Iran, Oman and the countries bordering the waterway, and that the United States "has nothing to do" with it. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei also said Iran was focused on finalising a memorandum of understanding through Pakistani-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington, according to Iran's state media. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom Editing by Tomasz Janowski) [Read more]

BP said on Friday its Whiting refinery returned to the bargaining table with the United Steelworkers Local 7-1 bargaining committee and presented a revised proposal intended to move the parties closer to an agreement. The company added that the current settlement offer includes a withdrawal of the proposed voluntary reduction of up to 42 maintenance craft employees in response to the union's concerns. BP added the proposal includes an average 13% pay increase over the first four years of a [Read more]