Oil prices fell Friday after Iran sent an updated peace proposal through mediators in Pakistan, even as Trump said he was not satisfied with the offer.
Oil prices fell Friday after Iran sent an updated peace proposal to mediators in Pakistan, a development that revived hopes for a possible settlement with the United States even as President Donald Trump said the offer did not meet his expectations.
U.S. crude futures were down more than 3% at $101.57 a barrel by 2:10 p.m. ET, while Brent, the international benchmark, fell about 2% to $107.98, according to the captured CNBC report. Pakistani officials confirmed to MS Now that mediators had received Iran’s updated proposal and delivered it to the United States.
Trump later told reporters at the White House that he was not satisfied with Tehran’s position. “Iran wants to make a deal, but I’m not satisfied with it,” he said. “Iran wants to make a deal because they have no military left.”
The diplomatic movement came as Trump faced a May 1 deadline under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which generally requires a president to withdraw troops within 60 days of notifying Congress of a deployment unless lawmakers authorize the military action. Congress has not authorized the Iran war, according to the report.
The U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, and Trump formally notified Congress on March 2, setting the 60-day clock in motion. The administration argued Friday that a ceasefire reached three weeks earlier had ended the relevant hostilities and therefore removed the need for congressional approval.
“For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28, have terminated,” an administration official told MS Now, according to the report. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had raised a similar argument Thursday during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, saying the ceasefire effectively paused the war.
The legal and diplomatic questions remain unsettled. Trump could seek a 30-day extension under the law but has not done so, lawmakers said in the report. At the same time, tensions remain high: Trump has vowed to keep a U.S. blockade on Iran until Tehran agrees to a nuclear deal, while Iran has refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the United States lifts its blockade of Iranian ports.
For markets, the immediate signal was relief that talks had not collapsed. The next test is whether Washington treats Iran’s updated proposal as a basis for negotiations or continues to press Tehran while asserting that the war-powers clock has stopped.
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