IRAN: CONTROLLED EXPLOSIONS DUE TO AMMUNITION DISPOSAL BY ARMED FORCES

Iran Foreign Minister leaving Islamabad and Witkow and Kushner are heading to Islamabad

(Microsoft Teams like Meeting)

Pakistani source to Al-Arabiya: Iran FM informed us that he will return to Islamabad tomorrow (depending on how US react to the proposal he delivered to Pakistan, i guess)

Iran made no concessions. Remains firm on demands, as stated before Islamabad round of negotiations

Iranian foreign minister leaves Pakistan, expected to return Sunday or Monday: CBS

Trump cancelled Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Pakistan

(maga sources: Microsoft Teams was the reason for the trip cancellation)

Trump: I've told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, 'Nope, you're not making an 18 hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you're not going to be making any more 18 hour flights to sit around talking about nothing'.

(crypto sources are reporting that meeting was cancelled because of some (unknown-known) polymarket trades; *allegedly Eric Trump, Witkoff & Kushner needed some money to face Justin Sun (his excellency) lawsuit against World Liberty Financial)

TRUMP: President DONAKD J. TRUMP

(LOOKS LIKE TALKS FAILED

Trump told a reporter, it’s time to leave Islamabad

Pakistan Ending Islamabad's Limited Lockdown

Trump cancelled Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Pakistan

Iran FM said yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy

Netanyahu has instructed the IDF to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon with full force.

TRUMP: IRAN OFFERED A LOT BUT NOT ENOUGH

TRUMP SAYS IRANIANS ARE FIGHTING AMONG THEMSELVES AND COMPETING FOR LEADERSHIP

TRUMP: IRAN GAVE US PAPER THAT COULD'VE BEEN BETTER

IDF attacking in southern Lebanon

US COAST GUARD HAS SEIZED AN ESTIMATED $380 MILLION WORTH OF IRANIAN CRUDE OIL IN INDIAN OCEAN; APPEAR TO BE HEADING TOWARDS USA: TANKERTRACKER

* Goldman Sachs now expects US oil to trade at ~$83 a barrel in the 4Q, up from its previous $75 forecast and Brent crude to trade at about $90 vs $80

Forecast assumes a normalization in Gulf exports through the Strait of Hormuz by end-June vs mid-May previously and a slower Gulf production recovery.

GS estimates 14.5 million barrels per day of ‌Middle ⁠East crude production losses are driving global oil inventories to draw at a record 11-12 million bpd pace in April.

GS expects the global oil market to swing from a ⁠1.8 million bpd 2025 surplus to a 9.6 million bpd Q2 2026 deficit.

Global oil demand expected to fall 1.7 million bpd ⁠in Q2, 100,000 bpd in 2026 on year given jump in refined product prices.

"Because extreme inventory draws ⁠are not sustainable, even sharper demand losses could be required if the supply shock persists longer," the analysts said.

* Morgan Stanley expecting Brent futures to average $110 a barrel in the current quarter, $100 in the third, and $90 in the fourth.

* Citi also raised forecast, now expects Brent futures to average $110 a barrel in the current quarter, $95 in the third, and $80 in the fourth.

For the first time in three weeks. The Air Force (IDF) is expected to strike soon in the Lebanon Valley: i24news (israeli Media)

U.S. Blockade Pushes Iran Toward Extreme Measures to Keep Pumping Oil: WSJ

To avoid shutting down some of its production, Iran is already storing oil on floating tankers. ...The regime is using containers and “junk storage,” disused tanks in poor condition in the southern oil hubs of Ahvaz and Asaluyeh, the officials say. Iran is also trying to send oil by rail to China, said Hamid Hosseini, spokesman for Iran’s oil exporting union.

IRAN TO CHARGE SHIPS PASSING STRAIT OF HORMUZ IN RIAL: LAWMAKER- PRESSTV

Iran has presented regional mediators with a new offer to stop its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a full end to the war and a lifting of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, according to officials familiar with the matter.

White House spokeswoman declined to comment on the proposal beyond saying..... ...Trump “will only make a deal that puts the American people first, never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon,”

Iran proposed that mediators would then resolve the closure of the strait and help reach an agreement for the management of the critical waterway, the officials said. Iranian officials told mediators that Tehran still aims to have the strait under its control, and only then it would start negotiations on its nuclear program and other issues such as its funding to proxies in the region, the officials said.

However, Raz Zimmt, director of the Iran program at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said such a formula was unlikely to result in a long-term cessation of Iran's nuclear program. “It is clear to all that whatever is not resolved by the end of the war is highly unlikely to be resolved afterward.....: WSJ

Thousands of workers who lost their jobs took to the streets last week in southern China, staging daily protests to demand back pay and compensation from several toy factories that abruptly closed on April 20 as costs for plastic, which is made from oil and natural gas, surged after traffic slowed through the Strait of Hormuz....

Soaring plastic prices have become a problem for China’s toy industry, including for another cluster of manufacturers in Shantou, a city located 190 miles northeast of Hong Kong, which produces a third of the world’s toys: nyt

China’s retail car sales plunged 26% in the first 19 days of April from a year earlier,...after tax incentives expired in December, gasoline-powered cars fared worse, falling by nearly 40%....

Brent crude at highest level in three weeks

(The last time Brent traded above $110 a barrel was on April 7, before Trump’s announcement of a temporary ceasefire pushed prices down sharply. They fell to as low as $86.09 a barrel on April 17)

WTI at $99

BP Profits Double as Iran War Boosts Oil Traders