Iran Refuses More Talks With US; Qatar Says No High-Level Meetings Are Taking Place

It’s Ground Hog day again but this movie isn’t funny.

Oil prices edged higher in early trading Wednesday as investors reacted to Iran’s decision not to hold direct talks with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Tuesday in Qatar. Brent crude futures rose 50 cents, or 0.69%, to $73.45 a barrel by 12:08 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 63 cents, or 0.91%, to $70.13 a barrel, Reuters reported. Iranian officials and Qatari mediators said the U.S. delegation would meet with intermediaries rather than hold direct talks with Iranian officials, the outlet said (Fox News).

Iranian clerics call for Trump’s assassination: ‘Religious duty’ to kill US president and Israeli PM ‘must not be neglected’, says Tehran’s Assembly of Experts

What is the Iranian plan or strategy?

Institute for the Study of War: Iranian officials are simultaneously employing diplomatic outreach and military coercion to pressure regional states to support a new “regional security mechanism,” likely to advance Iran’s long-standing objective of expelling the United States from the Middle East (ISW).

Trump Weighs Return to All-Out War With Iran; Staying on Diplomatic Path for Now

The Wall Street Journal’s exclusive: President Trump has weighed a return to all-out war with Iran, holding multiple conversations in recent days with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine on more strikes, but has decided to stick with diplomatic talks for now, according to U.S. officials familiar with the discussion. The conversations have centered on whether the U.S. should abandon negotiations and resume full-scale attacks on Iran, the officials said, a move some of them describe as “finishing the job.” While not making a final decision, Trump has told aides he believes another round of full-scale attacks could derail diplomacy and hurt Washington’s chances of ultimately dismantling Iran’s nuclear program. Trump also has told aides that he is fine if negotiations with Tehran blow past an Aug. 18 deadline for a nuclear deal, the officials said, a decision that gives the talks more time to work. Meanwhile, the president said he is currently satisfied with ordering one-off strikes on Iran when it violates the “memorandum of understanding,” which sparked back-and-forth fighting over the weekend that undermined a fragile ceasefire clinched two weeks ago (Wall Street Journal).