DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — With the ceasefire in Iran still shaky, U.S. and Iranian negotiators are heading to Pakistan for high-level talks with Iranian officials. Many issues could derail the truce and the negotiations aimed at making a broader deal to stop the fighting permanently. Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency claimed that the talks set for Saturday would not happen unless Israel stopped its attacks in Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump complained that Iran was doing “a very poor job” by not allowing the free flow of ships through the strait, through which 20% of the world’s traded oil once passed.
Israeli strike kills Lebanese security forces as Israel and Hezbollah trade fire ahead of talks
BEIRUT (AP) — Tensions have escalated between Israel and Hezbollah, with intensified attacks on Friday. At least 13 Lebanese security personnel were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed an attack on a naval base in Ashdod, Israel. The conflict has resulted in at least 1,888 deaths in Lebanon, with a particularly deadly series of strikes on Wednesday. The World Health Organization has called for the protection of Beirut’s main hospital amid evacuation warnings. Lebanon hopes for a truce, but Hezbollah supporters oppose upcoming talks with Israel, viewing them as a concession.
War in Iran sends inflation soaring and the mood of American consumers plunging
WASHINGTON (AP) — The largest monthly jump in gas prices in six decades caused a sharp spike in inflation in March, creating major challenges for the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve and heightening the political challenges of rising costs for the White House. The gas price shock stemming from the Iran war has shifted inflation’s trajectory, from a slow, gradual decline to a sharp increase further away from the Fed’s 2% target. As a result, the central bank will almost certainly postpone any cut in interest rates for months. Gas prices are also a highly visible cost that has outsize impacts on consumer confidence and political sentiment.
Stocks waver and oil prices hold steady ahead of planned US-Iran talks
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are wavering on Wall Street and oil prices are holding steady ahead of planned U.S.-Iran talks following a shaky ceasefire agreement. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% in afternoon trading Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 259 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency claimed that talks set for Saturday wouldn’t happen unless Israel stopped its attacks in Lebanon. The government reported a sharp spike in inflation in the U.S. in March because of the biggest monthly jump in gas prices in six decades, but the increase wasn’t quite as bad as economists were expecting.
