Pakistan pushes for new Iran-US talks

This was reported by the news agency DPA from Pakistani diplomatic circles. China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are also in talks with both warring parties. The countries had submitted a proposal to continue negotiations in Islamabad this week, it was said. China has reportedly advised Iran to engage in further talks. There has been no official confirmation of new negotiations to date. According to unconfirmed reports, a second meeting is on the cards for this Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Massud Peseshkian to resume peace negotiations in telephone calls. Misunderstandings must be cleared up and further escalation avoided, Macron said.

USA and Iran still far apart

At the weekend, the USA and Iran held direct talks in Islamabad mediated by Pakistan for the first time since the start of the war, which ended without any tangible results. US Vice President JD Vance nevertheless spoke afterwards of real progress. However, he believes the ball is in Iran's court to give in on the nuclear program. According to media reports, the demands of the two sides are far apart.

According to Vance, the USA is primarily concerned with two things: getting highly enriched uranium out of the country and preventing Tehran from enriching uranium again. The Iranians have approached the USA on these two points. "But they have not moved far enough," said Vance. When asked if and when further negotiations would take place, he left the question open.

The Iranian side spoke, among other things, of "excessive demands" by the USA. Iranian President Massud Peseschkian once again blamed the USA for the failure of the peace talks. Excessive demands and the "lack of political will on the part of high-ranking US officials" had prevented an agreement, Peseshkian said in a telephone conversation with French President Macron, according to a report by the state-run English-language broadcaster PressTV.

Dispute over the Strait of Hormuz

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is toughening his stance against the leadership in Tehran. He is denying passage to ships in the Strait of Hormuz if they have Iranian ports as their destination or starting point. Previously, the rulers in Tehran had already largely blocked the strait, which is important for international oil transportation. As Macron emphasized, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without conditions, controls and tolls is one of the prerequisites for the resumption of negotiations to end the war with Iran.

France and the UK organized a video conference of countries not involved in the conflict on Friday to discuss a purely defensive mission to allow free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as the security situation allows. Macron recently spoke of a good dozen countries that wanted to take part in such an initiative. It initially remained unclear who exactly would take part in the conference.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell slightly in the hope of an agreement between the USA and Iran. In the morning, a barrel (159 liters) of Brent crude oil from the North Sea cost 98.62 US dollars, 0.74 percent less than the previous day. The price of crude oil from the USA fell even more sharply. Here the price fell by 1.72 percent to 97.38 dollars in the morning.

World Bank warns of negative consequences of the war

World Bank Executive Director Paschal Donohoe warned of the loss of millions of jobs and more difficult access to food in emerging and developing countries as a result of the Iran war. "We are very concerned about the impact this conflict could have on food availability and prices," the former head of the Eurogroup told the German Press Agency. According to the United Nations World Food Program, up to 45 million additional people could go hungry by mid-2026 because of the war.

According to Donohoe, up to 15 million jobs could also be lost as a result of the Middle East conflict. "Every day that the conflict continues brings us closer to the upper end of our damage forecasts," he said.

Donohoe: Before inflation is after inflation

Emerging and developing countries would have to brace themselves for an additional inflation shock of up to almost four percent. Many countries that had only just recovered from the last rise in inflation are now once again confronted with a drastic inflation rate, said Donohoe. The reason for this is rising inflation as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has led to a collapse in the supply of raw materials.

In the short term, the World Bank is in a position to support affected governments with 20 to 25 billion US dollars, said the former Irish Finance Minister. The funds for stabilizing households and securing basic supplies would have to be redistributed from other investments.