DUBAI/TEL AVIV/WASHINGTON — US President Donald J. Trump said Iran was desperate to make a deal to end nearly four weeks of fighting, contradicting the Iranian foreign minister who said his country was reviewing a US proposal but had no intention of holding talks to wind down the conflict.

The conflicting statements came as the economic and humanitarian toll of the war mounted, with fuel shortages spreading worldwide, sending companies and countries scrambling to contain the fallout.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said while there had been no dialogue or negotiation with the US, various messages had been exchanged through intermediaries.

“Messages being conveyed through our friendly countries and us responding by stating our positions or issuing the necessary warnings is not called negotiation or dialogue,” Mr. Araghchi said in a state television interview on Wednesday.

Mr. Trump, speaking later on Wednesday at an event in Washington, said Iranian leaders “are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they’re afraid to say it because they will be killed by their own people. They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us.”

Mr. Trump has not identified who the US is negotiating with in Iran, with many high-ranking officials among the thousands of people that killed across the Middle East since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Iran has since launched strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states.

Iran’s supreme commander Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the conflict by an Israeli strike and was replaced by his son Mojtaba, who has been wounded in strikes and not been seen in any photograph or video clip since his appointment.

IMPACTS OF CONFLICT SPREAD FAR AND WIDE
The fallout from the conflict, which has caused the worst energy shock in history, has spread far beyond the region.

With the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, effectively closed, businesses from airlines to supermarkets and used car dealers are grappling with challenges including rising costs, weakening demand and disrupted supply chains. Some governments are weighing support measures last used during the COVID pandemic.

Farmers and fishers are struggling to source diesel for their tractors, and tens of millions more people will face acute hunger if the war continues into June, the World Food Programme estimates.

Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi state oil company ADNOC, described Iran’s restriction of passage through the Strait of Hormuz as “economic terrorism.”

“When Iran holds Hormuz hostage, every nation pays the ransom, at the gas pump, at the grocery store, at the pharmacy,” Mr. Al Jaber said in a speech in the US on Wednesday. “No country can be allowed to destabilize the global economy in this way. Not now. Not ever.”

A 15-point US proposal to end the conflict, sent through Pakistan to Iran, calls for reopening the Strait, removing Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium, curbing its ballistic missile program and cutting off funding for regional allies, according to three Israeli cabinet sources familiar with the plan.

The White House declined to disclose specifics of its proposal.

A senior Israeli defense official said Israel was skeptical Iran would agree to the terms, and that Israel was concerned US negotiators might make concessions. Israel also wants any agreement to preserve its option to conduct preemptive strikes, a second source said.

Additionally, Iran has told intermediaries that Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire agreement with the US and Israel, six regional sources familiar with Iran’s position said.

STOCK RALLY FADES, OIL PRICES RESUME RISE
Hopes of a resolution to the conflict that had boosted global stock markets the previous session faded on Thursday, with oil prices resuming their surge.

“Optimism regarding a ceasefire has faded,” said Tsuyoshi Ueno, senior economist at NLI Research Institute.

With stock markets weak, gas prices high and his approval ratings at an all-time low, Mr. Trump has strong incentives to find a solution before the conflict escalates further beyond his control, and ahead of November mid-term elections for Congress.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on March 20-23 found 61% of Americans disapproving of US military strikes in Iran, while 35% approved.

Exchanges of missiles and drones across the Gulf continued on Thursday.

The Israeli military said it had completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in several areas across Iran, after another wave of attacks on Wednesday. It later said it identified missiles launched from Iran towards Israel.

Admiral Brad Cooper, the Central Command chief leading US forces in the Middle East, said the US had hit over 10,000 targets inside Iran and was on track to limit Iran’s ability to project power outside its borders.

Mr. Cooper said in a video briefing on Wednesday that 92% of Iran’s largest naval vessels had been destroyed and that its drone and missile launch rates were down by more than 90%. The US and Israel have damaged or destroyed two-thirds of Iran’s missile, drone and naval production facilities and shipyards, Mr. Cooper said.

The Pentagon is meanwhile planning to send thousands of airborne troops to the Gulf to give Mr. Trump more options to order a ground assault, sources have told Reuters, adding to two contingents of Marines already on their way. The first Marine unit, aboard a huge amphibious assault ship, could arrive around the end of the month.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned: The “world is staring down the barrel of a wider war” in the region.

“It is time to stop climbing the escalation ladder — and start climbing the diplomatic ladder,” he said at the UN headquarters in New York. — Reuters

PARIS/STOCKHOLM — Petrol price spikes triggered by the war in Iran are boosting used electric vehicle (EV) sales across Europe, online car platforms told Reuters, in an early sign that pain at the pump is pushing consumers away from combustion engines.

“There is currently an electric car bonanza in the used market,” said Terje Dahlgren, an analyst at Norway’s largest used-car marketplace Finn.no, adding that EVs have recently overtaken diesel models as the site’s best-selling fuel type.

The war, which erupted on Feb. 28, has disrupted a vital shipping route that carries roughly 20% of global oil supplies.

That has fed straight through to filling-station prices, with the average cost of petrol in the European Union rising 12% to €1.84 ($2.12) per liter from Feb. 23 to March 16, European Commission data show.

French online used-car retailer Aramisauto said its share of EV sales almost doubled from the week starting Feb. 16 to the week starting March 9, rising to 12.7% from 6.5%.

Majority-owned by automaker Stellantis, the company saw a similar shift in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine and energy prices jumped, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Romain Boscher said.

“As soon as you pass €2 (per liter of petrol), it makes a lasting impression on people’s minds,” he said. “We are seeing a significant rise in interest on the website, translating into orders for EVs and hybrids.”

Over the same three weeks, petrol models on Aramisauto fell to 28% of sales from 34%, while diesels dropped to 10% from 14%.

If US and European fuel prices remain high, new-car buyers are also expected to gravitate towards EVs and hybrids.

EV makers are already highlighting the cost of petrol in their marketing. In France, MG, owned by China’s SAIC, is running social media ads declaring “it may be time to rethink the way you drive.”

Consumers appear to be responding.

Amsterdam-based Olx said customer inquiries for EVs have jumped across its marketplaces in France (50%), Romania (40%), Portugal (54%) and Poland (39%), with growth “accelerating consistently week-over-week across all markets.”

“What’s particularly telling is that EV interest was already trending upward before recent events,” Olx CEO Christian Gisy said. “The instability appears to have accelerated a transition that was already underway.”

Europe’s used EV landscape has also broadened. A wider range of models and the spread of battery-health certificates have helped address buyer concerns about secondhand EVs, supporting sales even before the war began.

‘LOOKING FOR MORE FUEL-EFFICIENT ALTERNATIVES’
Used EV sales tend to react quickly to shifts in sentiment or sharp moves in petrol prices because they are up to 40% cheaper than new models and readily available to drive off the lot, unlike new cars that often take months to deliver.

“Considering the lead time of a vehicle purchase, we expect this momentum to continue as the market fully absorbs the impact of recent global events,” said Alastair Campbell, vice-president of growth at British automotive data firm Marketcheck.

Data provided to Reuters by Marketcheck show a “clear and sustained escalation” in used EVs sales since the war began.

In the Nordics, the largest used-car websites — all owned by Norway’s Vend — are also seeing a jump sharp rise in EV sales.

At Swedish platform Blocket, EV sales rose 11% in the first two weeks of March versus the previous two weeks, while views of EV models increased 17%.

“We see a clear shift where more people are actively looking for more fuel-efficient alternatives,” Blocket car expert Marcin Stepman said.

Denmark shows a similar pattern. Local used car platform Bilbasen has reported rising searches for EVs, with car analyst Jan Lang citing higher petrol prices as the main driver.

In Germany, mobile.de, the country’s largest online car market, said the share of EV searches on its website has tripled since the start of March — from 12% to 36% — while car dealers have received 66% more enquiries for used EVs than in February.

“Currently, high gasoline prices are leading to an increasing demand for electromobility,” mobile.de said. — Reuters

TAIPEI — Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo on Thursday says the next arms sale package from the United States is on track after the government received a letter of guarantee from Washington, even as the US and Chinese leaders prepare to meet in May.

A major US arms package for Taiwan worth about $14 billion that includes advanced interceptor missiles is ready for US President Donald J. Trump’s approval and could be signed after his upcoming trip to China, Reuters reported this month, citing sources briefed on the discussion.

But Mr. Trump has postponed that trip, originally scheduled for early April, due to the Middle East war, and is now due in Beijing on May 14-15.

Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, is sure to be a topic, especially after Chinese President Xi Jinping told Mr. Trump in a call last month that the US must “carefully” handle arms sales to the democratically governed island.

Asked by reporters at Taiwan’s parliament whether the Trump-Xi meeting would impact US arms sales, Mr. Koo said the government had already received a letter of guarantee indicating the US is willing to authorize the next deal.

“We have also been in close communication with the US Department of War’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency regarding its willingness to provide and sell this to us, including guidance concerning the items, the amount, and the transaction,” he added, without offering details.

The package is still undergoing an internal US review and Taiwan has not received any notification about delays, Mr. Koo said.

The US State Department, which generally handles queries about government policy towards Taiwan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China has repeatedly demanded Washington to end arms sales to Taipei, the last of which in December was worth $11 billion, the largest ever for Taiwan.

Taiwan’s opposition-dominated parliament is continuing to debate President Lai Ching-te’s $40 billion in extra defense spending, though it has already authorized the government to sign US agreements for four arms sales packages worth some $9 billion before the budget is passed.

Mr. Koo said the government was talking to the US about possibly deferring payment or reducing the initial payment given he could not predict when parliament may approve the funds.

The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer and weapons supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, and is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

Taiwan has faced stepped-up Chinese military pressure in recent years, including war games. — Reuters