On Thursday, the US military reiterated that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post, US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, said that since early May, U.S. forces have helped more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of transit the strait.
The declaration comes after the US said Iran struck three commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, reigniting fighting between the two sides amid what has been a shaky ceasefire.
The maritime journal Lloyd’s List found Thursday that strait traffic has “fallen sharply” since the two sides began exchanging strikes Tuesday.
The U.S. official said the 60-day ceasefire signed last month between the U.S. and Iran is performance-based, and Iran’s actions in those strikes “failed performance at an unacceptable level.”
According to the U.S. official, however, “technical talks” between the two sides are continuing. When asked about the ceasefire on Wednesday, Mr. Trump had said that “as far as I’m concerned, it’s over.” The president also said peace negotiations would continue, claiming that Iran “wants to make a deal so badly.”
The U.S. official also reaffirmed Thursday the U.S. position that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
The state funeral for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ended, Iranian state media said late Thursday local time.
Khamenei was laid to rest in the northeast Iranian city of Mashhad after a multiday state funeral in which his coffin was transported around the country so tens of thousands of mourners could pay their respects.
Trump has insisted that Iran is desperate to make a deal with the U.S. to end the war, despite the recent escalation in hostilities between the two sides, with the president saying overnight that Tehran had called him over peace efforts.
Speaking aboard Air Force One last night, Trump insisted that Iran “wanna make a deal so badly,” even after Washington accused Tehran of launching attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a back-and-forth series of attacks from both sides. “They called a little while ago,” he said.
“I just don’t know that they’re worthy of making a deal. I don’t know that they’re going to honor the deal,” Trump continued. “That’s the problem.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said his country was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, vowing to do so “with even greater force.”
The latest remarks came as new fighting erupted between the United States and Iran, raising fears of a return to full-scale war after an April ceasefire and a U.S.-Iran agreement in June to end hostilities.
“The army is ready and on alert for a resumption of fighting, in order to regain air superiority and strike again … in Iran, to eliminate threats, including a third time if necessary,” Katz said at a military ceremony.
“If we have to go back, we will go back, with even greater force,” he added.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had been weakened by the two previous military campaigns Israel launched against it.
But he also acknowledged that the conflict was not yet over.
“The Iranian axis is weaker than ever before, while Israel is stronger than ever before,” Netanyahu said.
“We proved that the long arm of the Israeli Air Force can reach anywhere, from Yemen to Iran,” he added. “Yet we must also acknowledge that the campaign is not over.”
However, such geopolitical developments resulted in the price of oil surging more than 4% yesterday after Trump said the U.S. ceasefire deal with Iran was “over” and that the U.S. was planning additional strikes.
The price of U.S. crude oil jumped as high as $76 per barrel in the wake of Trump’s comments, its largest one-day increase since the beginning of June. It closed the day higher by 4.4% at $73.52 per barrel, bringing its two-day gain to more than 7%.
International oil benchmark also spiked, rising as high as $80 per barrel, but finished the day at $78.02, up 5.2%.
On Friday, moved little and were headed for weekly losses as a flare-up in U.S.-Iran military action spurred concerns over higher inflation and interest rates.
and prices were also set to drop this week, as oil prices rose and steadied from last week’s losses.
steadied at $4,125.03 an ounce, while gold futures fell 0.1% to $4,135.67/oz by 22:11 ET (02:11 GMT).
Spot gold was trading down about 1.6% this week.
On evaluating the movements of the gold futures on different time pattern charts, I find that the gold futures are breathing slowly due to surging bearish pressure as the fragile peace deal is in a “Catch-22” position, resulting in the overstretching of the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
While the Iranian Prime Minister Netanyahu looks too eager to deviate from U.S. President Trump in delaying a peace deal with Iran by making excuses one after another, despite providing a 60-day roadmap.
Technical Levels to Watch
On a daily chart, after opening the day at $4,132.70, tested the day’s high at $4,144.47, and day’s low at $4,117.30, gold futures are trading at $4,121.84, signaling a surge in bearish pressure, as trading below the significant support at the 9 EMA ($4,127), which is already below the 20 EMA ($4,171), and both the exponential moving averages have already pierced the key support at the 200 EMA ($2,322), and have formed a “Bearish Crossover” on daily charts.
Moreover, the 50 EMA ($4,332) has also pierced the 100 EMA ($4,437), and after forming a “Bearish Crossover”, the 50 EMA looks ready to pierce the 200 EMA, which will trigger a strong sell-off in today’s session within the next few hours.
Disclaimer: Readers are advised to take any position in gold at their own risk, as this analysis is based solely on observations.
