On Telegram, Iran’s foreign minister said the US has reached out to request negotiations and that they’re looking into the request.

On the weekend, Trump said Iran could call the USA if it wanted talks, now Iran says the opposite is underway. Who knows what the truth is but Trump is holding a meeting today in the Situation Room and that’s the main event of the day.

Iran’s foreign minister Araghchi said the US has asked for negotiations because it hasn’t achieved any of its objectives on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Europe is getting increasingly impatient. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took aim at Washington’s approach to the Iran conflict, arguing the US joined the war without a defined strategy for getting out, which has complicated efforts to reach a resolution.

He cautioned that Iran is “skillfully not negotiating” and charged Tehran with outsmarting American diplomatic efforts, claiming the U.S. is being “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership. Drawing parallels to America’s earlier military involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq, Merz pointed to them as warning signs of what happens without a clear plan. Germany, he noted, stands prepared to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz through mine-clearing operations—but only once hostilities have ceased.

Reports last week said Iran was laying more mines.

As I wrote earlier today, the propaganda in this war is out of control and it’s very hard to tell what’s true and what’s not. The market is betting it will end soon but I don’t think Merz would be saying that if he thought a resolution was close and you have to imagine he’s getting all the NATO briefings, and whatever intel that Germany can muster. So I don’t take his comments as a good sign.

WTI crude is up $1.81 to $96.18 today.