Speculation Continues Over US Response To Iranian JCPOA Comments

Oil markets have been in flux this afternoon as conflicting information on the US response to Iranian comments have hit newswires.

• Markets reacted to a tweet from Al-Arabiya which claimed that the US had rejected all Iranian demands. Al-Arabiya: "In its response, America did not accept any of Iran's additional conditions and emphasized that Iran's uranium enrichment should not exceed four percent."
• Tehran Times Journalist Saeed Azimi, a reporter with a history of useful insights into negotiations, reported contrarily: "My hearings: Iran is content with the U.S. response," and retweeted "I would take this al-arabiyah report with more than a pinch of salt."
• US National Security Spox John Kirby has just delivered a press gaggle without divulging much on the US response.
• Laura Rozen at Just Security: "Kirby confirms Iran has dropped some key demands in JCPOA negotiations. "We are closer now than we were even just a couple of weeks ago... so that's a positive step forward." Still, cautions that "a lot of gaps remain.""
• Kirby cont: “We are not going to want to negotiate this in public…we are taking this seriously…doing our homework… Lines of communication with EU open...”
• It should be noted that the US response came amid fierce petitioning from Israel to abandon negotiations. Israel PM Yair Lapid condemned the lack of IAEA oversight in the EU proposal: "This agreement endangers the independence of the..IAEA. It creates huge political pressure on them to close open cases without completing a professional investigation."
• Iran continues to review the US comments and hasn't formally revealed the contents of the US reply. The Foreign Ministry said earlier today: “Iran has started reviewing the US comments, and after the review Tehran will submit its views to the coordinator [the EU].”