Bloomberg
“EU Fights to Keep Iran Nuclear Deal Alive After Trump’s Exit.”
Donald Trump didn’t kill the Iran nuclear deal. He just shrank its membership by one.
That was the line taken by the European Union immediately after the U.S. president announced his withdrawal from the 2015 accord. Germany, France and the U.K. all said they’ll stick to their commitments. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he wants to see them deliver.
“I don’t trust these three countries either,” Khamenei said on his website. “If you want to have a deal, we need practical guarantees otherwise they will do the same as the U.S. If they can’t give definitive guarantees, it won’t be possible to continue.”
But it’s not clear whether the EU, China and Russia will be able to ensure Iran receives the promised economic benefits — including free access to international oil markets and accelerating flows of trade and investment — that persuaded the Islamic Republic’s leaders to sign up to an agreement capping its nuclear program.
Before Trump’s announcement Tuesday that he’ll pull the U.S. out of the deal, Western businesses had already been reluctant to take the plunge into a country still subject to multiple curbs imposed by Washington. The exit throws billions of dollars of European investments that had been planned into disarray. President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will push to make the deal work but may step up uranium enrichment again if the efforts of the remaining parties don’t yield tangible results.
Oil rebounded to trade at the highest level since 2014 with the sanctions aimed at cutting exports from OPEC’s third-largest producer. Brent for July settlement climbed as much as 3.1 percent to $77.20 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange and was 2.9 percent higher at 12:46 p.m. in the British capital.
Reuters
“Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen fire missiles at Saudi capital.”
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at the Saudi capital on Wednesday – an attack Saudi authority said they intercepted in the skies over the city.
The assault comes a day after Saudi Arabia’s top ally the United States pulled out of an international deal with Iran over its disputed nuclear program and could signal an uptick in tensions between regional rivals Riyadh and Tehran.
The Houthis said the missiles were launched at economic targets in Riyadh, the group’s al-Masirah TV reported. At least four blasts were heard in the city center, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The Houthis have fired a series of missiles into neighboring Saudi Arabia in recent months, part of a three-year-old conflict in Yemen widely seen as a proxy battle between the Saudis and Iran.
A spokesman for the Houthi-aligned military Colonel Aziz Rashed told al-Masirah TV channel that the attack on the capital and another area marked “a new phase” and was revenge for Saudi air strikes on Yemen. “There will be more salvos until this enemy is deterred, understands the meaning of the Yemeni threat and ceases its crimes,” Rashed said. He did not mention U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision, hours earlier, to pull out of the international nuclear accord with Iran. But there have been fears the U.S. pull-out could exacerbate the conflict in Yemen and other regional flashpoints.
BBC News
“North Korea frees three US detainees ahead of Trump summit.”
North Korea has freed three US citizens from prison, according to a tweet from US President Donald Trump. It is viewed as a goodwill gesture ahead of a historic summit between Mr Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
Mr Trump said he would greet the men when they return with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been in Pyongyang to arrange the planned talks. Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chu were able to «walk on the plane without assistance», the White House said. They had been jailed for anti-state activities and placed in labour camps.
Mr Trump announced the release of the men in a tweet on Wednesday. «They seem to be in good health,» he wrote, adding that a date and location had been set for talks after Mr Pompeo held a «good meeting» with Kim Jong-un. Reporters travelling with Mr Pompeo said their meeting lasted about 90 minutes, and the flight carrying the three Americans departed less than an hour after they were released.
«We made substantial progress and agreed to further co-operate in jointly planning the summit,» a US official on the trip told reporters. «We also agreed to meet again in person to finalise the details.»
In a later statement, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that Mr Trump «appreciates» the move and «views this as a positive gesture of goodwill».
Bloomberg
“Oil Jumps, Treasury Yield Tops 3% as Stocks Climb: Markets Wrap.”
Oil rallied after President Donald Trump’s decision to walk away from a nuclear deal with Iran, while the dollar slipped and 10-year Treasury yields topped 3 percent ahead of a key bond auction.
The S&P 500 Index gained after advances in Europe led by energy stocks. West Texas oil reversed Tuesday’s slump to briefly trade above $71 per barrel as the market came to terms with a U.S. message that buyers of Iranian crude have six months to curb their purchases. A gauge of currencies in developing economies erased its gains for the year before the greenback gave up an earlier advance to trade slightly lower. The pound strengthened.
The threat of increased geopolitical tension in the Middle East is buffeting global sentiment just as concern spreads over the implications of higher Treasury yields and recent dollar strength. Wednesday brings with it a $25 billion auction of 10-year U.S. notes, with investors waiting to see if the new bonds will carry a 3 percent coupon for the first time in almost seven years.
Elsewhere, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell. Indonesia’s rupiah fell to a two-year low on worries about capital outflows from emerging markets. Turkey’s lira gained after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a meeting to discuss issues including the exchange rate, fueling speculation that authorities may take measures to stem a market rout