Oil back at $100 amid conflicting claims on US-Iran talks (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Israel is aware that preparations are underway for direct talks between the US and Iran, Axios journalist Barak Ravid has reported, citing sources in the Israeli government. Shortly afterwards, Ravid added that US Vice President JD Vance spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a potential deal with Iran.

However, Trump’s claim that “contacts are progressing,” and that Washington and Tehran have reached agreement on certain points took the Israelis by surprise, he added. Iran still maintains that no discussions have taken place.

”Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors,” Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on social media. “All Iranian officials stand firmly behind their supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved.”

READ MORE: Trump calls off strikes on Iranian energy

Türkiye, Pakistan, and Egypt have been shuttling messages between Washington and Tehran over the past two days, Axios has reported, citing an American source. The three countries’ foreign ministers have reportedly held separate talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on ending the war and “resolving all outstanding issues.” Tehran insists there is “no dialogue” with Washington, saying Trump’s claims are aimed at lowering energy prices and buying time for military plans. 

Oil prices nosedived following Trump’s remarks on Monday, with Brent dropping from an intraday high of $113 a barrel to as low as $96 before rebounding to around $102.

Netanyhau just released a video statement, announcing that he has spoken to Trump about “an agreement” with Iran “that protects our vital interests.”

According to the Israeli PM, Trump “believes that there is a chance to leverage the massive achievements of the IDF and the US military in order to achieve the goals of the war through an agreement.”

Israel will “protect our vital interests in every situation,” and “is continuing to strike, in Iran and in Lebanon,” he added.

Iran will not lay mines in the Persian Gulf, as it already “has taken initiative in the Persian Gulf region and the territorial waters of Oman, and skillfully and powerfully controls the Strait of Hormuz,” Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari has announced.

Zolfaghari said that Iran will continue to “use all available means to ensure security” in the region. Separately, an Iranian official told Al Jazeera that the idea of mining the strait remains on the table in Tehran.

Saeed Jalili, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, has ridiculed Trump’s suggestion that the US president could “jointly control” the Strait of Hormuz with “the next Ayatollah.”

“This is the very definition of a retreat,” Jalini declared, concluding that “Iran’s power has brought the United States to the table of realities.” Jalini’s tweet included the hashtag “TACOTrump,” an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out,” commonly used by his political opponents in Washington.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) claims it’s attacked more than 9,000 targets in Iran and damaged or destroyed 140 Iranian vessels since February 28.

Despite Trump’s comments that talks are underway with Iran to halt hostilities, CENTCOM said that attacks on the Islamic Republic continue.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken with his counterparts in Oman, South Korea, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan.

He discussed recent US-Israeli attacks on provinces adjacent to the Caspian Sea with Azerbaijani minister and “warned of the security and environmental consequences”, according to IRNA news agency.

During the call with South Korean counterpart, Araghchi discussed the economic impacts of the Strait of Hormuz closure.

Iran sees “no need” to lay mines in the Persian Gulf, a spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement published by IRIB state television.

”The armed forces ... are capable of ensuring the security of the Persian Gulf, and extra-regional countries have no right to intervene in this area,” he said.

UK destroyer has now arrived in the eastern Mediterranean and is ready to “begin operational integration into Cyprus’s defences”, according to the UK’s Defence Ministry.

Britain’s HMS Dragon departed from the UK on March 11 and is assigned the mission of defending a British airbase in Cyprus, which has recently been targeted by an Iranian-made drone.

”Royal Air Force Typhoons and F-35 jets continued their defensive missions overnight including over Cyprus, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain,” the ministry added.

An Israeli air strike in Tyre, a city in southern Lebanon, targeted a civil defense ambulance, resulting in the death of one medic, according to Al Jazeera.

Four others are wounded.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2 have displaced more than 1.16 million people, according to the country’s authorities. At least 1,039 people have since been killed.