Iran-US war live: Oil prices rise after Trump says he has offered Tehran ‘nothing’ in peace talks

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Oil prices have risen after US president Donald Trump denied he would ease sanctions on Iran in exchange for steps to rein in Tehran's nuclear programme.

Mr Trump denied Axios and CNN reports that cited US officials as saying America offered sanctions relief and to unfreeze Iranian funds. "This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING," he wrote on Truth Social.

An Iranian ​official taunted Trump by claiming that the US will “inevitably leave this region”.

Ebrahim Azizi, who heads Iran’s parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, claimed that Iran would remain in the region and that Israel’s days “are numbered”.

Another official, a spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, urged American voters to punish Trump's warmongering at the ballot box in November's midterm election.

Trump did confirm on Monday that US officials had spoken with mediators in New York, as he insisted the US will win its war in Iran “very soon”.

US and Iranian officials spoke separately with Qatari mediators this week, as Qatar continued its efforts to end the seven-month war between the two countries.

"We are exchanging messages between the parties, and we're working towards establishing a common ground in order to get into a deal that would save all of us from the repercussions of the conflict," Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told reporters.

Qatar has again emerged as a would-be peacemaker, having previously played a supporting role in producing a June memorandum of understanding that led to a brief ceasefire. Negotiations appeared to intensify during last week's UN General Assembly meeting in New York, but have so far not yielded any agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war started in February.

Oil prices rose today after President Donald Trump denied he would ease sanctions on Iran, having fallen in the previous session as crude supply from the Middle East recovered.

Brent crude futures rose $1.14, or 1.11 per cent, to $103.73 (£82) a barrel by 01.31am GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 34 cents, or 0.38 per cent, to $89.72 (£71). Brent is on course for a monthly gain of around 14 per cent, its biggest since July, while WTI is set for a 4 per cent rise after breaching $106 for the first time since May.

Mr Trump denied an Axios report that cited US officials as saying he was willing to offer Iran sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in exchange for "concrete" steps by Tehran on its nuclear programme.

"This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING," he wrote on Truth Social.

US forces have withdrawn from their remaining bases in Iraq, in a departure Tehran has celebrated as a win for its allied armed groups across the region.

The withdrawal, which took effect today, was agreed in 2024 under former president Joe Biden and comes 23 years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has urged Americans to vote out president Donald Trump's allies in Congress in November's elections.

The 26-page letter asks Americans to use their political power to remove current leaders from office and reject US support for Israel and military intervention abroad.

"Remove from power the evil, deceitful, and violent politicians who are responsible for America's current state," it said. "Make sure your politicians understand that the world has changed."

The US is believed to have committed war crimes during two military strikes in Iran this year, including a devastating attack on a primary school which killed more than 120 children, a damning UN report says.

The deadly incident took place in February this year, soon after the US-Israeli war on Iran started, and alongside another strike on a sports centre resulted in the deaths of at least 178 civilians.

The report by humans rights experts also documented the killings of thousands of anti-regime protestors across Iran, in which at least 221 children were reportedly killed, some as young as two years-old. The crackdown by Tehran amounted to crimes against humanity, the report said.

Iraqi Airways is preparing to resume flights to Iran in October, Iraq's transport ministry said on Tuesday, following ⁠a suspension of flights amid US sanctions restricting services to Iranian airlines.

The ministry said Iraq had secured a special exemption allowing Iraqi Airways to operate services ⁠to Iran.

Iraq halted flights ​to ⁠and from Iran on Friday in line with US sanctions, and the government ⁠had sought exemptions for travel related to pilgrimage, ​medical ⁠treatment and education.

The transport ‌ministry said services next month would initially operate from the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf once regulatory ‌and technical requirements were completed.

A ‌source in the Iraqi transport ministry said the exemption was provided by the US Treasury and would run ⁠for one month. The number of allowed flights has not yet been determined, the source said.

The announcement comes after Reuters reported on Monday that the Trump administration was set to grant a one-month US Treasury waiver allowing Iraqi Airways to fly ‌between Iran and Najaf, with a more ​permanent exemption potentially following.

Baghdad had offered ‌safeguards including passenger screening and ⁠information sharing, as well as measures ⁠to prevent the flights being used to transport weapons, sanctioned individuals or ‌illicit money, ​a source with direct ‌knowledge of the matter told ​Reuters.

Donald Trump taunted Iran as he labelled the Strait of Hormuz “Trump Strait” after Tehran proposed a deal to open the key waterway within a week if the US meets certain conditions.

In a post on his Truth Social platform in the early hours of Saturday, the US president shared a picture of a map, with the shipping route labelled with his own name.

It comes after Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi presented a seven-day plan involving a ceasefire to American negotiators on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week. The conditions for Washington largely echo the ones agreed to in the June deal that fell apart.

The United States ​has sanctioned ten individuals and entities, including some based in China, Hong Kong and Pakistan, which it has accused of helping Iran procure weapons and components.

The sanctions ⁠are part of the Trump administration's effort to isolate Iran economically and force it to negotiate an end to the US-Iran war that began in February.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “Treasury will not tolerate any ⁠support to the regime and ​will ⁠continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”

Treasury said the sanctions were aimed at degrading Tehran's ability to ⁠reconstitute its weapons programs, while increasing the costs for those who ​supported ⁠its procurement efforts.