Trump mulls sending second aircraft carrier
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal is not reached with Iran, even as Washington and Tehran prepared to resume talks. US and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks last week in Oman, amid a regional naval buildup by the US threatening Iran.
The date and venue of the next round of US-Iran talks have yet to be announced. “While rhetoric remains belligerent at times, there are no signs, at least for now, of escalation, and the US President believes that Iran will ultimately want to strike a deal on its nuclear missile programme,” PVM Oil Associates analyst Tamas Varga said in a note.
Also supporting oil prices, US job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 per cent, the Labor Department said, signalling a healthy economy.
