"We're not anticipating launching any military activity. We have been following, for the better part of two years now, a diplomatic course with Iran...While obviously our president retains the option to conduct whatever policy he needs to, we are very much on a diplomatic path...We think that the nuclear issue can be resolved through 'quiet diplomacy' if we could just get the Iranians to the negotiating table. But right now, the Iranians are refusing to do that."
The US will continue to pursue the diplomatic route to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions, US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said Wednesday. He downplayed the prospect of any military activity in the wake of the capture of 15 British service personnel.
"This just shows how jittery the market is. You add the US to the Iran equation and prices just went for it."
A London-based broker commenting on current crude futures markets after global crude futures saw an extremely volatile Wednesday evening session. This followed a rumor circulated that Iran had fired missiles at US warships. Late Tuesday prices spiked up to over $68/b to hit 6 month highs, as the rumor became widespread. However, within 15 minutes prices fell as the White House denied any action took place.
Updated: March 28, 2007
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