Perhaps diplomacy isn’t dead. Al Jazeera reports that diplomacy is continuing, citing a US official, and that Trump is prepared to ease sanctions and release frozen funds for progress on the nuclear issue.

There isn’t much detail on the report but it’s starting to get a wider viewing and it’s moving markets.

The report also says the US is continuing ‘positive’ discussions and adds that Iran is ‘flexible’ on nuclear but that they’re far apart on who takes the first steps.

Update, there is a second report from Axios now saying: “President Trump is willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release of frozen funds for concrete progress on nuclear”. And a third report from CNN, obviously someone is doing the rounds. The CNN report says:

President Trump is willing to offer sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in exchange for concrete progress on Tehran’s nuclear program, a U.S. official told CNN.

Washington says talks through mediators remain “positive and constructive,” but insists nuclear issues must be addressed before any agreement.

The key obstacle remains sequencing, with both sides yet to agree on when concessions would take effect.

Update 2: A second oil report says the Saudi east-west pipeline is now at 3.5 mbpd after repairs and that exports have resumed. There is a nominal capacity of 7 mbpd but it never got there before the attacks, topping in the 4-6 mbpd range. A separate report cites Iran officials saying they are skeptical of a deal before the midterms.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.