Iraq Economic News and Points To Ponder Thursday Afternoon 5-7-26
Iran War Day 69: Tehran ‘Reviewing’ US Proposals; Israel Bombs Beirut
News|US-Israel war on Iran By Elizabeth Melimopoulos and AFP Published On 7 May 2026
Trump says US-Iran talks are progressing as Tehran reviews a US proposal delivered through Pakistan.
United States President Donald Trump has said the US has held “very good talks” with Iran and suggested a deal to end the conflict could be within reach, as Tehran says it is still reviewing a US proposal delivered through mediator Pakistan.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said the proposal remains “under review” and that Tehran will communicate its response once it has “finalised its views”.
The diplomatic push comes amid continuing regional tensions, with uncertainty remaining over whether the negotiations can produce a breakthrough after weeks of military escalation and political threats between Washington and Tehran.
Meanwhile, Israel has expanded its military campaign by bombing Beirut in the first strike on the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire, widely seen as fragile, came into force on April 17.
Here is what we know:
In Iran
Iran reviewing US proposal: Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei said a US proposal to end the war is still “under review” by Tehran. Iran will convey its views to key mediator Pakistan after “finalising its views”, Baghaei told the ISNA news agency.
Iranian speaker mocks US operations: Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf ridiculed recent military operations against Tehran, joking on social media that “Operation Trust Me Bro failed” and that Washington had now returned to “Operation Fauxios”.
War Diplomacy
Iran seeks China’s help: Tehran is looking forward to China’s support for a “new post-war” regional framework following its conflict with the US, said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a post on X.
Pakistan PM ‘hopeful’: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a key mediator between Iran, the US and Israel, said he was “hopeful” the current momentum of negotiations would lead to peace in the region.
Trump pushes for fast Iran deal: Trump is aiming to secure an agreement with Iran before the end of his upcoming trip to China, as negotiators work through a reported 14-point framework via Pakistani mediators. Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett says the compressed timeline suggests the White House believes a breakthrough may be close, while also allowing Trump to project momentum before a high-profile foreign visit.
In the Gulf
US warplane disables Iranian tanker: The US military says a Navy fighter jet fired on and disabled the rudder of an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after the vessel allegedly tried to breach Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports.
In the US
Trump predicts quick end to war: Trump says the conflict with Iran “will be over quickly” as Washington pushes for a deal over Tehran’s nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz blockade. Speaking to supporters, Trump said the US “cannot allow” Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, according to the Reuters news agency.
US threatens escalation: Trump threatened to resume bombing in Iran if it did not agree to a deal. “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before,” Trump said in a social media post.
In Israel
Sirens sound in northern Israel: Israel’s military says it intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” launched from Lebanon after warning sirens sounded across northern Israel.
In Lebanon
Lebanon ceasefire under strain: Israeli forces are carrying out daily air strikes deeper inside Lebanon despite a US-brokered ceasefire, signalling a widening of the conflict beyond the country’s south.
Hezbollah steps up attacks: Hezbollah says its fighters carried out 17 targeted strikes against Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory, accusing Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire.
Global economy
Hormuz closure hits global shipping: German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is costing it about $60m a week in fuel and insurance, as companies avoid the waterway over fears of Iranian attacks and potential sanctions linked to IRGC-controlled transit procedures.
China banks urged to halt refinery loans: Beijing’s financial regulator has reportedly advised major Chinese banks to pause new loans to five oil refineries sanctioned by the US over alleged links to Iranian oil, according to Bloomberg News.
States Should Tax Windfall Oil Profits to Fund Their Way Out of Crisis
Opinion Renewable Energy By Ketan Joshi The Iran war is triggering a major economic crisis that is boosting energy profits. Taxing those can help countries survive and become immune to energy shocks.
The last fossil fuel crisis caused incredible amounts of pain for the people of Europe. In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, gas prices skyrocketed, resulting in the costs of energy rising to cripplingly high levels. Every European Union citizen overpaying for their fossil gas and power sent 150 euros ($175) to the United States per year, according to a recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
That pain meant unprecedented profits for fossil fuel companies. In 2023, the world’s oil and gas industry earned a whopping $2.7 trillion, and invested just 4 percent of its capital expenditure in clean energy.
These crises are moments of extreme injustice. Not only are people paying a price for fossil fuel use through the immediate climate impacts, but they are now suffering through increasingly frequent price crises where meals are skipped, jobs are lost, and lights are turned off. This public dip in conditions and cost of living runs parallel to an upwards swing for fossil fuel companies’ blood profits.
The least governments can do at this moment is impose a windfall tax on energy companies and use the proceeds to cushion the blow to households and fund an energy transition.
As was the case in 2022, the resurgence of fossil fuel company mega-profits we are seeing now has come about as the direct consequence of bloody conflict. In late February, the US and Israel attacked Iran. The conflict soon spread across the region. By now, more than 3,000 Iranians have been killed, including more than 150 schoolgirls and teachers at a school that was hit. More than 2,000 Lebanese people have also been killed, as well as 23 Israelis and dozens of people across the Gulf region.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is triggering a global upwards shift in oil and gas prices. Recently released reports for the first quarter of the year, which includes the first month of the war, already show windfall profits for energy companies.
Last week, BP announced “stronger than expected” earnings of $3.2bn, far higher than the projected $2.63bn. Shares in the company rose 2.5 percent on the morning of the announcement. TotalEnergies also reported a 29 percent jump in first-quarter earnings to $5.4bn. ExxonMobil’s Q1 earnings were lower, but that is because some profits from sales in March will be reflected in the report for the second quarter of the year.
With analysts projecting a spike in oil prices even if the Strait of Hormuz is opened soon, these windfall profits are set to continue. A recent analysis from Oxfam International found that fossil fuel companies are projected to earn $3,000 a second in 2026.
This is the natural consequence of a global energy system dependent on the extraction and transport of a critical fuel through narrow, vulnerable chokepoints. But it is also very much an outcome of greed and the profit motive.
Fossil fuel companies have acted over the decades to ensure that humanity remains trapped in this system. This goes back to the efforts to deny climate change and attack alternatives as far back as the 1980s. It also relates to efforts to manufacture demand for their products by lobbying governments and pushing for investment in industries that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
As energy think tank Ember recently explored, previous fossil fuel crises have ultimately failed to decouple the world from this fundamentally vulnerable and unreliable system. But this time, wind, solar, energy storage and electric vehicles are significantly cheaper, even compared to 2022’s fossil fuel crisis.
Ember correctly highlights that there is no default destiny here, and that “the temptation will be to reach for the familiar playbook – more drilling, more subsidies, more supply diversification”. But temptation can be resisted.
Short-term sugar hits from cutting fossil fuel taxes only end up transferring even more money from ordinary people to the powerful, and those knee-jerk policy responses should be replaced with targeted relief for those who need it most.
Fossil fuel companies should, at the absolute bare minimum, be hit with windfall taxes, and that money should be shared with the most vulnerable in the form of social support for impoverished households. They should also be channelled to countries hit hardest by climate change. Such support would essentially act as reparations paid by high-level polluters for those suffering irreversible damage.
Windfall tax revenues should also be used to fund the transition away from fossil fuels in order to make countries more immune to energy shocks. Governments should introduce bold and urgent oil demand elimination programmes focused on public and active transport, and the incentivisation of small cars. New policies that help the most vulnerable citizens, such as Australia’s daytime cheap solar power scheme, should be urgently implemented.
We cannot survive in this system. Hooking humanity on a fuel that becomes more profitable for companies when there is more bloodshed and conflict is a guaranteed recipe for more suffering in every way imaginable.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.