Israeli officials recently developed plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites in May

The New York Times was out late yesterday with a report relevant to the Middle East and oil traders:

• Israeli officials had recently developed plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites in May to set back Iran’s nuclear program by a year.
• Trump made clear to Netanyahu that he would not provide American support for an Israeli attack in May while the negotiations were playing out
• Netanyahu initially pushed for an option that would have combined airstrikes with commando raids
• Gabbard argued the buildup of American weaponry could potentially spark a wider conflict with Iran that the United States did not want

There are reports of a larger buildup of American navy assets in the Arabian sea, though the target is purportedly the Houthis in Yemen.

I take this report as a sign that nothing is imminent, though the latest reports on negotiations aren’t as good as they were coming out of the weekend. Also note that the targets here all appear to be nuclear, not energy more broadly or oil.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.