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What recent developments are there in U.S.-Iran relations?
Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. The U.S. is waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of an interim agreement. The development emerged Monday as Vice President J.D. Vance wrapped up talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland to end the war the U.S. and Israel began in February. Vance says Iran has agreed to allow U.N.
nuclear inspectors into the country, but a spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry told a state news agency. that Iran has made no new commitments for inspections, as Ampires Franco Ordonez reports.
Vance said the U.S. team of negotiators made very good progress and met several objectives. That includes establishing a mechanism to demine the Strait of Hormuz and another to help maintain the ceasefire in Lebanon. But he said they were most excited that nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency would be returning to the country. The final deal is the house.
We set the foundation. We haven't built the house yet. But we've laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people. Vance also addressed the possibility of unfreezing Iranian assets, which he said the U.S. and Qatar would manage. Franco Ordonez, NPR News, the White House.
Diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran is translating into some relief at the pump. The Price Tracking Service gas buddy says the national average fell 14 cents over the last week to $3.85 a gallon. Energy Secretary Chris Wright forecasting lower gas prices ahead, suggesting that oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz is already back to normal.
Even though that's unclear, Patrick DeHaan is GasBuddy's petroleum analyst.
It's not going to happen overnight that these oil inventories are going to fill back up. So ultimately, I do think prices could reach pre-war levels, but that may not happen until at earliest later this year.
Data from GasBuddy shows pump prices have declined in most states. States across the country rethinking how much to incentivize data centers. Virginia, home to more of these facilities than anywhere else in the country. And Jack Khalil of VPM News in Richmond reports that Virginia's legislature voted to put a new tax on them on Monday.
Taxes from data centers have been a cash cow for local governments in Virginia, but the companies that run them get a state sales tax exemption. That exemption saved them $2 billion last year, and it was the sticking point during three months of budget negotiations between the Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate.
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