ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: Senior US officials considering a weekend Iran attack

Middle East (read from the bottom up for the as-it-happened

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It was a busy session for Middle East-related developments. In the US, as the latest Situation Room meeting at the White House got underway late in the afternoon, a flurry of headlines crossed the wires:

• Fox Business News’ Charles Gasparino reported that a U.S. strike on Iran could come as early as this weekend, citing sources close to the White House.

• The New York Times reported that an unnamed Iranian Foreign Ministry official said Tehran is open to President Trump’s offer to meet.

• The Wall Street Journal said Trump has approved military plans but is holding off on a final order, awaiting signs that Iran may step back from its nuclear program.

Following the short, 20-minute Situation Room meeting, ABC News reported that Trump is growing more comfortable with the idea of targeting Iran’s heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility. According to a source familiar with the intelligence, the operation would involve multiple coordinated strikes, not just a single hit. Trump is said to be weighing the risks carefully, seeking assurance that any attack would be strategic, necessary, and would achieve the objective of halting Iran’s nuclear program — without dragging the US into a prolonged conflict.

In parallel, the U.S. military has repositioned key assets in the Middle East to reduce their vulnerability to potential Iranian retaliation, according to two officials cited by Reuters. Warships have been moved from Bahrain’s naval base, and fighter jets that couldn’t be housed in reinforced shelters were relocated from Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base.

Later in the session Bloomberg reported, confirming Gasparino’s story (see first point above) that senior U.S. officials across multiple federal agencies are preparing for a possible strike in the coming days, with some sources pointing to the weekend as a likely window.

Markets reacted, albeit in a limited fashion: the US dollar rose across the board, pushing EUR, JPY, CHF, GBP, AUD, NZD, and CAD lower. U.S. equity index futures, already drifting down earlier in the session, extended losses. Some of all these declines were later trimmed.

In other news:

• New Zealand’s economy grew at a faster pace in Q1, rebounding from the 2024 technical recession as exports surged and the RBNZ eased rates.

• Australia’s May jobs report showed a net loss of around 2,000 jobs, following April’s sharp gain of 89,000. The unemployment rate remains low. The data today did not argue against the RBA still appearing likely to cut its cash rate again in July. The meeting is on the 7th and 8th.

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Brent crude has not had large swings: