WASHINGTON/DUBAI/TEL AVIV, March 14 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war that started two weeks ago ​with a mᴀssive U.S.-Israeli air ᴀssault, according to three sources familiar with the efforts.
Iran, for its part, has rejected the possibility of any ceasefire until U.S. and Israeli ‌strikes end, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters, adding that several countries had been trying to mediate an end to the conflict.

The lack of interest from Washington and Tehran suggests both sides are digging in for an extended conflict, even as the widening war inflicts civilian casualties and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz sends oil prices soaring.
U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export hub, on Friday night underscored Trump’s determination to press ahead with his military ᴀssault. Iran’s ​new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and threatened to step up attacks on neighboring countries.

The war has killed more than 2,000 people, mostly ​in Iran, and created the biggest-ever oil supply disruption as maritime traffic has halted in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil ⁠is transported.