Doha, Qatar. Iran and the United States have agreed to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and renew talks over their dispute regarding the Strait of Hormuz, according to a U.S. official. The move raised hopes of preserving an interim peace deal that had come under pressure after days of reciprocal strikes.
Agreement to resume talks
A U.S. official said technical talks were set to continue on all areas of the 14-point memorandum of understanding agreed on June 17, under which the strait would be reopened for traffic. The official said both sides would stand down for now and vessels could move freely.
Axios, which first reported the cessation of hostilities citing a senior U.S. official, said talks would resume on Tuesday in Qatar.
Recent escalation in the Gulf
The return to diplomacy follows several days of strikes and counterstrikes after an Iranian projectile hit a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. Both the United States and Iran have accused each other of violating an interim ceasefire agreed on June 17.
Iran launched missiles and drones at U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early on Sunday, shortly after President Donald Trump said the Islamic Republic would cease to exist if it did not honor the agreement to end the war.
The U.S. military said earlier that it had struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, a major global energy shipping route that Tehran has largely closed for most of the conflict.
Trump statements
Before the Axios report, Trump said on social media that there might come a point when the United States would no longer be able to be reasonable and would be forced to militarily complete the job it had started.
He added that if that happened, the Islamic Republic of Iran would no longer exist.
Regional developments
Israel said on Sunday that it had again struck Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, destroying underground infrastructure used by the group in a village in southern Lebanon. The strike followed another Israeli attack on Saturday, shortly after Israel reached its latest ceasefire deal with Lebanon on Friday.
Iran has said the fighting in Lebanon must end if the wider agreement is to hold.
Terms of the interim accord
The 14-point interim peace accord was intended to stop the fighting, which the United States and Israel began on February 28, and to reopen the strait while talks continued on issues including Iran’s nuclear program.
