Iran and the United States have agreed to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and resume talks over the Strait of Hormuz, a US official confirmed on Sunday, raising hopes for preserving an interim peace deal strained by days of tit-for-tat strikes.
"Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU. Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely," the official said, referring to the 14-point memorandum of understanding signed on June 17, which aimed to reopen the strategic waterway for traffic.
Diplomatic Path Renewed After Escalation
The cessation of hostilities follows several days of strikes and counterstrikes since an Iranian projectile hit a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. Both Washington and Tehran accused each other of violating the interim ceasefire agreed on June 17. Axios first reported the halt, citing a senior US official, and said talks would resume on Tuesday in Qatar.
Iran launched missiles and drones at US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early on Sunday, shortly after President Donald Trump threatened the Islamic Republic would cease to exist if it did not honor the agreement. The US military had earlier struck Iran again after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical energy shipping route, which Tehran has largely closed during the conflict.
Trump's Warning and Regional Strikes
"There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started," Trump said on social media before the Axios report. "If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!" he added.
Meanwhile, Israel said on Sunday it had struck Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, destroying underground infrastructure in a southern Lebanese village. This followed a strike on Saturday, shortly after a ceasefire deal with Lebanon on Friday. Iran says fighting in Lebanon must end for the wider agreement to hold.
Violence and Accusations Follow Peace Deal
The 14-point interim peace accord was meant to halt fighting that began on February 28 between the US and Israel, and reopen the strait while talks proceeded on issues such as Iran's nuclear program. One round of mediated talks, led by Vice President JD Vance and Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, was held in Switzerland a week ago, and Washington waived sanctions on Tehran. However, fighting resumed and intensified.
About an hour after Trump's post, Kuwait's army said its air defenses were responding to missile and drone attacks, while Bahrain reported sirens. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility, stating its navy and air forces targeted US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain. The Guards accused the US of violating the ceasefire, warning that such actions "will result in the complete halt of all diplomatic processes," according to state-run Press TV. The IRGC navy command said American bases in the region "will experience hell in the coming days."
Casualties and Damage Reports
A US official confirmed Iran targeted US facilities but reported no US casualties or major damage to sites in the Middle East, though the situation was still unfolding. Hours later, alarms sounded again in Bahrain, where authorities said an Iranian attack damaged a residential building in Muharraq province, with no casualties reported. Bahrain urged the UN Security Council to hold an urgent session to hold Iran accountable. The Kuwaiti army said it intercepted two ballistic missiles with no damage or casualties.
Separately, Qatar reported one of its nationals died from shrapnel injuries aboard a vessel that went missing on Saturday. A second person was injured in the incident, attributed to "military operations in the area," the interior ministry said, without specifying a location or assigning blame.
