Iran and the US agreed to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and renew talks regarding their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported yesterday, a move that could end tit-for-tat strikes that had threatened to unravel an interim peace agreement.
The two sides plan to meet tomorrow in Qatar, Axios reported, citing a senior US official. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A return to diplomacy would follow several days of strikes and counterstrikes since an Iranian projectile hit a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, with both the US and Iran accusing the other of breaking an interim ceasefire that was agreed to on June 17.
Iran launched missiles and drones at US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early yesterday, shortly after President Donald Trump threatened to wipe out the Iranian leadership if they did not stick to the agreement to end their war.
Meanwhile, Israel said yesterday it had once again struck Iran-backed armed Hizbollah in Lebanon, destroying underground infrastructure used by the group in a village in southern Lebanon. That came after another strike on Saturday, which closely followed its latest ceasefire deal with Lebanon on Friday to calm fighting that Iran says must end if the wider agreement is to stick.
The US military said earlier it had struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy shipping route, which Tehran has largely closed for most of the conflict.
“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. The 14-point interim peace accord was meant to halt the fighting, which the US and Israel started on February 28, and reopen the strait while talks proceeded on issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme.
In a further sign of the frailty of the agreement, Iran cancelled technical talks with the US that had been scheduled for yesterday, citing recent attacks on the country and unfulfilled conditions of the Memorandum of Understanding, a member of the Office of Preservation and Publication of the Works of Iran’s Supreme Leader told state television.
“For example one of the reasons is checking if we have access to the unfrozen funds, if there is no access then this condition has not been fulfilled,” Mehdi Fazaeili said.
A US official, confirming Iran had targeted US facilities, told Reuters there were no reported US casualties or major damage to US sites in the Middle East but the situation was still unfolding.
The Kuwaiti army said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles with no damage or casualties.
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