- United States and Iran agreed to stand down after recent Strait of Hormuz clashes
- Both sides will meet Tuesday in Doha for further discussions on the conflict
- US President Trump warned of more military action if Iranian strikes persist
The United States and Iran have reportedly agreed to “stand down for now” after both sides exchanged fire near the Strait of Hormuz over the last several days. Representatives of both Washington and Tehran have also agreed to meet in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday for further discussions, CNN and Axios reported, quoting a US official.
Tehran has not yet issued a statement, leaving speculation about Iran's position on the issue.
What US Officials Said
"We decided to stop all the kinetic activity," a senior US official told Axios, using the military's term for conflict.
Another official told CNN that “both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely" as technical talks are set to continue.
Both reports confirmed the planned meeting for Tuesday in Doha.
The reports of a temporary truce followed US President Donald Trump's threat of more military action if Iranian strikes continue. Meanwhile, Iran has also warned ceasefire violations would “result in the complete halt of all diplomatic processes".
Why Are the US and Iran Fighting Again?
The back-and-forth military actions over the weekend have tested the barely 11-day-old fragile initial US-Iran agreement that was supposed to halt hostilities during 60 days of negotiations. At the centre of the renewed fighting was competing interpretations of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the war, especially the clause related to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Under the terms of the deal, Iran is supposed to allow safe passage of commercial ships through the strait. In return, the US agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports.
During further talks in Switzerland last week, a US delegation, headed by America's Vice President JD Vance, agreed with Tehran to establish a "hotline" between the US military and Iran's military command, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), to coordinate traffic in the strait.
As of Saturday, the "hotline" was still not operational even as Iran again started claiming that vessels need to coordinate passage. In recent days, Iran has also twice attacked vessels going through a route near the Omani side.
Meanwhile, the ship traffic on the strait had increased over the past 72 hours, “despite the elevated threat environment", the multinational maritime body overseen by the US Navy said Sunday, adding that "US-assisted commercial transits continued uninterrupted."
It said 89 such transits had been made, below the historical average of 138 vessels a day.
