Iran and US agree to halt attacks and renew talks, US official says
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Iran and the United States agreed to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and renew talks regarding their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a US official said on Sunday, raising hopes of saving an interim peace deal that was under pressure from days of tit-for-tat strikes. The exchanges have underscored the fragility of a Pakistan-brokered agreement to end the conflict that has killed thousands and snarled the flow of oil shipments through the vital Strait of Hormuz. “Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the memorandum of understanding (MoU). Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” the official said, referring to the 14-point agreement that was agreed on June 17 under which the strait would be re-opened for traffic. Iran has not immediately commented on the US statement. Axios, which first reported the cessation of hostilities, citing a senior US official, said talks would resume on Tuesday in Qatar. 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 on Sunday, shortly after US President Donald Trump threatened that the Islamic Republic would cease to exist if it did not honor the agreement to end the war. Meanwhile, Israel said on Sunday it had once again struck Iran-backed armed Hezbollah militants 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. Iran says the fighting in Lebanon 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