Mediators have made progress in efforts to bring the United States and Iran back to negotiations and prevent an all-out war in the Middle East, two regional officials said on Monday, as attacks paused after a period of rapidly rising tensions. Neither side reported carrying out any attacks for three straight days, offering a respite after about two weeks of sustained bombardments that had fuelled fears of a wider conflict.
The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan were trying to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran and revive an interim ceasefire deal that had been badly weakened by recent exchanges of fire.
The US paused its attacks after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation that began after Iran fired at ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil shipments. The Pentagon did not respond to questions. US President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space. He’s giving it a little bit of room,” Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News. “We’ve had both Oman and Iran, and a number of our other negotiators, engaged at every level, from the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level over the past few weeks, and particularly in the past few days.” Waltz also rejected suggestions that the US stockpile of interceptors used against Iranian attacks was running low. Iran’s army spokesperson told state television on Sunday that since the US had halted attacks for the past two nights, Iran had done the same. In recent days, Tehran carried out counterattacks against countries in the region hosting US forces, killing at least three service members at a base in Jordan and one in Iraq.
One of the regional officials described the progress in mediation efforts as “significant” and said mediators were working with Iran and Oman on a mechanism to manage vessel movement through the Strait of Hormuz, the issue that triggered the latest round of strikes and counterstrikes. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that mediators were passing messages but there were no direct talks with Washington. “Mediators may convey messages to us from the American side regarding ongoing developments in the region. But at present, we have no negotiations with the American side,” Baghaei said. He said Iran and Oman had already held several rounds of talks on Friday and Saturday on managing shipping through the waterway. “The objective is for Iran and Oman, as the two coastal states, to develop mechanisms to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while respecting the sovereign rights and sovereignty of both coastal states, as well as Iran’s security and national interests,” Baghaei said. However, he added that “the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has not changed” and that the strait remained closed.
Tehran has said the interim deal with the US allows it to manage shipping on the waterway for now, and it has objected to US efforts to support a route through the strait that passes close to Oman instead. The strait had been considered an international waterway before the war. The US military said on Saturday that its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran was continuing, with a dozen commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. It said US forces “remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready”. The 60-day period that began when the interim deal was signed in mid-June is now well into its second half, while major issues that were meant to be negotiated, especially Iran’s nuclear programme, remain on hold as mediators try to keep both sides engaged.
Concerns remain over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and also the Bab al-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last week threatened a blockade of Saudi shipping there and fired at at least one Saudi tanker, setting it on fire. Global energy supplies and the wider economy remain under pressure, with petrol prices rising again. A maritime body overseen by the US Navy said on Sunday that commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had fallen to a three-week low, though no new attacks had been confirmed in the past 72 hours, while traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb remained steady. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to the United States to meet Trump in Washington on Tuesday, according to his office. They last met in Washington in February, weeks before they launched the war on Iran that killed senior leaders including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, fired at Israel two days after the war began, and Israel responded with airstrikes and ground forces in southern Lebanon. Since then, the US has backed direct talks between Lebanon and Israel aimed at easing tensions on that front and finding a way to disarm Hezbollah. Overall, the pause in attacks and mediation efforts have opened some space for diplomacy, even as major disputes remain unresolved and regional tensions continue.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
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