US, Iran agree to halt attacks after counter-strikes
The United States and Iran have agreed to halt counter-strikes and resume talks on Tuesday in Qatar’s capital, Doha, to resolve their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz after days of military escalation threatened to derail the fragile ceasefire.The announcement came after multiple rounds of strikes around the Strait of Hormuz. The US carried out strikes on Iranian military targets after accusing Tehran of violating the ceasefire by attacking commercial vessels. Iran responded by launching ballistic missiles and drones at US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, while both sides exchanged fresh warnings over further escalation.According to Axios, the two countries have now agreed to stop attacking each other and continue technical negotiations in Doha.”We decided to stop all the kinetic activity,” a senior US official told Axios, referring to military strikes and other attacks.A second US official said both sides would stand down ‘for now’ and that ‘vessels can move freely’ while technical discussions continue. Both officials confirmed that talks are scheduled to take place in Doha on Tuesday.The renewed fighting stemmed from differing interpretations of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed earlier this month to end the conflict, particularly Article 5 dealing with navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Under the agreement, Iran committed to making its best efforts to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels through the strategic waterway, while the United States agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports.During negotiations in Switzerland last week, the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, also agreed to establish a direct “hotline” between the US military and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to coordinate shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. However, US officials said the communication channel was still not operational as Iran renewed its insistence that ships must coordinate their passage with Tehran.The technical talks were originally scheduled to take place in Switzerland and focus on Iran’s nuclear programme. However, the recent escalation shifted both the venue to Doha and the agenda to resolving the Strait of Hormuz dispute.The development comes after Iran announced it had cancelled Sunday’s technical talks, citing recent US attacks and what it described as Washington’s failure to fulfil conditions of the memorandum.Speaking to Iranian state television, Mehdi Fazaeili, a member of the Office of Preservation and Publication of the Works of Iran’s Supreme Leader, said one of the reasons for suspending the talks was the lack of access to Iranian funds.”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,” he said.
