The U.S. and Iran paused their attacks for a second straight day Sunday as both sides reportedly look to return to the negotiating table for a binding resolution to ongoing warfare roiling the Middle East.
It is not clear who instigated the cessation in hostilities that engulfed Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure – civil and military – in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the contested waters of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the nature of the pause or how long it will last, AP reports, although markets have reacted with the price of oil sinking more than nine percent Monday on hopes peace is at hand.
Last week the BBC reports oil hit $100 a barrel for the first time since May, with added concerns coming after Houthi militia in Yemen attacked oil tankers in the Red Sea, threatening a key export route that Saudi Arabia had used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
AP notes U.S. President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space. He’s giving it a little bit of room,” Mike Waltz, the U.S. 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.”
Trump has dismissed the idea the lull in fighting comes as the U.S. stockpile of interceptors crucial in defending against Iranian attacks is running low, as Breitbart News reported.
Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz reinforced Trump’s message, declaring “the U.S. military, and I’ve verified this every which way, has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be,” while insisting Trump is “keeping all options on the table” as he gives negotiations “some space” to continue.
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The 60-day period that began when the interim deal was signed by both countries in mid-June is now well into its second half, and major issues that were meant to be negotiated -– notably Iran’s nuclear program at the heart of tensions -– remain set aside as mediators try to keep both sides talking.
A regional official involved in mediation efforts and cited by AP said diplomacy was underway and that a pause in U.S. and Iranian strikes was a “positive signal that helps their efforts to de-escalate.”
Meanwhile the price of oil sank more than nine percent on Monday on hopes that the pause in attacks could help lead to a resolution to the conflict, the BBC notes.