A container ship sails off the Khor Fakkan terminal in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on June 28, 2026. (Credit: AFP)
A U.S. official said Sunday that Washington and Tehran agreed to halt attacks after renewed tit-for-tat strikes strained their interim deal, with the two sides planning to resume talks aimed at ending the Middle East war.
The exchanges underscored the fragility of a Pakistan-brokered agreement to end the war, which has killed thousands and disrupted the flow of oil shipments through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Although a cease-fire took effect in April, sporadic violence has flared in the Gulf region, with traffic through the strait serving as a recurring flashpoint.
"Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU," the U.S. official told AFP in an email late Sunday, referring to the memorandum of understanding reached between Washington and Tehran.
"Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely" in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the official added.
Iran did not immediately comment on the U.S. statement, and the U.S. official did not confirm a U.S. media report that talks would resume Tuesday in Qatar.
Tehran has insisted on controlling passage through the vital strait, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas move in peacetime. It did not have that control before the war.
Iran's top diplomat warned Sunday that any attempt by ships to bypass its preferred route through Hormuz would "increase tensions" in the Middle East.
The strait comprises Omani and Iranian territorial waters, but under customary international law, the two countries generally cannot block passage or charge tolls.
Nevertheless, Iran prevented most ships from using the narrow waterway during the war, giving it significant economic leverage that it appears reluctant to relinquish.
Tehran's enforcement of its control has sparked repeated flare-ups with Washington. The latest came early Sunday, when U.S. Central Command said it had struck 10 Iranian military targets over "continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping."
Iran said it retaliated by striking U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Both Kuwait and Bahrain condemned the Iranian attacks.
'Hegemonic dreams'
Iran continues to insist that ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz use a corridor near its own shores, although dozens of vessels this week have sailed along the opposite side of the waterway, hugging the Omani coast.
"Any attempt to adopt new or separate arrangements compared to what is underway by the Islamic Republic of Iran will only lead to more complicated situations and delays in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and will increase the tensions," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
The published text of the memorandum says Iran will define the future administration of the strait in dialogue with Oman and the other Gulf states, but "in line" with international law.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they were taking measures to control traffic through the strait and that vessels violating those measures would be dealt with more firmly than before.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, wrote on X that as long as Iran managed the strait, Washington's "hegemonic dreams in the region will not be realized."
Experts said more incidents in the Strait of Hormuz were likely.
For Iran, "a drawn-out negotiation accompanied by controlled pressure in the strait can work to its advantage," said HA Hellyer of the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank.
While the tit-for-tat exchanges have largely caused no reported casualties, Qatar's Interior Ministry said one of its citizens was killed aboard a boat by shrapnel from "military operations in the area."
Israel strikes south Lebanon
The Israeli occupation army destroyed an extensive tunnel in southern Lebanon on Sunday, while Lebanese state media reported strikes in the area and Hezbollah said it reserves the right to respond.
"The tunnel, stretching more than 200 metres and reaching a depth of over 25 metres, contained hundreds of weapons as well as several launch shafts intended to target the State of Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
In response to the attacks, Hezbollah said it "reiterates that what the enemy has done is a blatant violation of the cease-fire to which it has adhered until now, and that it is monitoring and tracking these violations, and reserves its right to defend its homeland and its people."
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Iran and Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion.
Tehran has insisted that Lebanon be included in the broader Middle East peace deal.
