U.S. President Donald Trump said he decided to pause strikes on Iran to give negotiations another chance, minimizing the prospect of a potential military escalation of the war.
Trump said Monday in an interview with Axios that “very deep talks” are taking place with the Islamic Republic and “if they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action.”
Over the course of the war, Trump has repeatedly said talks were progressing and that a deal was close. But it’s unclear if any substantial negotiations between the United States and Iran were taking place.
His comments came after the U.S. held off attacking Iran for a third straight day on Monday, despite making threats last week about a major new attack. Tehran, in turn, paused strikes on Gulf countries such as Kuwait. The two sides had returned to fighting after an interim peace deal signed last month effectively collapsed over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said earlier Monday that while “it’s possible that mediators share messages from the U.S. side about current developments,” no formal negotiations are currently taking place.
Tensions in the region remain high, and the Iran-backed Houthis claimed on Monday they targeted Saudi Arabian oil facilities with drones, although they didn’t say when. Saudi Arabia hasn’t announced an attack from Yemen since Saturday morning, though did say Monday it intercepted several drones launched from Iraq at petroleum facilities.
Axios reported Sunday that Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. commander overseeing the Middle East, recommended stopping strikes because they had reached the limit of their effectiveness, citing sources in the region.
Iran’s army said it halted its retaliation against U.S. bases and troops in the region as a result of Trump’s decision to hold off on strikes. The Islamic Republic had been attacking the likes of Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan on a near-daily basis in the two weeks before the United States’ pause on Friday.
Brent crude fell almost 6% in early trading Monday to under $91 a barrel, after climbing 10% last week on the worsening fighting. U.S. Treasury yields also dipped, while the S&P 500 rose about 1%.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington on Tuesday. He said he plans to press the U.S. leader on keeping a “constant watch” on Iran’s nuclear program, one of many issues now in limbo following the breakdown of an interim peace deal agreed last month.
Iran has said there’s no change to the status of the Strait of Hormuz, meaning it’s likely to continue targeting commercial ships that don’t receive its permission before transiting. Traffic through the vital waterway — through which one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies flowed before the conflict — remains negligible.
On Monday, Iranian state TV said Tehran forced six ships going through the southern corridor near the Omani coast to turn around. One of the ships suffered an “incident,” according to the reporting, which cited an Iranian official with knowledge of the matter.
“We have never allowed, and will never allow, the United States to determine the timing of the war,” an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said separately on Monday. “We will defend ourselves whenever our interests require it, and we will certainly use diplomatic tools whenever we feel it is appropriate.”
The U.S., meanwhile, is maintaining its blockade on Iran’s ports.
The lull in fighting came as Iranian and Omani officials met over the weekend in a fresh attempt to resolve shipping through Hormuz. Iran said the talks were constructive and some progress was made, though gave no details, adding consultations were continuing.
In recent weeks, Iran tried to persuade Oman to establish a joint management system of the strait that may have effectively tolled ships. It’s unclear if the two are still discussing that, though Tehran has consistently said it wants to control traffic in the chokepoint.
The clashes between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia over the past week have also ratcheted up risks for shippers. The Houthis, a militant group based in Yemen, fired on vessels in the southern Red Sea after threatening any calling at Saudi ports.
A Saudi-led coalition responded with attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen on Friday and Saturday, leading the group to target the Saudi port cities of Yanbu and Jizan with missiles and drones. There was no immediate confirmation from the Saudi government or oil giant Saudi Aramco, whose facilities the Houthis said they targeted.
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