Washington: The United States and Iran have agreed to halt their recent military exchanges around the Strait of Hormuz and move forward with negotiations aimed at preserving a fragile ceasefire, even as both sides continue to disagree over who has authority over one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.
According to reports by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post, officials from both countries signalled on Sunday that technical talks would continue despite several days of retaliatory strikes that had raised fears of a broader regional conflict.
A US official, quoted by both The New York Times and The Washington Post, said the two sides had agreed to halt attacks in the Strait and allow commercial shipping to resume.
“Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” the official said, according to The Washington Post.
The New York Times reported that technical discussions would continue on implementing the memorandum of understanding that produced the fragile ceasefire, although Iran had yet to publicly confirm the reported understanding.
The renewed diplomatic push follows four days of military exchanges that began after attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States blamed Iran for the attacks and responded with strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, although US officials said the projectiles were intercepted or failed to reach their intended targets.
Despite the apparent breakthrough, the two sides remain sharply divided over the future administration of the Strait.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted on Sunday that Tehran alone has responsibility for managing maritime traffic through the waterway under the memorandum signed with Washington earlier this month.
“Under the memorandum of understanding, no other entity or country has any responsibility in this regard,” Araghchi said during a news conference in Baghdad, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times.
He also warned that “any intervention or attempt to create arrangements contrary” to the agreement would “complicate the situation, delay the return of normalcy” and postpone the reopening of the Strait.
Washington, however, maintains that freedom of navigation must be preserved.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz warned that Iran would face further consequences if attacks on commercial shipping continued.
“If the Iranian regime thinks for a second that President Trump is going to sit by, stand by, while Iran continues to attack international shipping without a response, they’re sadly mistaken,” Waltz told Fox News.
President Donald Trump also renewed his warning to Tehran after authorising additional US strikes over the weekend.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding: “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
The recent violence briefly disrupted commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil trade normally passes. The New York Times reported that oil prices edged higher as investors monitored the security situation, while commercial shipping resumed cautiously after the reported agreement.
The Wall Street Journal reported that both countries now intend to resume broader negotiations aimed at ending hostilities and addressing Iran’s nuclear programme, with discussions expected to focus initially on restoring normal shipping through the Strait.
(IANS)
