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A return to diplomacy would follow several days of strikes and counterstrikes since an Iranian projectile hit a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz last week.
Smoke rises from explosions at an unknown location, following what US Central Command said were strikes on Iran in response to an Iranian drone strike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, in this screen grab from video released on Jun 26, 2026. (Image: US Central Command/Handout via REUTERS)
DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Iran and the United States agreed to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and renew talks regarding their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a US official said on Sunday (Jun 28), raising hopes of saving an interim peace deal that was under pressure from days of tit-for-tat strikes.
“Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU. Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” the official said, referring to the 14-point memorandum of understanding that was agreed on Jun 17 under which the strait would be re-opened for traffic.
Axios, which first reported the cessation of hostilities, citing a senior US official, said talks would resume Tuesday in Qatar.
A return to diplomacy would follow several days of strikes and counterstrikes since an Iranian projectile hit a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz last Thursday, with both the US and Iran accusing the other of breaking an interim ceasefire that was agreed to on Jun 17.
Iran launched missiles and drones at US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early on Sunday, shortly after President Donald Trump threatened to wipe out the Iranian leadership if they did not stick to the agreement to end their war.
Meanwhile, Israel said on Sunday it had once again struck Iran-backed armed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, destroying underground infrastructure used by the group in a village in southern Lebanon. That came after another strike on Saturday, which closely followed its latest ceasefire deal with Lebanon to calm fighting that Iran says must end if the wider agreement is to stick.
The US military said earlier it had struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy shipping route, which Tehran has largely closed for most of the conflict.
“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 said on social media, before the Axios report.
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he added. The 14-point interim peace accord was meant to halt the fighting, which the US and Israel started on Feb 28, and reopen the strait while talks proceeded on issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme.
In a further sign of the frailty of the agreement, Iran cancelled technical talks with the US that had been scheduled for Sunday, citing recent attacks on the country and unfulfilled conditions of the Memorandum of Understanding, a member of the Office of Preservation and Publication of the Works of Iran’s Supreme Leader told state TV.
“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,” Mehdi Fazaeili said.
One round of mediated talks, led by US Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, was held in Switzerland a week ago and Washington waived sanctions on Tehran, but fighting has since resumed and intensified.
About an hour after Trump’s post, Kuwait’s army said its air defences were responding to missile and drone attacks, while Bahrain said sirens had sounded there.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement its navy and air forces had launched missile and drone operations targeting US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The Guards said US strikes had violated the ceasefire and “will result in the complete halt of all diplomatic processes”, state-run Press TV said. The IRGC navy command said American bases in the region “will experience hell in the coming days”.
A US official, confirming Iran had targeted US facilities, told Reuters there were no reported US casualties or major damage to US sites in the Middle East but the situation was still unfolding.
Hours later, alarms sounded for a second time in Bahrain, where authorities said an Iranian attack damaged a residential building in Muharraq province, with no casualties reported. Bahrain urged the UN Security Council to hold an urgent session to hold Iran accountable.
The Kuwaiti army said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles with no damage or casualties. Separately, Qatar said one of its nationals had died after sustaining injuries from shrapnel aboard a vessel that had gone missing on Saturday. A second person was injured in the incident, which was due to “military operations in the area”, the interior ministry said, without giving a location or apportioning blame
Kian Tajbakhsh, an international relations professor at New York University, described the MOU as “unsustainable”, saying that ambiguities in its provisions are fuelling continued hostilities.
He pointed to Article Five as an example. It provides toll-free passage through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days before Iran and Oman hold talks on the future administration of the strategic waterway.
However, Tehran has rejected United Nations-backed plans for mass evacuation of ships through the strait.
“The vague references about how this should be managed is really what is at the root of the current breakdown,” Tajbakhsh said. “Iran is saying that the US entering the UN-sponsored arrangement with Oman violates the MOU, and that’s why there were attacks.”
He also argued that Washington hastily agreed to the deal to end hostilities and shift its focus back to domestic priorities, in the process weakening its own negotiating leverage. The agreement grants Iran major concessions, including potential long-term control over the Strait of Hormuz, elements of nuclear enrichment and influence over developments in Lebanon.
“The US gave astonishing concessions to Iran … much more than was necessary to stop hostilities. The US has given up much of its leverage,” Tajbakhsh told CNA’s Asia First.
“There are huge gaps in this MOU that are causing problems. This is simply not sustainable (nor) reasonable. I don’t think (the ceasefire) will hold, and there will have to be a review of that entire arrangement.”
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