Iran, US agree to halt hostilities in the Gulf, renew talks

FE Team | Published: June 29, 2026 22:38:10

TEHRAN, June 29 (Reuters): 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, 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 cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on 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 that the Islamic Republic would cease to exist if it did not honor the agreement to end the war.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Iran has requested a meeting that will be held in Qatar on Tuesday, despite Tehran earlier denying that any technical talks on the deal aimed at ending the Middle East war were planned.
The announcement came after Iran held its first talks with Oman on managing the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran deal was signed, and as Washington and Tehran agreed to halt their attacks, which had strained the agreement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday he was expecting a team of US negotiators to come to Moscow, once Washington had reached an agreement with Iran over the Middle East conflict.
"We expect that after all the events are over, after the active phase on the Iranian track has passed, we will see the arrival of those representatives of the US administration with whom we have already met in Moscow repeatedly," Putin said in an interview published by the Kremlin.
"We are ready to continue negotiations and ready to continue negotiations and discuss all the details," he added. Putin was responding to a question on the state of Russian-US relations after the G7 summit in France, when US President Donald Trump said Russia should "make a deal with Ukraine".