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The United States and Iran have agreed to suspend military attacks as both sides prepare for talks in Qatar on Tuesday aimed at resolving tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, according to Axios, which cited a senior U.S. official.
“We decided to stop all the kinetic activity,” the official said, using the military term for strikes and other combat operations.
The negotiations were originally expected to take place in Switzerland and focus on Iran’s nuclear program. However, recent military escalation shifted both the location to Qatar and the primary focus to the Strait of Hormuz.
Nick Stewart, who leads the U.S. technical negotiating team, is expected to participate in the discussions.
The diplomatic effort follows Iran’s decision to skip technical talks with U.S. officials scheduled for Sunday, citing recent American strikes and what Tehran described as Washington’s failure to fulfill key provisions of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries, according to Reuters.
Mehdi Fazaeli, a member of the Office of Preservation and Publication of the Works of Iran’s Supreme Leader, told Iranian state television that Tehran was still evaluating whether the United States had met its obligations.
“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,” Fazaeli said.
A senior U.S. official offered a different account, telling The New York Times that technical talks remain expected in the coming days.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing negotiations, said no meetings had been canceled and that Washington and Tehran continued communicating through military deconfliction channels despite recent exchanges of strikes.
The differing accounts highlighted the fragile nature of the interim agreement, which was designed to provide a 60-day window for the United States and Iran to negotiate a broader accord while reducing military tensions.
Iran has accused Washington of failing to release frozen assets as outlined in the agreement, while the United States has blamed Tehran for continued attacks on commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
