The US and Iran have agreed to halt strikes after a three-day escalation of conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Telegraph.
The two sides will meet in Qatar on Tuesday to discuss disagreements over navigation in the strait, as the renewed attacks threaten to collapse their interim peace deal, signed just 11 days ago.
"Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU. Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely," a US official said.
The resumption of negotiations follows a burst of conflict in the strait which began when an Iranian drone hit a Singapore-flagged cargo ship in the waterway on Thursday. Washington and Tehran then traded retaliatory attacks that spread to the Gulf states.
Earlier on Sunday, Iran fired missiles at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain before warning that ships must not pass through the Strait of Hormuz without its permission.
Tehran targeted the Ali al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain using ballistic missiles.
Bahrain's foreign ministry condemned "continued attacks, at a time when regional and international efforts are moving toward de-escalation."
A top-floor flat in a residential building in the Bahraini town of Muharraq was turned to rubble in one strike, officials in the country said, adding that there were no injuries.
Tensions have flared in recent days over access to the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which around a fifth of the world’s oil supply flows.
Tehran has insisted on controlling the passage of ships through the crucial trade artery – something it did not enjoy before the war – and said vessels must transit through a corridor close to its own shores.
However, dozens of ships have travelled along the opposite side of the waterway in the past week, hugging the Omani coast.
Iran’s top diplomat warned on Sunday that any attempt to bypass its preferred route through the strait would "increase tensions" in the Middle East, with the issue threatening to drag out the months-long war.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said on Sunday that it was taking measures to control traffic in the waterway and that vessels violating these conditions would be dealt with “more forcefully” than before.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, wrote on X that as long as Iran managed the strait, Washington’s “hegemonic dreams in the region will not be realised”.
END/THE TELEGRAPH/ASA
