Washington:The US and Iran have agreed to halt attacks against each other and hold high-level talks in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday to resolve their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, in a renewed effort to preserve their fragile peace agreement after days of escalating military exchanges threatened to undermine the breakthrough, according to a senior US official.
The move comes just 11 days after and Tehran announced an interim accord to end their months-long standoff. But the fragile ceasefire is on shaky ground with US President Donald Trump’s threat to restart the war and ‘finish the job’ if Iran does not comply.
Doha talks on TuesdayWashington and Tehran have agreed to stop all “kinetic activity,” Axios reports. A senior US official told Axios: “We decided to stop all the kinetic activity,” using the military’s term for strikes and other attacks.
"Both sides will de-escalate for the time being and ships can move freely," another official told Axios, adding that technical talks are scheduled to continue.
A third source familiar with the situation also confirmed the planned Tuesday meeting.
The Tuesday meeting, initially scheduled to be held in Switzerland, was to be centered on Iran’s nuclear program. But the venue shifted to Doha and the agenda was limited to resolving disputes over the Strait of Hormuz after fresh military exchanges over the weekend, diplomats said.
Nick Stewart, head of the US technical team, is also expected to take part in the talks. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran Has Exclusive Rights to Control Hormuz TrafficIran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday (local time) that under the preliminary peace deal Iran has the sole right to control traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The United States and Iran are still negotiating terms of an interim peace deal, including shipping arrangements through the strait, removing a US blockade and sanctions and addressing the future of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Iran had agreed under a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this month to make “best endeavors” to ensure the safe passage of commercial shipping through the strategic waterway. In exchange , the United States agreed to end its naval blockade of Iranian ports .
Negotiators meeting in Switzerland last week also agreed to set up a direct military “hotline” between US forces and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to coordinate maritime traffic through the strait to prevent future confrontations.
However, Tehran has since renewed its demand that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz coordinate directly with Iranian authorities, a position Washington believes goes beyond the original understanding reached during the negotiations.
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