WASHINGTON, Sunday — For the second night in a row, neither the United States nor Iran fired a shot. After nearly two weeks of daily strikes and retaliatory attacks, both sides have stopped for now. Whether that pause becomes peace is the question nobody can answer.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz confirmed on Sunday that President Donald Trump had paused attacks on Iran to give diplomacy room to breathe. “The president is giving talks some space, he’s giving it a little bit of room,” Waltz told Fox News.
Iran responded in kind. An Iranian army spokesperson said Tehran had halted its own “retaliatory” attacks in the region. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran would maintain its pause as long as the United States maintained its.
Neither side called it a ceasefire. Both sides are watching the other very carefully.
Thirteen Nights of Strikes — Then Silence
The pause is significant because of what preceded it. For 13 consecutive nights, US forces struck Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in retaliation for Iranian attacks on tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded each night by hitting US military facilities and bases across the Middle East. Four American soldiers were killed. Dozens of Iranians died, according to Iran’s health ministry.
The cycle of strike and counterstrike had been unravelling the ceasefire struck between the two countries in June an agreement that had halted major fighting and reopened the strait. That agreement collapsed on 13 July when Iranian forces attacked tankers again. The US resumed airstrikes the same day and reinstated its naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Now, abruptly, the guns have fallen silent. The Pentagon has not explained why.
What Diplomacy Is Actually Trying to Solve
At the centre of the conflict is a single waterway the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows. Whoever controls it controls the global energy market.
Iran and Oman held several rounds of technical talks in Tehran on Friday and Saturday to discuss management of the strait. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said progress had been made but that the status of maritime traffic remained unchanged.
Tehran insists its June agreement with the US gives it the right to manage shipping through the strait. Washington disagrees and has been pushing for a transit route closer to Oman that reduces Iranian control.
A regional official involved in mediation efforts told the Associated Press that both sides want to return to the interim ceasefire deal and that negotiations are centring on a compromise allowing Iran to oversee vessel transit through the strait but with fewer restrictions on ships. The official said the pause was a “positive signal that helps de-escalation efforts.”
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said he would meet his US counterpart Pete Hegseth this week to discuss the situation. “When it comes to securing maritime freedom and free commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, that’s where we are absolutely aligned,” Streeting told the BBC.
Oil at $100. Houthis Blocking Saudi Routes. The Stakes Could Not Be Higher.
Earlier this week, oil prices hit $100 a barrel for the first time since May, driven by fears that the renewed fighting would permanently disrupt Hormuz the world’s single most important oil chokepoint. The price spike has already fed through to energy costs across Europe, including Ireland.
Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have compounded the pressure by announcing a blockade on Saudi oil in the Red Sea potentially closing a second major energy shipping route simultaneously. On Saturday, the Houthis fired on Saudi Red Sea oil targets for the first time in years.
US strikes on bridges and tunnels in southern Iran have prompted Iran to strike back at water desalination plants that Gulf Arab states rely on for drinking water.
The conflict is no longer just about the US and Iran. It is reshaping the entire energy geography of the Middle East.
Trump Keeps All Options Open. Netanyahu Is Coming Tuesday.
Waltz was careful not to overstate the significance of the pause. “I wouldn’t go that far at all,” he told NBC when asked whether Trump had decided against escalation. “The president is keeping all options on the table.”
He also rejected reports in the New York Times that administration officials had warned expanding hostilities could dangerously drain stockpiles of air defence munitions. “The US military has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be,” he said.
The biggest test of the pause comes Tuesday, when Trump meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Netanyahu told Fox Business Network on Sunday that Iran’s nuclear programme must be ended “with a deal or without a deal” and that any direct or proxy attack on Israel would trigger a “very, very forceful” response. “In many ways, it’s his decision,” Netanyahu said of Trump’s next move.
The war is entering its fifth month. A new CBS/YouGov poll shows 57% of Americans are frustrated by the conflict. Only 19% are optimistic.
Two days without strikes is not peace. But it is the first two days without strikes in nearly two weeks. Right now, that is what diplomacy looks like.
M10News has been reporting on Trump’s warning to Putin and Xi over Iran and on how the Iran conflict is making Ireland’s construction crisis worse.
Editing by M10News News Desk | © 2026 M10News. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited.
