Trump says 'serious talks' underway with Iran as fighting enters third day of lull

The Middle East entered a third consecutive day of relative calm Sunday as the United States and Iran simultaneously halted nearly two weeks of airstrikes and retaliatory attacks. The two sides are holding back-channel talks that have expanded to include safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, though analysts say Washington's pause may reflect a tactical shortage of air-defense missiles as much as diplomatic intent — leaving the situation fragile and potentially short-lived.

US forces struck Iranian military targets for 13 consecutive days, from July 11 through Thursday, after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps resumed attacks on civilian vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles and drones at US military bases across the region.

The renewed fighting came after a truce MOU signed last month was effectively rendered void. The conflict sent international oil prices sharply higher and deepened instability across the Middle East. Four US service members were killed in Iranian retaliatory strikes.

President Donald Trump, however, declined to authorize further airstrikes on Friday. He had received a strike plan from the military but chose to hold off on executing it.

Trump cited ongoing back-channel negotiations with Iran as his reason. Speaking to reporters at the White House, he said "serious talks" were underway with Tehran. At a White House Correspondents' Association event the same day, he added, "I am willing to listen to Iran's proposals."

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz appeared on NBC on Sunday and said the president was giving diplomacy "some room," adding that negotiations were taking place "at every level, from working-level officials all the way up to the highest ranks."

Iran matched Washington's pause, standing down its own retaliatory operations.

Iranian military spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said US strikes had continued "until the night two days ago" but had stopped over the past two days. "Our military strategy is fundamentally aimed at retaliation, so we have also suspended retaliatory operations," he said.

Talks over civilian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — the central flashpoint of the conflict — have also shown some movement.

According to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iran and Oman held multiple rounds of deputy foreign minister-level talks in Tehran on Friday and Saturday to work out common principles and operational arrangements for safe vessel passage. He described the sessions as "very productive" with "meaningful progress."

Axios reported that Trump ordered the halt to airstrikes just hours after an Omani delegation arrived in Tehran to discuss reopening the strait.

Whether the current lull leads to a lasting truce or an end to the conflict remains uncertain, however. The US and Iran have cycled through agreements and military clashes in previous rounds of negotiations, and significant gaps remain over Iran's nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz.

There is particular speculation that military calculations, not just diplomacy, drove Washington's decision to pause. Intercepting Iran's ballistic missiles and drones rapidly depleted US air-defense missile stockpiles, analysts say, making a temporary halt operationally necessary. If that is the case, a resumption of US strikes once inventories are replenished cannot be ruled out.

The Strait of Hormuz itself remains a complicating factor. Iran has been pursuing an arrangement with Oman — which shares sovereignty over the strait's territorial waters — to impose transit fees on passing vessels. Even if Tehran and Muscat reach such a deal, the Trump administration, which has demanded free passage through international waterways, is widely expected to reject it.

Inside Iran, officials are also cautious about reading too much into Washington's pause. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that skepticism outweighed optimism, with the prevailing view being that the halt was "a tactical calculation rather than a genuine gesture."

Israel remains another wild card. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a Fox News interview on Monday, argued that ending the war required Iran's ruling regime to either change or be "weakened enough to realize on its own that it must halt its nuclear program and change course."

On Trump's decision to pause the strikes, however, Netanyahu said he was fine with it "if a peace agreement can be reached without intense military conflict."

Netanyahu arrived in the United States on Monday and is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House on Tuesday. The two leaders are expected to discuss Iran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and potential future military operations — making the outcome of their talks a pivotal factor in determining whether the three-day lull holds.