WASHINGTON, June 28 (Xinhua) — The United States and Iran have agreed to pause mutual attacks “for now” and hold talks on Tuesday in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to work out their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. media outlet Axios reported Sunday.
The two sides will stand down “for now” and “vessels can move freely” as technical talks are set to continue, a U.S. official was quoted as saying.
The Tuesday talks were originally set to be held in Switzerland and focused on Iran’s nuclear program. However, renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz prompted the talks to be moved to Doha, shifting the focus to shipping security in the strategic waterway.
During negotiations in Switzerland a week ago, the U.S. delegation agreed with Iran to establish a “hotline” between the U.S. military and Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps to coordinate traffic in the strait.
However, as of Saturday, the “hotline” still wasn’t operational, according to the report.
The United States conducted strikes on Iranian targets on Friday and Saturday, citing “continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping” in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by striking U.S. military positions in the region. ■
