- The plan to extend the truce awaits Trump’s approval.
- The recent attacks highlight the fragility of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran.
- US warns Oman against involvement in Hormuz tolls.
The United States and Iran reached an agreement Thursday to extend their ceasefire pending approval from President Donald Trump, after Iran targeted a U.S. air base in Kuwait following U.S. strikes on what Washington said was an Iranian drone operation.
According to four sources familiar with the matter, the two sides agreed to a memorandum of understanding to extend the truce by 60 days, but the plan still needed to be approved by Trump.
The deal will detail how to manage Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which will be one of the first issues discussed during the 60-day window, according to an earlier report from Axioswho broke the news.
The White House declined to comment.
Iran Tasnim The news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, denied this information, saying that the text of the possible memorandum of understanding had not yet been finalized or confirmed.
He added that claims by Western sources that a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States had been finalized were false.
The reports, however, prompted oil prices to reverse course and fall on hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for about a fifth of the world’s supply of oil and liquefied natural gas.
Trump has repeatedly said the end of the war is near, but told media at a cabinet meeting Wednesday that he was not yet satisfied with the negotiations and that the United States was not discussing easing sanctions, one of Tehran’s demands.
Hard blow for trade between the United States and Iran
The latest attacks, although limited, have highlighted the fragility of negotiations aimed at transforming the fragile ceasefire of early April into a lasting agreement to end the three-month war – which has left thousands dead – and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command said American forces shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas, which was about to launch a sixth. Kuwaiti forces then intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country, which hosts a major American base.
“These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” a U.S. official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the military operations, told Reuters earlier.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted the US base responsible for an early morning attack near Bandar Abbas airport and that any repeat would result in a “more decisive response”, the Tasnim news agency reported.
Kuwait condemned the attack and demanded that Iran immediately end what it calls a serious escalation.
The violence, the second outbreak this week, coincided with Eid ul Adha celebrated across the region, where several countries were caught in the conflict sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
In Lebanon – which Iran says must be part of any comprehensive peace deal – Israel said it had begun hitting Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern city of Tire and carried out a strike in the capital, Beirut.
The Lebanese army said a strike killed one of its soldiers, while Israel, which has displaced hundreds of thousands as it moved deep into Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah, said air raid sirens had gone off in the north of the country.
Warning in Oman
The United States on Thursday warned Oman not to get involved in any attempt to impose a toll in the Strait of Hormuz, saying it would penalize all partners involved in such a system.
“Oman, in particular, must know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target all actors involved – directly or indirectly – in facilitating cross-strait tolls and that any willing partners will be penalized,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on X.
Trump said no country would have control of the waterway and appeared to threaten Oman, with which the United States has had military and economic ties for decades.
“These are international waters and Oman will behave like everyone else, otherwise we will have to blow them up. They understand that, everything will be fine,” he said on Wednesday.
Oman has not raised the idea of joint control of the strait with Iran, with which it says it has discussed freedom of navigation. Tehran expressed solidarity with Oman after what it called “threats by US officials”.
