After an escalation near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, the US and Iran signal willingness to resume negotiations, with talks slated to be held in Doha.By World Israel News StaffThe United States and Iran have agreed to a temporary halt in attacks after a weekend of military exchanges near the Strait of Hormuz, with officials expected to meet Tuesday in Doha for talks aimed at defusing the crisis over the strategic waterway.A US official said the two sides had agreed to pause further strikes for now, after renewed violence threatened to derail a recently reached memorandum of understanding meant to restore shipping through the strait and keep broader negotiations on track.“Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” the official said.Another US official, cited by Axios, said Washington and Tehran had “decided to stop all the kinetic activity,” referring to strikes and other military action.The planned talks, originally expected to focus on technical implementation of the broader US-Iran memorandum, were moved to Qatar after the latest flareup and are now expected to center heavily on the dispute over Hormuz.A senior US administration official said the diplomatic track had not collapsed despite the fighting.“Nothing has been canceled. Technical talks regarding the implementation of MoU are on track for the coming days as planned, and deconfliction channels are up and running after the Lake Lucerne Summit,” the official said.The crisis escalated over the weekend after the US accused Iran of attacking commercial shipping near the Strait of Hormuz.US Central Command said American forces carried out strikes against Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communications systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities after a Panama-flagged tanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude was hit by a one-way attack drone.CENTCOM said the strikes were conducted “in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping.”Iran, for its part, accused Washington of violating the ceasefire and warned that continued US action could halt the diplomatic process.Iranian officials have insisted that Tehran retains the authority to manage traffic through the strait, a position rejected by Washington.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against efforts to create alternative shipping arrangements outside Iran’s preferred framework.“Any attempt to adopt new or separate arrangements compared to what is underway by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will only lead to more complicated situations and delays in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and will increase the tensions,” Araghchi said.The dispute has centered on control of one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. Iran has pushed for vessels to transit along a route closer to its coastline, while the US and regional partners have supported freedom of navigation and alternative routes, including along the Omani side of the waterway.The latest escalation followed reports that Tehran skipped technical talks scheduled for Sunday, citing recent attacks and what Iranian officials described as unmet conditions under the memorandum of understanding.Mehdi Fazaeili, a member of the office responsible for preserving and publishing the works of Iran’s supreme leader, said one issue was whether Iran had access to previously frozen funds.“For example, one of the reasons is checking if we have access to the unfrozen funds, if there is no access then this condition has not been fulfilled,” he told Iranian state television.President Donald Trump issued a sharp warning over the weekend after the US strikes, saying Washington could escalate further if Iran continued violating the ceasefire.“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN! It is very possible that they will never learn!” Trump wrote.“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he added.Despite the threats, US officials indicated Sunday that Washington still wanted the talks to proceed.The temporary stand-down appeared aimed at preventing the Hormuz dispute from spiraling into a broader confrontation while negotiators try to preserve the fragile US-Iran framework reached earlier this month.The post US, Iran agree to halt fighting, restart negotiations in Qatar appeared first on World Israel News.