Talks are expected to resume on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar, according to Axios, which first reported the ceasefire.4 min readJun 29, 2026 09:32 AM IST First published on: Jun 29, 2026 at 09:25 AM IST ShareWhatsapptwitterFacebookIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US President Donald Trump. (File Photo/AP)Iran and the United States have agreed to stop striking each other and allow ships to move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, a US official confirmed on Sunday, pulling the two countries back from the edge of a wider conflict after one of the most intense periods of fighting since their war began in February.“Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU. Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” the official said, referring to the 14-point memorandum of understanding signed on 17 June under which the strait was to be reopened to shipping traffic, Reuters reported.Talks are expected to resume on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar, according to Axios, which first reported the ceasefire. The agreement came after days of strikes and counterstrikes that damaged ships, struck US military installations in Gulf countries and killed at least one person.How the latest escalation unfoldedThe fresh round of hostilities began on Thursday when an Iranian projectile struck a cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy shipping route. The US military responded with strikes on Iranian targets. Iran then launched a wave of missiles and drones at US military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain early on Sunday.Story continues below this adAlso read Iran war live: Iran issues ‘serious warning’ to Bahrain as US and Iran agree to stand down on strikesKuwait said its air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles with no damage or casualties. In Bahrain, authorities said an Iranian attack damaged a residential building in Muharraq province, with no casualties reported. Bahrain subsequently called on the United Nations Security Council to hold an urgent session to hold Iran accountable, according to Reuters.A US official told Reuters there were no American casualties or major damage to US facilities across the region, though the situation was still developing at the time.Qatar’s interior ministry confirmed that a Qatari national died after sustaining injuries from shrapnel aboard a vessel that had gone missing on Saturday. A second person was injured in the same incident, which the ministry attributed to military operations in the area without providing further details, CNN reported.Trump’s warning before the stand-downShortly before the ceasefire was announced, President Donald Trump issued a stark warning on social media, saying the United States might be forced to complete the job militarily if Iran did not honour the peace agreement. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist,” he wrote, Reuters reported.pic.twitter.com/CP1OWTEDYv— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 27, 2026Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said countries in the region must not allow their territory or facilities to be used for attacks on Iran. He also said Washington bears direct responsibility for halting Israeli strikes on Lebanon, which have continued despite a US-brokered framework agreement signed between Israel, Lebanon and the United States on 26 June, CNN reported. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group exchanging fire with Israel in southern Lebanon, was not party to that agreement and has rejected it.Story continues below this adWhere things stand nowThe 14-point interim peace accord was originally designed to halt fighting that the US and Israel began on 28 February and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while negotiations continued on Iran’s nuclear programme and other outstanding issues.Most Read1In a first, Japan to run overnight Shinkansen bullet train on Tokyo-Osaka route2US-Iran War Highlights: US, Iran to stand down on strikes as technical talks set to continue3Saudi Aramco helicopter crashes in Ras Tanura, killing 14 people4Iran draws red line on Hormuz after fresh round of strikes with US: Major developments5‘Face hell’ vs ‘will complete job’: Iran, Trump trade threats as war looms in Gulf6Iran war live: US and Iran halt strikes, agree to ‘stand down’ ahead of Doha talksOne round of mediated talks, led by US Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, was held in Switzerland the previous week. Washington waived sanctions on Tehran at that point, but fighting resumed and intensified shortly afterwards, Reuters reported.Also read Ceasefire on the edge: How tanker attacks in two days pulled the US and Iran back to warBoth sides have accused the other of violating the ceasefire. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said US strikes had violated the agreement and warned that American bases in the region would face consequences. Washington said Iranian attacks had missed their intended targets.Despite the renewed stand-down, the situation remains in flux. Lebanon, Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear programme all remain unresolved, and Tuesday’s talks in Doha will face the task of keeping a ceasefire together that has already broken down once.AdvertisementLoading Recommendations...Advertisement