The United States and Iran have agreed to suspend military strikes in and around the Strait of Hormuz, stepping back from a fresh escalation that threatened to unravel a fragile ceasefire only weeks after both sides halted more than three months of fighting.
The pause comes ahead of a new round of negotiations scheduled for Tuesday in Doha, Qatar, where U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to address unresolved disputes surrounding the ceasefire, including security and commercial navigation through one of the world's most strategically important maritime corridors.
According to Axios, the latest flare-up stemmed largely from differing interpretations of the memorandum of understanding that ended active hostilities earlier this month. Officials familiar with the discussions said disagreements over how shipping traffic should operate through the Strait of Hormuz contributed to the renewed military exchanges.
"We decided to stop all the kinetic activity," a senior U.S. official told Axios, describing the agreement reached Sunday to suspend further attacks before diplomacy resumes.
The renewed confrontation began after President Donald Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire. In a Truth Social post Friday, Trump alleged that Tehran launched attacks against commercial shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The president wrote that the Iranian military had fired "at least four One Way Attack Drones at Ships transversing the Strait of Hormuz," claiming one drone struck the upper deck of a large cargo vessel while three others were intercepted before reaching their targets.
Washington responded with retaliatory military strikes against Iranian targets on at least two separate occasions after the reported attacks, according to the information provided.
At the center of the dispute remains control over maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil supplies under normal market conditions. Tehran has increasingly argued that vessels transiting the strait should comply with Iranian regulations, particularly while operating near its territorial waters.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Iranian officials have been developing a proposal that would require commercial vessels using the waterway to participate in a regional management system that could generate significant new revenue for Tehran. The report said Iranian officials estimate such a system could produce approximately $40 billion annually if fully implemented.
The Wall Street Journal further reported that Iranian officials have presented the concept to neighboring Gulf states, portraying the initiative as a regional arrangement under which participating countries could share revenues generated through maritime transit.
Those proposals have drawn strong opposition from Washington, which has consistently maintained that international waterways should remain open to global shipping without fees imposed by any single nation.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced that $6 billion of Iranian funds held in Qatar would soon be released, presenting the reported development as another outcome of recent negotiations with Washington.
"Based on the plans made, $6 billion out of the total $12 billion of Iranian resources in Qatar will be released and returned to the country, and necessary follow-ups are being carried out," Pezeshkian said. He also described the broader agreement with the United States as "a great victory for the Iranian people."
However, those assertions were quickly challenged.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. officials said no frozen Iranian assets had been released as of Monday. Qatar likewise had not publicly acknowledged any transfer of the funds referenced by the Iranian president, leaving the status of the reported asset release unresolved.
