US pauses Iran airstrikes after 13 days as Oman seeks Strait of Hormuz deal
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9 days · 10 summary articles
The United States has paused its airstrikes on Iran after 13 days of continuous attacks, according to multiple sources. The pause comes as Oman pursues a deal to secure transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Iran has also halted its retaliatory operations in the Gulf, but has warned that the conflict could expand if the US resumes its attacks.
The decision to pause the strikes follows concerns about dwindling US munitions stockpiles. Vice President JD Vance and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both raised concerns about the US munitions stockpile with President Donald Trump during a White House meeting on Friday, a US official told CNN. Operations are “on a hold,” a Department of Defense source told the broadcaster on Saturday.
Despite the pause in US strikes, the conflict has continued to spread. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, and Iran accused Ukraine of targeting one of its vessels in the Caspian Sea. The US military said on Saturday its naval blockade against Iran “remains in full effect” but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying one sailor was killed and another injured. The ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest over an attack it described as “hostile and criminal,” state news agency IRNA said.
The pause in hostilities comes ahead of a key meeting scheduled in Washington between President Donald Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on July 28. That visit falls exactly five months since US and Israeli forces launched a wide campaign of air strikes on Iranian targets.
Iran has pushed back, attacking US allies in the Middle East and essentially closing the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint waterway through which a massive amount of oil and gas normally passes en route to global markets. In past weeks, Washington declared a partial cease-fire, though prior to July 24, there were nearly two weeks of consecutive US bombardments of Iranian targets.
The lull in US attacks were partly motivated by dwindling US stockpiles for interceptors to shoot down Iranian missiles, which has worried US military planners, according to The New York Times. Vice President JD Vance and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both raised concerns about escalation at a White House meeting, CNN reported.
A spokesman for Iran's military warned on July 26 that the war would widen even further if the US chose to restart its attacks. "These attacks continued until two nights ago, but over the past two nights the Americans have stopped their attacks," army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia was quoted by Iran's semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying. "Since... our strategy has essentially been retaliatory, we have also halted our retaliatory operations,” he said.
Speaking at the White House on July 26, Trump said he had not decided whether to return to an all-out operation. He also said Iran faced a choice between a deal and strikes at a "much higher level.”
In addition to concerns about US weapons stockpiles, growing misgivings among US voters could also be weighing on White House war plans.
The conflict has also drawn in other regional players. [Saudi Arabia’s](en.wikipedia.org) vast oil supplies now increasingly depend on a single exit point, the Suez Canal, due to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas discussed regional developments including an alleged Ukrainian strike on an Iranian commercial vessel and mounting tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran urged a decisive response from the international community to the deadly incident.
The pause in US strikes and Iran’s halt in retaliatory operations have raised hopes for a diplomatic solution, but the situation remains tense. The conflict has already disrupted energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz and could affect a second major shipping route, reigniting Yemen’s civil war.
The US military has maintained that its forces remain well-equipped. Spokesman Sean Parnell told CNN that "the US military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities."
Despite the Gulf lull, Saturday’s fighting between Iran’s Houthi allies and Saudi Arabia showed that the war, which has already disrupted energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, could affect a second major shipping route and reignite Yemen’s civil war.
Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying one sailor was killed and another injured. The ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest over an attack it described as “hostile and criminal,” state news agency IRNA said.
The Iranian denunciation coincided with comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Kyiv had noted Russia was passing on to Iran its satellite observations in the Middle East, to enable it to direct strikes in the region.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday.
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