Trump pauses US strikes in Iran after two weeks of attacks
The Trump administration has paused U.S. strikes in Iran after nearly two weeks of military attacks in the Middle Eastern country.
The break in strikes arrived days after President Donald Trump defended the Iran war, following the deaths of four U.S. troops killed in the conflict last weekend. “We want to get it over with, and we want to do it right, but we have to… do what we came to do,” Trump said. No strikes have occurred since Thursday, July 23.
Iranian and American officials agreed to a ceasefire last month, but it quickly dissolved and Iran has continued to block the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has vowed to take control over the strait, a vital global waterway for the world’s oil supply.
Over two-thirds of Americans surveyed in a Washington Post/Ipsos poll released earlier this month said they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Iran war. The House of Representatives voted July 23 to tell the president to end the war 214-208, with four Republicans siding with Democrats to chide Trump. Senate Republicans subsequently rejected a similar symbolic measure – and opportunity to buck the president.
CNN, New York Times: Iran, Oman hold talks about Strait of Hormuz
CNN and The New York Times reported July 26 that Esmaeil Baghaei, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that officials from Iran and Oman, a neighboring country in the Middle East, held talks about the Strait of Hormuz.
Baghaei described the talks as productive and said officials made progress over the key waterway but didn’t immediately provide details.
Expert tells CNN that US pause could suggest attempt to deescalate the war
A Biden-era national security adviser, Negah Angha, told CNN that the pause in strikes could be an attempt at deescalating the contentious war in Iran.
“It looks like Washington is just trying to cool the temperature, trying to enforce some form of deescalation,” Angha told the outlet.
She also said the United States may be testing whether Iran is also willing to respond by cooling the temperature.
“Everyone is trying to find these diplomatic off-ramps and this could be one of those scenarios,” Angha told CNN.
Contributing: Erin Mansfield
