Published on 6/28/2026
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Last update: 6/29/2026 01:26 (Mecca time)
Axios quoted American officials as saying that the United States decided to stop all combat activities with Iran, after a round of mutual escalation in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz.
An American official – whom Axios described as senior – said that Washington and Tehran will meet next Tuesday in Doha to settle the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.
The website stated that the hotline between the US Army and the Revolutionary Guard had not entered service until Saturday.
A senior American official told Al Jazeera that the technical talks to implement the memorandum of understanding with Iran have not been canceled and are still scheduled in the coming days, adding that the channels for resolving the dispute with Iran are still in place and active following the Swiss talks last week.
Axios also quoted a US official as saying that ships can move freely in the Strait of Hormuz during technical talks.
Reasons for the recent escalation
This announcement comes after a round of escalation. Washington said that the merchant ship “Kiko” was attacked while crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
As a result, the US Central Command carried out strikes targeting 10 Iranian sites, which it said included radars, missile platforms, drones, and sites for preparing sea mines on Qeshm Island and the Sirik region.
Tehran responded by targeting American military sites, including the Ali Al-Salem base in Kuwait and the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, considering that the American strikes represented a violation of the memorandum of understanding, while Washington insisted that they came to protect freedom of navigation and prevent the threat to commercial ships.
Although the strikes stopped – since dawn yesterday – the scene does not reflect the end of the crisis, according to Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tehran, Omar Hawash, who confirmed that the two parties are still “with their hands on the trigger,” in light of the continuing dispute over Article Five of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Strait of Hormuz, which calls for the safe passage of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran opposes US efforts to establish alternative routes closer to the Omani side.
The temporary agreement between Washington and Tehran, consisting of 14 clauses, was supposed to stop the fighting that the United States and Israel began on February 28, and allow the opening of the strait to maritime traffic until talks were held on more complex issues, such as the Iranian nuclear program.
