July 26 (UPI) — After nearly two weeks of nightly bombing, the United States and Iran entered their second day of no new attacks Sunday, U.S. defense officials said.
Pentagon officials told CNN that U.S. attacks on Iran were “on a hold” after 13 consecutive nights of bombing the country. U.S. allies in the war on Iran have also reported no new strikes out of Tehran.
Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia confirmed the pause by his country in a statement carried by The Guardian.
“These [U.S.] attacks continued until two nights ago, but over the past two nights the Americans have stopped their attacks,” he said. “Our strategy has essentially been retaliatory, we have also halted our retaliatory operations.”
U.S. officials told The New York Times that President Donald Trump had delayed his plans to escalate fighting if talks didn’t continue. They said he was motivated by dwindling stockpiles of missile interceptors.
Iranian officials, meanwhile, have portrayed the U.S. pause on strategic fatigue, CNN reported.
Amid the lull in violence, Iran’s foreign ministry said there had been some movement in negotiations regarding the control of the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran had essentially closed the strait to traffic after the United States and Israel began its strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
The action put strain on the world’s energy markets because about one-fifth of the world’s oil transits the strait. The resulting spike on oil and gas prices has put strain on the Trump administration to end the war.