US President Donald Trump has suspended attacks on Iran to give more space for diplomacy, Reuters reported, citing a statement by US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mike Walz to "Fox News", BTA reports
"He is giving some space to negotiations, leaving them some space", Walz said in an interview with the television channel.
Walz did not give further details about the nature of the negotiations, but over the weekend there was a lull in the exchange of blows between Iran and the United States. The Pentagon has suspended bombing after 13 consecutive nights of escalating strikes, and there were no reported attacks by Iran on neighboring countries over the weekend.
When asked about the suspension, a senior Trump administration official said yesterday that the president "has always been adamant that he favors diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they don't sit down at the negotiating table and get serious about this."
Iran stopped striking neighboring Persian Gulf states two days ago because the United States stopped bombing Iranian territory, he said today. the Iranian army, stressing that Tehran's strategy is based on “retaliatory actions”, AFP reported earlier.
“Over the past two nights, the Americans have stopped their attacks. Since our strategy is mainly based on retaliation, we have also stopped our operations”, spokesman Mohammad Akraminya said in an interview with state television.
No US bombings were reported in Iran at dawn this morning. It was the second consecutive night of a lull in hostilities, while US media reported a possible shortage of ammunition after nearly five months of war. In the capital Tehran, which was not hit by the bombings, life went on as normal amid the usual traffic jams and heatwave, AFP's team on the ground reported.
Although President Donald Trump said on Friday he did not rule out more bombing, the lull is remarkable after two weeks of strikes at an unprecedented intensity since a ceasefire in April.
Iran has not claimed responsibility for any attacks on its Gulf allies, which did not report any airstrikes overnight.
According to the “New York Times“, citing two sources familiar with the matter, the US government is concerned about the reduction in the stockpile of interceptors for the “Patriot“ missile defense systems and other defense equipment protecting regional U.S. allies that Iran has attacked in response to U.S. strikes. CNN, citing a Defense Department source, also said that military operations against Iran had been “paused”, citing the same reasons.