U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes Over Hormuz, Agree to Resume Talks

The United States and Iran agreed Friday to resume diplomatic talks even as both sides continued exchanging military strikes over control of the Strait of Hormuz, with President Donald Trump declaring on social media that last month's ceasefire was definitively "OVER."

Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran had asked to continue negotiations and the United States had consented, but that Washington had made clear "in no uncertain terms" that the cease-fire established by a June 17 memorandum of understanding no longer held. Iran did not immediately confirm that it had made such a request.

Since Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said American forces had struck approximately 170 targets inside Iran, including air defense systems, drone and missile storage sites, and military speedboats. Iran retaliated by striking U.S. assets across the region and targeting three commercial tankers navigating the strait.

Analysts at maritime intelligence firm Windward described this week's exchange of fire as "the most significant escalation of the conflict since its opening phase" in late February and early March, when the war began.

At the center of the dispute is which shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz commercial vessels are entitled to use. Under the June memorandum, Iran promised safe passage to ships, but Tehran has insisted that vessels must use a northern route through Iranian territorial waters. The United States has been escorting tankers through a southern corridor along Oman's coast, bypassing Iranian-controlled waters. Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned Thursday that U.S. military "interference in determining the routes of maritime traffic" would be met with a "decisive response."

Qatari officials traveled to Iran on Friday in an effort to de-escalate tensions and create conditions for broader negotiations, according to reporting from Doha. Qatar's prime minister, in a post on social media, said he had appealed to both sides to uphold their commitments to the June agreement.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf signaled on Friday that Tehran remained open to diplomacy. "Ending the war is a priority for the countries of the world," he said, "but everyone should know that this conflict will never end with Iran's surrender."

Trump, earlier in the week at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, had said he did not want to deal with Iran anymore. On his way back from the summit, he said Iran had called seeking a deal. "They want to make a deal so badly," he said, while adding he was uncertain whether Iran would honor any agreement.

Oil prices edged lower Friday, with global benchmark Brent crude futures easing to $76.30 per barrel. The ongoing hostilities have kept oil prices elevated; the current national average for a gallon of gasoline stood at $3.88, roughly $0.71 higher than a year ago.

The June memorandum had called for an immediate end to fighting, the lifting of a U.S. naval blockade on Iran, and the opening of the strait. Both sides have accused the other of violating those terms before the latest escalation. Trump has also threatened to reinstate the naval blockade and impose new oil sanctions on Iran in response to the tanker attacks.