U.S.-Iran ceasefire strains but talks remain alive

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U.S. keeps Iran talks open

Highlights

U.S.-Iran technical talks are continuing despite recent strikes.
Trump said the ceasefire was over but did not block negotiations.
Hormuz shipping risks remain central to the dispute.
Oil rose earlier this week before steadying.

A U.S. official said Washington remains committed to finding a solution with Tehran, speaking after fresh U.S. strikes on Iranian targets and Iranian attacks on U.S. bases in the region, Bloomberg reports. Regional mediators, including Qatar and Pakistan, have also been trying to preserve the negotiating track after President Donald Trump said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was “over.”

Diplomacy survives the latest clash

The current talks are part of a 60-day window created by the interim peace agreement between Washington and Tehran. That deal was meant to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, ease pressure on global energy flows, and set conditions for a broader accord.

The latest escalation has made that path harder. The U.S. said its strikes were a response to Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran accused Washington of violating the truce and interfering with its control over the waterway.

Trump added to the uncertainty Wednesday when he said the ceasefire was over, though he also indicated that he would not block negotiators from continuing their work. Talks had already been delayed this week as Iran held funeral rites for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Hormuz remains the central pressure point

The dispute over Hormuz sits at the center of the negotiations. The waterway is one of the world’s most important energy routes, and the recent fighting slowed transit through the strait, raising concern in oil and shipping markets.

The U.S. Treasury also revoked a waiver that had allowed Iranian oil sales globally, adding another source of pressure. Oil prices jumped earlier in the week before steadying as traders reassessed whether the clashes would cause a deeper disruption to energy flows.

The main unresolved issues remain difficult: possible tolls on shipping through Hormuz, frozen Iranian assets, and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The U.S. official described Iran’s attacks on vessels as terrorism and said Tehran was failing to meet the deal’s performance-based conditions.

A narrow diplomatic opening

The fact that technical talks are continuing matters because it leaves a path away from full-scale war. The ceasefire is badly weakened, but not all channels have closed.

For markets, the issue is whether diplomacy can restore enough confidence for shipping through Hormuz to normalize. For Washington and Tehran, the harder test is whether they can move beyond crisis management and address the core disputes over shipping rights, oil sales, frozen assets, and Iran’s nuclear program.

Earlier, we reported that Qatar cut LNG ramp-up plans after the tanker strike.

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