US-Iran pause boosts mediation push despite fresh drone strikes in West Asia

Cairo,UPDATED: Jul 27, 2026 20:10 IST

Mediators have made progress in efforts to bring the United States and Iran back to negotiations after both sides paused attacks for three days, regional officials said on Monday, even as scattered strikes by armed groups showed tensions in West Asia remain high.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan were trying to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran and revive an interim ceasefire arrangement that collapsed after recent exchanges of fire. The pause came after nearly two weeks of bombardments that had raised fears of a return to all-out war.

Saudi Arabia said it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq that had targeted its petroleum facilities. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen also claimed they had attacked Saudi oil facilities as part of a separate but related conflict, though it was not clear if they were referring to the same attack. Two drone attacks were also reported against a Kurdish Iranian dissident group in Iraq, while Jordan said it had shot down two drones without saying where they came from. No casualties or damage were reported.

The US paused attacks after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation triggered by Iran firing at ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil shipments. US President Donald Trump is "giving talks some space. He's giving it a little bit of room," Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News. Waltz also rejected suggestions that the US was running low on defensive interceptors. Iran halted its attacks after the American pause, Tehran's army spokesperson told state television on Sunday. In recent days, Tehran had launched counterattacks on countries in the region hosting US forces, killing at least three service members at a base in Jordan and one in Iraq.

One of the regional officials described the progress in mediation efforts as "significant" and said mediators were working with Iran and Oman on a mechanism to manage the movement of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, the centre of the latest strikes and counterstrikes. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in Tehran on Monday that "mediators may convey messages to us from the American side" but added that there were no direct negotiations. He said Iran and Oman had already held talks on Friday and Saturday on managing ship traffic through the waterway.

Baghaei said, "The objective is for Iran and Oman, as the two coastal states, to develop mechanisms to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while respecting the sovereign rights and sovereignty of both coastal states, as well as Iran's security and national interests". He stressed that the waterway remains closed. Tehran has said the interim deal with the US allows it to manage shipping through the strait and potentially charge fees, and it has opposed US support for an alternative route that passes close to Oman. Before the war, ships could use the strait without fees. The US military said on Saturday that its reimposed naval blockade against Iran was continuing, with 12 commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. The 60-day period set under the interim deal in mid-June is now well into its second half, while major issues meant to be negotiated, especially Iran's nuclear programme, have been put aside as mediators try to keep both sides engaged.

Concerns have also grown over shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea. The Houthis last week threatened a blockade of Saudi shipping there and fired at at least one Saudi tanker, setting it on fire. Global energy supplies and the wider economy remain under pressure as petrol prices have risen again. A maritime body overseen by the US Navy said on Sunday that commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was at a three-week low, though no new attacks had been confirmed in the past 72 hours. It said traffic remained steady through Bab el-Mandeb.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would meet Trump in Washington on Tuesday. The two last met there in February, weeks before they launched the war on Iran that killed senior leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon fired at Israel two days after the war began, and Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion. Since then, the US has backed direct talks between Lebanon and Israel aimed at calming that front and finding a way to disarm Hezbollah.

Separately, Baghaei criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after he said over the weekend that Ukraine had struck "vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran" in the Caspian Sea. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Ukraine's strike on an Iranian vessel had killed a sailor. In a post on X, Araghchi called it a "blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war". Iran remains an ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine and has helped Moscow build up its drone expertise.

Overall, the latest pause in fighting between the US and Iran has opened space for mediation, but drone attacks, shipping disruptions and tensions involving Israel, Lebanon and Ukraine show that the wider regional crisis remains unresolved.

With PTI Inputs

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