The US has paused strikes on Iran for a third night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war.
Oil prices fell on Monday as markets responded to the pause in combat.
Trump is said to be weighing up diplomatic and military options in the nearly five-month-old conflict, with Binyamin Netanyahu expected to visit the White House on Tuesday. The Israeli prime minister is a vocal critic of Washington’s negotiations with Iranian leaders and has pressed for the US to continue its strikes against Iran.
Netanyahu is under considerable political pressure to show that his military campaigns against Iran and Hizbullah in Lebanon have yielded results before elections scheduled for October.
Tehran said on Sunday it would pause what it called “retaliatory” attacks against US allies in the region. “These [US] attacks continued until two nights ago, but over the past two nights the Americans have stopped their attacks,” said army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia. “Our strategy has essentially been retaliatory, we have also halted our retaliatory operations.”
