Iran says it still controls strait, not seeking talks, after Trump halts bombing

Iran said on Monday it was still in control of the Strait of Hormuz and not seeking to resume peace talks ‌with the United States, after President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing campaign that his top brass told him had run its course, Reuters reported.

Following 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing that provoked Tehran to fire on U.S. bases in response, Trump halted the campaign over the weekend. Iran said it would suspend its own attacks for as long as the U.S. pause endures.

The end of the U.S. bombing campaign sent oil prices tumbling in the hope that disrupted global supplies could resume flowing. Brent crude, which had briefly ticked above $100 a barrel last week for the first time since May, plunged more than 8% by mid-morning on Monday to just under $89.

But in signs on Monday that Tehran may already be testing the effective new ceasefire, Jordan reported shooting down two drones and Iraqi security sources said drones had struck a base of Iranian Kurdish opposition fighters in northern ⁠Iraq. There were no reports of casualties in either incident.

Trump's decision to suspend the campaign reflected advice from his military that the bombing, aimed at breaking Iran's grip on the strait, had reached the limits of what it could achieve, according to a U.S. official and several U.S. media reports.

The U.S. official told Reuters that military commanders had advised the president they were running out of targets. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, had expressed concern over the depletion of air defence munitions, the official said.