Trump paused attacks on Iran to make space for talks, US ambassador says

Trump paused attacks on Iran to make space for talks, US ambassador saysImage source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption, An oil tanker moored off the coast of Muscat, Oman near the Strait of HormuzByGrace Eliza GoodwinPublished3 minutes agoPresident Donald Trump has paused attacks on Iran for the second night in a row to give diplomacy more time, the US ambassador to the UN has said.Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, ambassador Mike Waltz said the president was "giving talks some space, he's giving it a little bit of room".An Iranian army spokesperson said on Sunday that Tehran had halted "retaliatory" attacks in the region in response.The pause follows nearly two weeks of daily US strikes and tit-for-tat attacks, effectively unravelling the ceasefire struck in June.Asked whether Trump had decided against escalation for now, Waltz told NBC: "I wouldn't go that far at all. The president is keeping all options on the table."Waltz also rejected reports in the New York Times, external that administration officials had warned expanding hostilities could dangerously drain a diminished stockpile of air defence munitions."The US military... has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be," he said.Meanwhile, Iran and Oman held several rounds of technical talks in Tehran on Friday and Saturday to discuss management of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei. Disputes over control of the strait reignited US-Iran tensions earlier this month and it remains a major block to permanently ending the war.Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding in June to halt military operations and reopen the strait, as well as to reach an agreement to end the war over the following 60 days.But after Iranian forces attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on 13 July, the US resumed airstrikes on the country and reinstated its naval blockade on Iranian ports...