Iran Halts Strikes

as Trump Gives Space to Talks, Ending 13-Night Bombing Campaign

Report By Y-Trendz

Washington/Tehran, July 27, 2026 — Iran and the United States held their fire for a second consecutive night on Sunday, offering a fragile respite to Gulf shipping lanes and global oil markets

after President Donald Trump called off a 13-night bombing campaign against Iran to allow room for renewed diplomacy. Tehran responded by suspending its own retaliatory strikes on Washington's regional allies, though officials on both sides cautioned that the pause remains tactical rather than a settled shift toward peace.

Thirteen Nights of Strikes, Then a Pause

Until Friday, U.S. forces had struck Iran nightly for nearly two weeks in the most intense escalation of the conflict since a ceasefire brokered in April temporarily halted major fighting. According to Axios, the Pentagon had been presenting Trump with strike plans each afternoon, which he signed off on nightly, until the latest proposal reached him on Friday and he chose not to proceed. A U.S. Department of Defense source told CNN that operations are now "on hold."

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said Trump had decided to pause the campaign to give negotiations breathing room, while stressing that American forces remained on high alert and ready to resume operations if needed. Iran's army spokesman, Mohammad Akraminia, confirmed that Tehran had mirrored the pause, noting that Iranian retaliatory operations had also stopped over the same two-night period since Tehran's strategy has largely been reactive to U.S. action.

The pause marks a turning point in a war that has now stretched nearly five months since the United States and Israel launched their campaign against Iran in February, with the conflict having already outlasted Trump's early prediction that it would last only four or five weeks.

Why Washington Pulled Back

Behind the decision to stand down lies a more practical concern: dwindling munitions stockpiles. The New York Times, citing officials briefed on internal deliberations, reported that plans to intensify the U.S. campaign had been shelved in part because of shrinking supplies of air-defence interceptor missiles needed to protect American bases and regional partners from Iranian ballistic missiles and drone attacks. Concerns reportedly surfaced during a White House meeting on Friday night, with Vice President JD Vance and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine among those who raised objections to continuing the escalation.

Trump is also said to be weighing broader strategic risks, including the danger of the conflict widening into a larger regional war, growing strain with vulnerable Gulf Arab allies, and further shocks to an already jittery global economy. Even so, Trump signalled Friday that he had not ruled out returning to full-scale operations, telling reporters that talks with Iran were ongoing and that Tehran appeared to be taking negotiations more seriously.

Strait of Hormuz Remains the Flashpoint

The renewed fighting since the April ceasefire has centred heavily on the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical energy shipping corridor, which Iran has sought to keep under its control even after a June interim agreement had reopened the waterway to traffic. U.S. forces have struck bridges and tunnels in southern Iran in recent weeks, prompting Iranian retaliation against water desalination plants that Gulf Arab states rely on to sustain their desert cities. Adding to the pressure on global shipping, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen announced a blockade on Saudi oil shipments through the Red Sea over the past week, raising the prospect of a second major maritime chokepoint being disrupted.

Iran's foreign ministry said Sunday that technical and political consultations with Washington were continuing through Omani intermediaries, describing talks specifically over the status of the strait as productive.

Scepticism in Tehran, Support from Israel

Despite the lull in fighting, a senior Iranian source told reporters that Tehran held little hope the pause reflected any genuine shift in the U.S. negotiating position, describing the mood in Iran as one of scepticism rather than optimism, and noting that Iran has accumulated painful experience with what it regards as American deception in past negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also speaking to Fox News, voiced support for Trump's efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear programme, saying he had no objection if that goal could be achieved without a return to intense fighting, while making clear that Iran's nuclear programme must end one way or another, whether through a negotiated deal or otherwise.

What Comes Next

With both sides publicly committed to holding fire only as long as the other does the same, the durability of the pause remains uncertain. Analysts and officials on both sides describe the current calm as conditional, dependent on progress in the Oman-mediated talks and on whether Washington's underlying constraints — from munitions supply to political risk tolerance — continue to favour restraint over renewed escalation in the days ahead.