Iran and US reach outline ceasefire deal after latest attacks; pending Trump’s approval

WASHINGTON/DUBAI - The United States and Iran reached an outline agreement on May 28 to extend their ceasefire pending the approval of President Donald Trump, after Iran had targeted a US air base in Kuwait following US strikes on what Washington called an Iranian drone operation.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the two sides agreed a memorandum of understanding to extend the truce for 60 days but the plan still needed Mr Trump’s signoff.

The news was first reported by Axios, which said that negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme would be held during that period. The reports prompted oil prices to reverse course and trade lower on hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr Trump has repeatedly said the end of the war is close but told media at a Cabinet meeting on May 27 he was not yet satisfied by the negotiations and that the US was not discussing easing sanctions, one of Tehran’s demands.

US and Iran trade blows

The latest attacks, while limited, highlighted the fragility of negotiations to turn the tenuous early-April ceasefire into a lasting agreement to end the three-month-old war - which has killed thousands - and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command said US forces had shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a sixth.

Kuwaiti forces had then intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country, which hosts a large US base.

“These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” a US official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about military operations, told Reuters earlier.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted the US base responsible for an early-morning attack near Bandar Abbas airport and that any repeat would lead to a “more decisive response”, Tasnim news agency reported.

Kuwait condemned the attack and demanded that Iran immediately halt what it called a serious escalation. The violence, the second flare-up this week, coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha celebrated across the region, where multiple countries have been caught up in the conflict triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb 28.

Mediator Pakistan said its foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, would meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on May 29, although the significance of his visit was unclear.

In Lebanon, which Iran says must be part of any overall peace deal, Israel said it had begun striking infrastructure of Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in the southern city of Tyre and had carried out a strike in the capital Beirut.

The Lebanese army said a strike had killed one of its soldiers, while Israel, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people with a push deep into Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah, said air raid sirens had gone off in its north.

Warning to Oman

The US warned Oman on May 28 not to get involved in any effort to impose a toll in the Strait of Hormuz, saying it will penalise any partners involved in such a system.

“Oman, in particular, should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved - directly or indirectly - in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on X.

Mr Trump said that no single country would have control over the waterway, and appeared to threaten Oman, with which the US has decades-long military and economic ties.

“It’s international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that, they’ll be fine,” he said on May 28.

Oman has not mentioned the idea of joint control of the strait with Iran, with which it says it has discussed freedom of navigation.

Tehran expressed solidarity with Oman after what it called “US officials’ threats”. REUTERS