The US military did not conduct any air strikes on Iranian military targets on Friday night. That’s the first time in two full weeks that there have not been any US military strikes on Iranian targets.
– [It marks a pause in what had become] a resumption of open conflict after a ceasefire had been reached between the two countries in the middle of their war, which started on February 28.
– Now, the memorandum of understanding (MoU) reached between the two countries last month is understood to basically no longer be in effect. But the US and Iran are still having low-level contacts in order to try to find a way to perhaps restore the ceasefire – which was broken just about two weeks ago – as well as try to see if there is a way to get to an eventual end to the war.
– The US and Iran are still very much at loggerheads over control of the Strait of Hormuz. The US’s position has traditionally been that this is an international waterway, open to all commercial and military traffic, and no one single nation can control access in and out of the strait.
– The Iranians point to the MoU as justification for their efforts, they say, to try to collect tolls on commercial vessels transiting the strait. At this point, US President Donald Trump has said that it would be perhaps the US’s best interest to try to gain control of the strait.
– But given that there are no air strikes currently under way, it’s possible that this and other points of contention between the two nations may be under discussion
https://aje.news/17jfvn?update=4804628