U.S. and Iran Talks Set for Tomorrow After Hormuz Attacks

Talks between the U.S. and Iran are still set to take place tomorrow in Qatar after a weekend of flare-ups in the Strait of Hormuz, where the Iranian regime carried out drone attacks on a commercial oil tanker. The Times of Israel reports that the attacks have stopped, and vessels are once again able to move freely through the waterway. Talks had been scheduled for Sunday but were postponed due to the heightened tensions.

Iran has continued to insist on controlling passage through the vital strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas travel in normal times. It did not enjoy such control before the war.

The strait comprises Omani and Iranian territorial waters, but under customary international law the two cannot generally block passage or charge tolls.

Nevertheless, Iran prevented most ships from using the narrow waterway during the war, granting it enormous economic leverage, which it appears reluctant to give up.

The attacks by Iran to enforce its control have triggered repeated tit-for-tats with Washington, the latest of which came early Sunday, when US Central Command said it had attacked 10 Iranian military targets over “continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping” following another strike on a tanker in the region.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it retaliated with strikes against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, which both of those countries condemned. The IRGC claimed the US strikes violated the ceasefire and “will result in the complete halt of all diplomatic processes,” state-run Press TV said. The IRGC navy command said American bases in the region “will experience hell in the coming days.”

While a senior U.S. official said that all military activity in the area has ceased, Tehran has not officially commented on the matter beyond issuing additional threats. President Donald Trump has warned that more military strikes will follow if Iranian aggression continues. He also said that Iran itself requested that the talks take place tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Israel was placed under a state of national emergency following two vehicle bombings that killed six Arab citizens. A 38-year-old man was killed, and his toddler son was injured in one attack yesterday. A resident of Jaffa was killed in a separate bombing. Police have linked the attacks to disputes involving organized crime and drug trafficking.

The Fellowship and our supporters pray that the ceasefire continues to hold and that talks remain productive despite these recent flare-ups. We also pray for the protection of the men and women serving in the U.S. military throughout the region, as well as for the families affected by the recent violence in Israel. May those responsible be brought to justice.