Mediators push to keep U.S.-Iran talks going after intense flare-up

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a series of telephone calls Thursday with senior regional officials, including the foreign ministers of Oman, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as Pakistan’s army chief, to discuss regional developments following an intense exchange of attacks with the U.S. this week.

The flare-up, sparked by Iranian strikes on several commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, appeared to ease by Thursday evening after the most intense rounds of U.S. strikes since the ceasefire was agreed in mid-June. 

In separate calls with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al-Busaidi and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Araghchi discussed the latest regional developments, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz. 

All diplomats on the calls stressed the importance of using diplomatic channels, maintaining contacts and coordination, and working to prevent further escalation, according to the Iranian government’s description of the calls.

Araghchi also spoke with Pakistan’s Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, during which the Iranian minister strongly condemned “aggressive attacks by the U.S. military on various areas of Iran,” calling them violations of the ceasefire terms laid out in the memorandum of understanding.

Later Thursday, Araghchi held a phone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan to discuss regional developments following what Tehran described as U.S. aggressive actions, as Iran continued diplomatic engagement with neighboring countries amid heightened regional tensions. 

Countries that have mediated between the U.S. and Iran for weeks have been working for the past couple days to ease flaring tension between the two nations and to revive talks aimed at brokering a peace deal that addresses Iranian nuclear ambitions and other sensitive matters.

The diplomacy was set back by a dramatic flare-up early this week, as the U.S. responded to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz with the most punishing series of airstrikes since the memorandum of understanding was signed in mid-June. Iran said at least 14 people were killed, and it lashed out with missiles targeting U.S. Gulf allies.

Qatar, Pakistan and other nations in the region have been working to bring Iran and the U.S. back to the negotiating table, sources with knowledge of the discussions told CBS News on Thursday. 

While there has been little to indicate serious diplomatic progress over the last day or so, neither Iran nor the U.S. launched more strikes Thursday night into Friday morning.

This week’s exchange of strikes by the U.S. and Iran represented a sharp escalation between the countries. The U.S. military said Navy and Air Force weapons had hit a total of at least 170 targets in Iran on Tuesday and Wednesday – 17-times the number struck during the last salvo on June 26. 

It was the most intense U.S. assault on Iran since President Trump and his Iranian counterpart signed the memorandum of understanding declaring a ceasefire in mid-June.

This week U.S. Central Command said it specifically targeted military sites, including Iranian air defenses and missile and drone storage and launch sites, along the country’s coastline at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting a possible strategic motive to reduce Iran’s ability to target ships in the region.

Iran retaliated on a larger scale, too, launching missiles and drones at Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Jordan. U.S. officials reported no significant damage to U.S. facilities in the allied nations, and U.S. casualties, and most of the weapons were intercepted.

While it was a significant escalation, it did not appear to be a return to full combat operations, however. During the height of the war, Iran was firing hundreds of missiles and drones every day at U.S. allies, and the U.S. was launching hundreds of airstrikes.

Notably, Israel has appeared to stay out of the latest eruption of fighting, and Iran has not targeted Israel this week.

President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to Netanyahu’s office and a White House official.

Netanyahu’s office said that Mr. Trump updated Netanyahu about “American moves in the Gulf,” and also addressed “continued coordination between the countries in various sectors.”

A White House official confirmed the call took place, but did not provide details.

A U.S. official told CBS News on Thursday that President Trump views the Iranian strikes earlier this week on three commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz as acts of terrorism.

The U.S. official said the 60-day ceasefire signed last month between the U.S. and Iran is performance-based, and Iran’s actions in those strikes “failed performance at an unacceptable level.”

According to the U.S. official, however, “technical talks” between the two sides are continuing. When asked about the ceasefire on Wednesday, Mr. Trump had said that “as far as I’m concerned, it’s over.” The president also said peace negotiations would continue, claiming that Iran “wants to make a deal so badly.”

The U.S. official also reaffirmed Thursday the U.S. position that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

The U.S. military reiterated its insistence on Thursday that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.

In a social media post, U.S. Central Command said that, since early May, U.S. forces had helped more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil transit the strait.

The statement came after the U.S. said Iran struck three commercial tankers in the strait earlier this week, reigniting fighting between the two sides amid what has been a shaky ceasefire.

The maritime journal Lloyd’s List reported Thursday that strait traffic had “fallen sharply” since the two sides began exchanging strikes Tuesday. 

The MarineTraffic.com tracking website showed early Thursday that there were just three fuel tankers in the strategic waterway openly broadcasting their positions — two of which are subject to U.S. sanctions for transporting Iranian oil.

“We’re certainly better than we were in March and April, but until we have some sort of substantial agreement … it’s just going to remain very, very volatile,” Andrew Wilson, head of research at BRS shipbrokers, said of shipping through the strait during a webinar held Thursday by Lloyd’s List.

“We’re not going back to February 27, and I think everybody understands that,” Lloyd’s List editor-in-chief Richard Meade said at the briefing. “A tentative 60-day agreement with few guarantees was never really going to change the dial much in terms of shipping decisions.”

The Iranian government said the eldest son of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike at the start of the Iran war, oversaw his father’s funeral services Thursday as he was laid to rest.

Mostafa Hosseini Khamenei led the funeral prayer, the Iranian government said in an X post.

Khamenei’s second son, Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, was named the new supreme leader of Iran in March, but he has not been seen in public since before the war and U.S. officials have said he was severely injured in the strike that killed his father, possibly disfigured.  

Week-long memorial services for the senior Khamenei, who ruled over Iran for almost four decades before he was killed on the first day of U.S.-Israeli strikes, ended Thursday evening with his state funeral and burial in the city of Mashhad, in northeast Iran.

Tens of thousands of people came out to pay their respects to the late ayatollah at events in Iran and neighboring Iraq over the last week, often holding signs and burning effigies calling for the killing of President Trump.