Trump says U.S. will “go back to doing what we were doing” if Iran talks stall

The government of Qatar on Monday strongly condemned attacks by Iran-backed groups in Iraq “that attempted to target oil facilities in the Eastern Province and Riyadh regions of the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using drones.”

Saudi Arabia’s military confirmed earlier that drones targeting oil infrastructure in the two locations were intercepted, causing no damage.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed the State of Qatar’s full solidarity with the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its support for all legitimate measures it takes to safeguard its sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity,” the Qatari ministry said in its statement, shared on social media.

“Israel’s continued destruction of homes and bulldozing of villages in southern Lebanon constitutes a direct violation of human rights and a clear breach of international laws and norms,” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said during a meeting Monday with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, according to a statement from the president’s office.

“Israel has also targeted religious and heritage sites, demonstrating premeditated intentions against both people and property, especially since such sites are not military targets and do not host armed groups,” said Aoun, calling for “international action to put an end to” the Israeli operations against the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.

“Lebanon remains committed to implementing the ‘Framework Formula,’ but fears that Israeli practices will undermine its effectiveness, and it will not accept the continued violation of its provisions,” he said, referring to a deal brokered by the U.S. between Israel and Lebanon.

Türk said the U.N. human rights office was monitoring developments in Lebanon, “particularly the continued Israeli attacks since March 2, in order to prepare a detailed report on violations affecting human rights,” according to Aoun’s office.

Saudi air defenses intercepted several drones launched from Iraq on Monday that were targeting petroleum facilities, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, the spokesperson for Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense, said in a brief statement shared on social media.

Al-Maliki said the “terrorist attempts were launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by terrorist militias affiliated with Iran,” and he stressed the kingdom’s inherent right to defend itself and to “respond at the appropriate time and place.”

Iran has not launched drone or missile strikes on Saudi Arabia or other Persian Gulf states since U.S. forces paused their attacks on Iran on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters before leaving for a visit to Washington on Monday that he would discuss with President Trump “all the issues on the agenda, primarily Iran.”

“Our goal is to maintain our security and also expand the circle of peace around us,” Netanyahu said. “I am embarking on this mission with one clear goal – to ensure the security, strength and future of our precious State of Israel.”

Netanyahu, who will also attend the funeral of former U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, said he would “pay my last respects to our friend, a true friend of mine and of the State of Israel.” 

Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and a key maritime chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz, dropped to its lowest level in months on Sunday after Iran’s Houthi rebel allies in Yemen traded fire with Saudi Arabia, according to shipping intelligence firm Kpler.

The Houthis attacked oil installations along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast on Saturday and said their blockade of Saudi ports would remain in effect. The Houthis imposed their blockade last week in response to Saudi attacks on their infrastructure.

Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb had increased last week, as an alternative route for energy products with the Strait of Hormuz largely gridlocked, but Sunday saw only 11 commodity ships transit the passage, which Kpler said was the lowest level in months.

The disruption to shipping through both straits caused oil prices to jump sharply last week, though the lull in fighting between Iran and the U.S. over the weekend has seen the cost of crude fall again.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has not rebounded.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he wants to avoid opening a “new front” after Ukraine’s military struck an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea on Saturday.

“We have to be careful. We have to do everything we can to not open a new front in any way,” Zelenskyy told Britain’s Sky News on Monday. “But we have to be honest: the Iranians and the North Koreans have already attacked us.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian diplomatic representative in Tehran on Saturday to condemn the Ukrainian attack on an Iranian ship, which the ministry said killed one sailor and wounded another. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that the attack “cannot go unanswered.”

Ukraine’s security services said the target was “cargo ships that are subject to international sanctions and were used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia.” 

Zelenskyy alluded to the attacks in a social media post, reporting “very good results from long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea.”

Iran has supported Russia’s war in Ukraine, selling drones including the Shahed-136 to Moscow. Russia has also been accused by U.S. officials of providing intelligence to Iran throughout the war launched jointly by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28, including targeting data on U.S. positions in the Middle East.

Zelenskyy warned Saturday that Russia could be increasing its support for Iran, and he promised to share evidence with the U.S.

“Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and U.S. military facilities located there,” Zelenskyy said on X. “These images subsequently appear in Iran. At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia’s satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes — both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted.”

Zelenskyy is expected to visit Washington this week, though neither his travel, nor a possible meeting with President Trump, have been confirmed.

World shares were mostly higher Monday and oil prices slipped nearly 7% as the U.S. and Iran refrained from fighting while discussing a possible resumption of negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal.

The Pentagon has not openly discussed the pause in attacks on Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure after nearly two weeks of escalating fighting, but U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that it was aimed at “giving diplomacy some space.”

Markets reacted with relief. U.S. futures surged early Monday and the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 6.8% to $85.49. U.S. benchmark crude dropped 7% to $83.06 per barrel.

“Oil’s sharp retreat at the Monday open did more than knock a few dollars off the barrel. It loosened the geopolitical knot that had been tightening around equities, currencies, bonds and central banks for most of July,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX gained 1.6% to 25,497,42 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.8% at 8,436.94. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 10,784.00.

The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 1%.

CBS/AP

Iran’s foreign ministry denied on Monday any current direct negotiations with the U.S., but acknowledged ongoing talks with Oman aimed at finding an arrangement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic.

“The discussions we have had over the past few days have been exclusively with Oman,” ministry spokesman Esmael Baqaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday. 

He said as the two countries with coastline in the strait, Iran and Oman were “trying to establish mechanisms regarding maritime traffic.”

“We currently have no negotiations with the United States. The negotiations that we are having — and which may sometimes be subject to different interpretations — are the same negotiations that we are conducting with Oman, focused on creating the necessary arrangements regarding the Strait of Hormuz.”

An Iranian official told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday that the talks between Iranian and Omani officials over the weekend were constructive, with discussions aimed at reopening the strait moving in a positive direction.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” the pause was aimed at “giving diplomacy some space.”

Waltz said the U.S. would gauge how things are going over the coming days, and he stressed that more U.S. military assets “are moving into the region,” adding: “The regime should believe the president when he says they’re locked and loaded.” 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s navy stopped six vessels trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz through routes not approved by Iranian authorities, state television reported on Monday.

“Last night, six vessels that attempted to transit through a route other than the designated one were stopped by the IRGC Navy with warning shots and turned back,” a state television correspondent reported from the Gulf.

Earlier, state TV had said one was involved in an “incident,” without elaborating.

On Saturday, the Guards said they’d stopped four vessels that were trying to transit through the southern part of the strait after firing warning shots.

Iran has effectively blockaded the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the Middle East war in late February.

More than 400 U.S. service members have been flown out of the Middle East for various types of treatment since Operation Epic Fury began, a U.S. official told CBS News. However, most cases were not combat-related, the official said.

Operation Epic Fury, the military campaign carried out jointly by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, started Feb. 28.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baqaei, said on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz’s status remains unchanged, as Iranian and Omani officials continued talks to manage the safe transit of ships through the waterway that passes between both countries.

Baghaei said the talks had made progress. They took place after Tehran asserted that its interim deal with the U.S. allows it to manage shipping in the strait for now, and objected to U.S. efforts to support a route through the strait that passes close to Oman instead. The strait was considered an international waterway before the war.

The U.S. military on Saturday said its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran continued, with a dozen commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. U.S. forces “remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” it added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he supports Mr. Trump’s pressure on Iran to end its nuclear program. During his upcoming visit to Washington, Netanyahu suggested he wouldn’t share new intelligence with Mr. Trump and instead listen to “what he has in mind, because I think in many ways, it’s his decision.”

CBS/AP

Discussions between Iranian officials and their Omani counterparts over the last two days have been constructive, one Iranian official told CBS News on Sunday. Talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are also moving in a positive direction, the official said.

This diplomacy aims to reopen waterways around the Strait. It’s directly linked to the U.S. halting strikes on Iran for the last two consecutive nights, although President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth say the Strait is open already, and the U.S. controls it.

The U.S. Central Command paused bombings Friday and Saturday after 13 straight days of strikes. Tehran also paused bombings on Sunday.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday that the pause was aimed at “giving diplomacy some space.”

“It’s giving diplomacy a little bit of time. The president tried diplomacy last year, tried it this year. He is a president of peace. He is giving diplomacy a chance,” said Waltz, who added that the U.S. will gauge how things are going in the coming days. “Make no mistake, assets, additional military assets, are moving into the region. The regime should believe the president when he says they’re locked and loaded.” 

In a letter dated July 10, Trump gave formal notification to Congress that hostilities against Iran resumed on July 7.