WASHINGTON (July 27, 2026) – The U.S. and Iran have halted strikes for two weeks to give diplomats time to focus on peace talks. Iran has also paused military operations against regional targets. Although the U.S. and Iran are not directly communicating, they’re negotiating through mediators.
The Strait of Hormuz, the waterway where a fifth of global oil supply flowed before the conflict, is still under a U.S. blockade. Oman, a country that borders the strait opposite Iran, has emerged as a key mediator in the negotiations. Last Friday, an Omani official was in Iran to help negotiate an agreement that would allow ships to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz.
For more analysis on these developments, please consider Gordon Gray, the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the GW Elliott School of International Affairs. Gray worked for the U.S. government for 35 years. Gray’s public service included U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia from 2009-2012, Senior Advisory to the Ambassador in Iraq 2008-2009, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2005- 2008. His other foreign assignments included Egypt (where he served as Deputy Chief of Mission from 2002 until 2005), Canada, Jordan, Pakistan, and Morocco, where he began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer.
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