THE United States military has paused its air strikes on Iran after nearly two weeks of intensive bombing.

Diplomatic efforts pressed ahead yesterday in an effort to stop a return to all-out war between the two sides.

But President Donald Trump has threatened more strikes even as he said the talks are progressing.

Adding to the uncertainty is the impact of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned visit to Mr Trump next week in Washington DC.

Israel, which launched the illegal and unprovoked war on Iran alongside the US on February 28, has been notably absent from the renewed US attacks over Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil normally flows.

A regional official involved in the mediation efforts said concerted diplomacy was under way and that a pause in US strikes and Iranian counterstrikes on US military assets in neighbouring countries was a “positive signal that helps their efforts to de-escalate.”

The source said the US and Iran both want to return to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreed in June and that a compromise, which is now being negotiated, centres around having Iran run vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz with fewer restrictions on ships.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed on Sunday that Iran and Oman had held several rounds of technical talks about the strait in Iran over the weekend.

He said these had made progress and were continuing.

Following the signing of the MoU, a battle for control over the strait has erupted.

Iran demanded that ships use a route near its coastline and said it can potentially charge fees. Ships were increasingly navigating a southern route along the coast of Oman under a US overwatch operation when Iran attacked some vessels.

The US renewed attacks on Iran’s coastal defences and also hit a number of civilian targets.

Despite the lull in fighting, tensions remain high.

Yemen’s Houthi-led government said on Saturday that they had fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi air strikes on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the Yemeni military spokesperson, said the attack targeted facilities in the Red Sea cities of Yanbu and Jizan that belong to Aramco, the world’s largest oil company.

Saudi Arabia’s civil defence said alerts had sounded multiple times early Saturday in both cities, but the kingdom didn’t comment further.