MEDIATORS have achieved progress in efforts to get the United States and Iran back into negotiations and avert an all-out war in the Middle East, two regional officials said today.

Neither Washington nor Tehran reported carrying out any attacks for three successive days, following about two weeks of sustained bombardments that had raising increasing fears of a return to the illegal and unprovoked war launched by the US and Israel on Iran.

The two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan were working to bridge the gap between the two sides to allow a return to an interim ceasefire deal that had been largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire.

The US has paused attacks after targeting Iranian coastal areas and civilian infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran firing at ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil shipments. 

The Pentagon did not respond to questions.

US President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space. He’s giving it a little bit of room,” Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News on Sunday.

Mr Waltz dismissed suggestions that the US stockpile of interceptors crucial in defending against Iranian attacks is running low, but experts have questioned how long both the US and Iran can afford to keep up attacks.

One of the regional sources described the progress made in mediation efforts as “significant.” 

He said the mediators were working with Iran and Oman on a mechanism for managing vessels’ transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the flashpoint for the latest strikes and counterstrikes.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told a news conference in Tehran that mediators were passing on messages, but there were no direct negotiations taking place.

“Mediators may convey messages to us from the American side regarding ongoing developments in the region. But at present, we have no negotiations with the American side,” Mr Baghaei said.

“The objective is for Iran and Oman, as the two coastal states, to develop mechanisms to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while respecting the sovereign rights and sovereignty of both coastal states, as well as Iran’s security and national interests.” 

However, he stressed that the waterway remained closed.