US, Iran pause their attacks after days of escalation

CAIRO — The United States and Iran paused their attacks for a second straight day Sunday, as efforts continued to bring them back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire. It was not clear why the U.S.

has paused after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon did not respond to questions. U.

S. President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space. He’s giving it a little bit of room," Mike Waltz, the U.

S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News. "We’ve had both Oman and Iran, and a number of our other negotiators, engaged at every level, from the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level over the past few weeks, and particularly in the past few days."

Waltz dismissed the idea that the U.S. stockpile of interceptors crucial in defending against Iranian attacks is running low, but experts have questioned how long both the U.

S. and Iran can afford to keep up attacks. Since the U.

S.