US and Iran exchange strikes over Strait of Hormuz, agree to pause hostilities and resume talks in Qatar

The United States and Iran engaged in military exchanges over the Strait of Hormuz on June 27-28, 2026, after Iran allegedly attacked the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku, prompting US strikes on Iranian military facilities and Iranian retaliatory drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait. Both nations agreed on June 28 to pause hostilities and resume talks in Qatar over their fragile 14-point memorandum of understanding signed earlier in June, which gives them 60 days to finalize details. The core dispute centers on shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of global oil and gas supplies before the war, with Washington promoting a southern lane along Oman's coast while Tehran demands a northern route under Iranian control. Hundreds of vessels remain blockaded inside the Gulf, though oil prices have dropped to near prewar levels after some ships recently transited the strait.

US-Iran military strikes

• ▪Tehran launched drone and missile attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait on June 28, 2026, after new US strikes on sites in southern Iran
• ▪US Central Command strikes targeted Iranian military surveillance, communications, air defence, drone storage and mine-laying facilities
• ▪Donald Trump threatened that Iran "will no longer exist" if the US abandons talks and militarily finishes the job
• ▪The US military accused Iran of violating the ceasefire on June 27, 2026, by attacking the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku

Ceasefire pause agreement

• ▪The US and Iran agreed on June 28, 2026, to halt recent hostilities and renew talks on the Strait of Hormuz
• ▪The US-Iran memorandum of understanding gives both countries 60 days to work out details before signing a final agreement
• ▪Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the 14-point memorandum of understanding agreed earlier in June 2026

Strait of Hormuz control

• ▪The Strait of Hormuz carried a fifth of the world's oil and liquid gas supplies before the war
• ▪A Singapore-flagged container ship was struck by an Iranian drone while transiting the southern corridor near the coast of Oman in late June 2026

Iranian attacks on Gulf states

• ▪One Qatari national was killed and a second person injured by shrapnel from military operations in the area on June 27, 2026
• ▪Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near Bahrain's international airport on June 28, 2026, with no one killed
• ▪The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait on June 28, 2026
• ▪Kuwait intercepted two ballistic missiles on June 28, 2026, with no reports of injuries or damage

Qatar mediation efforts

• ▪Abbas Araghchi called for the establishment of a security framework with Gulf countries that would exclude the US on June 28, 2026
• ▪Mediators from Qatar and Pakistan brought representatives of Washington and Tehran together in Switzerland earlier in June 2026

Israel-Lebanon border clashes

• ▪An Israeli soldier was killed on June 28, 2026, after encountering a Hezbollah terrorist in a suspicious structure in Deir Seryan in southern Lebanon
• ▪Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement on June 26, 2026, aimed at ending hostilities
• ▪The Lebanese armed forces will assume responsibility for local security and dismantling the military infrastructure of Hezbollah under the Israel-Lebanon agreement
• ▪Israel invaded southern Lebanon in March 2026 in a new offensive against Hezbollah
• ▪The Israel-Lebanon agreement calls for Israeli forces to begin an initial withdrawal from southern Lebanon and their replacement by the Lebanese armed forces

Perspective of Iran

• ▪Abbas Araghchi called for the establishment of a security framework with Gulf countries that would exclude the US on June 28, 2026