Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his government has been granted more authority by the country’s supreme leader to pursue peace talks, as President Donald Trump hinted at progress in negotiations.

Iran received a letter sent by US Vice President JD Vance to its top security official, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, with one of the country’s top negotiators later suggesting Tehran’s positions on ending the war will not be compromised.

The US attacked more Iranian oil tankers overnight, with the worsening tensions over control of the Strait of Hormuz sending Brent crude beyond $100 a barrel.

Iran’s economy was already under strain before the US and Israel launched their war on the Islamic Republic, grappling with negative growth, soaring inflation and a currency crisis. Those problems were compounded by strikes on the nation’s civilian and industrial infrastructure and the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi discussed an “interim framework” aimed at resuming shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a joint statement carried by the Oman News Agency, as the two sides press ahead with long-running talks over navigation through the key waterway.

Lebanon saw its deadliest day of fighting in months, heaping pressure on stalled US-Iran negotiations while Washington prepares fresh economic measures.

Iran and Oman appear to be edging closer to a deal on how the Strait of Hormuz should be managed, agreeing on routes through the key waterway that’s proved a major stumbling block in efforts to end almost six months of war between the Islamic Republic and the US.

More ships have come under attack in the Strait of Hormuz as talks to end the war in the Middle East remain stalled and the US readies new economic measures to force Iran to capitulate.

US President Donald Trump is pushing Iran to reach a deal with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz as soon as Tuesday, or face devastating air strikes.

President Donald Trump said his latest offer of talks is a “last chance” for Iran after he called off what he said was a major attack on the Islamic Republic.

The US and Iran exchanged airstrikes as fighting in the five-month war flared up once again, with hostilities now spreading across the Middle East.

The US said its forces were targeted by Iran overnight while Washington and Saudi Arabia struck Tehran-backed militias in Iraq, abruptly ending a days-long lull in hostilities.

US President Donald Trump said he’d prefer to avoid another escalation in the war with Iran and urged Tehran to make a deal, laying the ground for further diplomacy after both sides paused tit-for-tat strikes.

The US paused an almost two-week run of strikes against Iran for a second night while the Islamic Republic signaled it was refraining from any retaliatory attacks and held talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz.

Skirmishes between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia intensified as a pause in the nearly two-week run of nightly US strikes on Iran raised fresh questions about President Donald Trump’s strategy in the war.

The Houthis claimed to have hit Saudi Arabia with missiles on Saturday morning, deepening their involvement in the Middle East war, while the US appeared to end a run of 13 days of strikes on Iran.

The Iran-backed Houthis claimed their first attack on commercial ships in recent months, opening a new front in the US-Iran war that has already disrupted global energy supplies and rattled bond markets.

The Houthis, a militant group in Yemen who have been threatening to open another front in the Iran war, said they had targeted two oil tankers in the Red Sea.

The US widened the scope of its airstrikes on Iran overnight, as President Donald Trump and officials in Tehran signaled a renewal of peace talks is unlikely in the near-term.

The US and Iran engaged in a quickening series of tit-for-tat attacks, with the American military conducting a wave of strikes on the Islamic Republic following the deaths of service personnel.