US and Iran pause strikes but disagree over next steps on talks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States and Iran on Monday separately announced they will send delegations to Qatar this week, though Tehran insisted it has not agreed to meet with the U.S. “at any level” after attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend challenged negotiations to end the war.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the Islamic Republic had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts and that they planned to convene Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.

But one of Iran's senior negotiators denied talks had been scheduled. And the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry said Tehran was sending its delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in the negotiations, to discuss terms of the interim deal without involving the U.S.

Hostilities mounted in recent days in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil had been shipped before war began. After four days of trading strikes, both sides appeared to pause their attacks Monday.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to an interim deal earlier this month that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium. It also waives U.S.-backed oil sanctions on the country, calls for free traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and gives each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements.

After Trump said Monday morning on social media that the U.S. and Iran planned to meet, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were flying to Qatar.

Pakistan, also a key mediator, had said talks between Iran and the U.S. would resume Tuesday.

But Kazem Gharibabadi, a senior negotiator for Iran, said in comments published by Iranian state media that no talks had been confirmed. And Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said that its delegation was traveling to Qatar this week to discuss the planned release of frozen Iranian assets and other issues related to the deal.

“There are no negotiation meetings with the U.S. side at any level scheduled in the coming days,” Baghaei said.

However, that left open the possibility messages being passed to the Qataris between the two sides.

During the war that began Feb. 28, Iran’s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving through the Strait of Hormuz, creating a global energy crisis.

In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels in the strait — including a tanker filled with Qatari crude — following efforts to open Oman’s territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf.

The attacks drew retaliatory American airstrikes and raised concerns that negotiations to reach a formal end to the war could be disrupted. Iran launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday.

The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite being in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters.

The Trump administration was operating Monday on the understanding that the U.S. and Iran are standing down after the recent back-and-forth strikes and that vessels can move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, said a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

The U.S. official also said that Qatar planned to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets that would be used to purchase U.S. food products for the Iranian people.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had announced the expected release of funds earlier Monday in comments published by the state-run IRNA news agency.

Pezeshkian, a reformist within Iran's theocracy, is the highest-ranking official within Iran to reference the release of the funds held by Qatar.

Oman's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said Monday that Oman and Iran are considering charging service-related fees for commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Al-Busaidi said services could include water safety measures, pollution prevention, navigational assistance and preparedness for incidents such as fires. He told Radio Monte Carlo that Oman does not support imposing transit fees on ships.

“This is internationally forbidden," he said, "and we are abiding by these rules."

But there had never been any fees charged in the strait — and other Gulf Arab states and the U.S. firmly oppose the imposition of any costs for transit.

An Iranian official warned France against “provocations” Monday after French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X that France and others were coordinating efforts to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz.

Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, said on X that under the interim deal “demining is carried out solely by Iran and by no other country.”

Macron's post came after he greeted Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman ahead of high-level diplomatic talks in Paris.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun separately said Monday that Lebanon is determined to deploy troops along its entire southern border as part of a framework agreement with Israel signed Friday. He made the remark while meeting with Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East.

The deal was rejected by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which triggered the latest war with Israel on March 2 when it fired rockets across Lebanon's southern border and into northern Israel.

The Israel-Lebanon deal calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed before Israel will withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. Israel agreed to withdraw initially from a couple of “pilot zones” where the Lebanese army would then deploy, but no details have been shared about how that will work in practice.

Hezbollah officials have warned that attempts to implement the plan could lead to civil war.

Boak reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut; Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

Women talk in front of a banner with graphic depicting the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei kissing head of the late commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard expeditionary Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in 2020 in Iraq, as they wait for the green light to cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Women talk in front of a banner with graphic depicting the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei kissing head of the late commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard expeditionary Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in 2020 in Iraq, as they wait for the green light to cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman walks past a welcoming billboard featuring Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian along a roadside in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — A drone strike on a market in Abyei, a border region disputed by Sudan and South Sudan, hit a nearby fuel depot, killing at least 153 people and igniting a fire that was still burning Tuesday, a local official said.

Yohanna Akol Ngor, the Abyei administration’s caretaker information minister, blamed Sudan ’s military for Monday’s attack on Amiet Market, north of Abyei town.

“We have recorded 153 deaths,” Ngor told The Associated Press by phone Tuesday. He said the death toll continued to rise as the fire burned.

A senior Sudanese military officer said the army carried out a drone strike Monday targeting fuel tankers arriving from South Sudan that he said were bound for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The officer said those killed were RSF members and people involved in fuel smuggling. “We do not target civilians,” he said. The AP could not independently verify his account of the targets or the identities of those killed.

The officer said the strike took place outside the demilitarized zone along the border with South Sudan.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said more than 20 wounded people were brought to Ameth Bek Hospital, where MSF teams were working alongside staff from South Sudan’s Health Ministry.

“So far we received over 20 patients, including several critical cases. Patients with burns were also admitted,” said Dr. Christian Lindauer, MSF’s medical activities manager at the hospital.

South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry also blamed Sudan’s military, saying the attack hit multiple locations within the market, causing civilian casualties and extensive property damage.

The ministry said it had summoned Sudan’s ambassador to protest and urged Sudan to “refrain from any actions that endanger civilian lives and property.” It called for issues concerning Abyei to be addressed through diplomatic channels.

Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting since April 2023, devastating large parts of the country and threatening stability along its borders.

Ngor said the strike hit around 11 a.m. Monday. He said the fuel depot supplied local businesses.

“It is a horrible and shocking situation,” he said.

MSF called on all parties to stop attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, expressing concern about people’s ability to safely reach healthcare and other essential services.

Amiet Market is a trading hub serving the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities.

The oil-rich Abyei region’s status was left unresolved by a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war and remained unsettled when South Sudan became independent in 2011. A proposed referendum stalled over disagreements about who could vote.

The region’s majority Ngok Dinka population favors joining South Sudan, while Misseriya nomads who use its pastures favor Sudan. Abyei has also experienced deadly communal violence, including fighting over land between Ngok Dinka and neighboring Twic Dinka communities.

Yassir Abdalla contributed from Shendi, Sudan.

FILE - The silhouettes of South Sudanese people are seen through a South Sudanese flag as they line up to cast their votes in Juba, South Sudan, Jan. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)