U.S. media reported on Sunday that the U.S. military had paused strikes on Iran, while Tehran said it had halted its retaliatory attacks in response.
CBS News, citing two regional sources, said Washington had suspended attacks to avoid disrupting an Omani delegation's visit to Tehran for talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Separately, The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump had set aside plans for a sharp escalation after senior advisers warned of dwindling U.S. air-defense stocks. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine cautioned that renewed large-scale operations could exhaust the interceptors available to U.S. Central Command, it said.
The United States has fired more than 1,200 Patriot interceptors, each costing over 4 million U.S. dollars.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that Trump had paused military strikes on Iran to leave more room for diplomatic negotiations. Waltz did not provide specific details about the talks.
Iran confirmed on Sunday it had halted retaliatory attacks after the United States stopped its strikes over the past two nights.
"These attacks continued until two nights ago, but over the past two nights the Americans have stopped their attacks," Iran's army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said.
Akraminia said the United States had failed to achieve its objectives in its aggression against Iran, adding that Iran's armed forces were fully prepared for all possible scenarios and would respond appropriately to any potential action.
US pauses strikes on Iran, Iran halts retaliatory attacks
Rescue operations are in full swing in Huichuan Town, Weiyuan County of Dingxi City, northwest China's Gansu Province, where a flash flood triggered by sudden heavy rainfall on Sunday has caused casualties, with search teams having carried out four rounds of sweep operations and medical teams treating the injured.
The flash flood struck Shuangshimen Valley in Huichuan Town at around 2 p.m. on Sunday, caused by short-duration intense rain in the upstream area, leaving campers in the nearby area stranded.
Local authorities immediately mobilized rescue forces from emergency management, fire control, health and cultural tourism authorities to launch emergency rescue and personnel transfer work.
According to the Gansu Provincial Fire and Rescue Corps, a total of 305 firefighters, 68 fire trucks, and four search and rescue dogs were deployed to the scene, successfully evacuating and transferring 247 trapped individuals.
Rescue efforts faced intermittent disruptions as multiple bouts of short-duration heavy rain hit the area from Sunday afternoon into early Monday. To ensure the safety of rescue personnel, the on-site command temporarily withdrew teams to standby positions during the downpours, resuming search operations as soon as the raining stopped. At late Sunday night, rescuers started the fourth round of comprehensive search, focusing on scattered vehicles and debris left by the floodwaters.
"We are now conducting the fourth round of search and rescue. Three drones have located the sites where vehicles were scattered. We are searching for people around the vehicles and around items left behind on the water surface," said Wu Mingguo, head of the Dingxi Municipal Fire and Rescue Detachment.
Alongside the search and rescue efforts, medical treatment for the injured is proceeding in an orderly manner at local medical facilities.
Severely ill patients are being transferred to hospitals in Lanzhou, the provincial capital, for further treatment, and provincial medical expert teams will continue to advance the transfer work in accordance with the patients' will and injury conditions.
The Weiyuan County Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, the nearest Grade II Class A hospital to the disaster site, serves as the primary emergency treatment facility for the injured. As of 10 p.m. on Sunday, 23 injured people had been sent to hospitals, 22 of whom were admitted to this facility.
"Currently, our hospital has received 22 patients, mainly suffering from fractures, open injuries and aspiration pneumonia. After comprehensive assessment, four severely ill patients have been transferred to provincial-level hospitals, and the remaining 18 patients are in stable condition," said Gao Xiaodong, director of the orthopedics ward at the Weiyuan County Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.
Witnesses recalled that a sudden torrential downpour swept through the river valley when the disaster hit, carrying silt and rocks rushing down from the surrounding mountains and upstream, with some people injured by falling rocks before they could escape to safety.
Rescue operations underway in northwest China's Gansu after flash flood
