The United States and Iran agreed to stand down after a weekend of strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official told CBS News on Sunday, and President Trump said envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would fly to Doha on Tuesday to push the two countries' interim accord toward a permanent deal. Iran's deputy foreign minister publicly denied that any technical talks with Washington had been scheduled for this week.

The dueling statements close a four-day flare-up that began Thursday with an Iranian strike on a cargo ship in the strait, drew U.S. bombing of Iranian missile and drone sites along the southern coast on Friday and Saturday, and prompted Iranian missile salvos at U.S. bases in Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday. Both sides accused the other of violating the 14-point memorandum of understanding signed in Switzerland on June 17. The de-escalation, if it holds, reopens the world's busiest oil chokepoint and tests whether the administration can convert the interim deal into a lasting settlement inside its 60-day window.

What the U.S. said

The U.S. official told the BBC that vessels would be able to move through the Gulf waterway "freely" and that talks on a permanent deal would continue. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that "IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!" White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Witkoff and Kushner would travel to the Qatari capital for "high-level meetings this week, as we continue to discuss the memorandum of understanding." A senior White House official told NPR on Sunday that technical talks were "on track for the coming days as planned."

What Iran said

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, quoted by Iranian state media on Monday, said technical talks with the United States were not planned for this week and would be held only "when the conditions are met." He said consultations with Qatari mediators continued. Mehdi Fazaeli, a member of the Iranian supreme leader's office, told state television that talks scheduled for Sunday had already been canceled over disagreements about the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said responsibility to clear the waterway "rests with the Islamic Republic of Iran" and that pre-war traffic would return within a month.

Oil reads the truce

Brent crude for August delivery was up 0.3 percent at $72.93 a barrel Tuesday morning, on course to end June about $19 lower than the May 29 close, a 20 percent drop. U.S. West Texas Intermediate for August was at $70.79, a 19 percent monthly fall. The waterway between Oman and Iran typically carries about 20 percent of the world's oil.

Strategists at ING wrote in a Monday research note that the market was getting ahead of itself. "The price action in recent weeks reflects a market that is treating this temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran as a permanent deal. This is clearly not the case," they wrote, adding that reaching a deal that addresses Iran's nuclear program within 60 days would be "very optimistic."

Money and Lebanon

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said $6 billion held in Qatar would be released as part of the interim deal, on top of the U.S. oil-sanctions waiver issued last week. The memorandum stipulates that the funds must be "fully available for use" once implemented. Tehran also wants Israel's military presence in southern Lebanon wound down. The U.S.-brokered Israel-Lebanon framework signed Friday does not require Israeli troops to withdraw, and Hezbollah's leader has rejected it.

The counterpoint

The gap between Trump's Doha announcement and Gharibabadi's denial is the substantive caveat. Al Jazeera and the BBC both reported that Iran says no technical session is set, only continuing consultations with Qatar. Jake Sullivan, who served as President Joe Biden's national security adviser, told NPR's Morning Edition that the pattern was the point. "I think we will see these flare-ups, and then we will see de-escalation and a return to the table. I think that is the new normal," Sullivan said.

Witkoff and Kushner are due in Doha on Tuesday. Whether their Iranian counterparts show up is the next test of the June 17 accord.