The United States held fire on Iran for a second consecutive night and Iran’s army announced it had suspended its own retaliatory operations, creating the first lull in a conflict that had seen 13 straight nights of American strikes. The pause, which began late Friday without an official Pentagon explanation, was described by a Department of Defense source as putting operations “on a hold”, while US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told NBC News it was intended to give space to ongoing talks between the two governments.

Viewed from Washington, the decision to step back from an immediate escalation reflected multiple pressures. The New York Times, citing two people briefed on the matter, reported that plans to intensify the campaign were shelved in part because of concerns that the war could dangerously drain stockpiles of Patriot interceptors and other air-defence weapons. During a White House meeting on Friday, Vice President JD Vance and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both raised the implications of a wider operation and the strain on munitions reserves, CNN reported. President Donald Trump said he had not yet decided whether to return to all-out strikes, while warning Iran faced a “much higher level” of attack if it did not agree to a deal. White House spokesman Steven Cheung stated that the president preferred a diplomatic solution but retained all options.

Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia told state television that Tehran had halted its retaliatory attacks because the Americans had stopped theirs, but he voiced scepticism that the pause was genuine rather than tactical. A senior Iranian source conveyed to Reuters that the message of “attack for attack” had been transmitted to Washington. Simultaneously, Iran held talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway at the heart of the crisis, and confirmed to Pakistan its willingness to resume negotiations in Geneva, Doha or Islamabad. Tehran’s effective blockade of the strait remained in place, with state television reporting that six vessels had been stopped attempting transit in the previous 24 hours.

Even as the Gulf quietened, the conflict expanded along the Red Sea. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement said it struck Saudi Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday with ballistic missiles and drones. A surface-to-air battery operated by Greek personnel in Saudi Arabia downed two missiles and a drone over Yanbu, the Greek air force media office said. The Saudi-led coalition responded with strikes on Houthi positions, and the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports. The escalation threatens a second major energy corridor just as Saudi Arabia has been routing millions of barrels a day through Yanbu to bypass Hormuz. Brent crude, which has surged roughly 27 per cent in two weeks, closed at $96.78 a barrel on Friday.

Diplomatic channels remain active but fragile. Iran’s foreign minister offered to broker talks between the Houthis and Riyadh, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due in Washington on Tuesday. The Pentagon had presented Trump with a plan for a 14th night of strikes, Axios reported, but the president declined to authorise it in favour of a push for negotiations. The war, which Trump once predicted would last four or five weeks, is now nearing its fifth month and weighing on his approval ratings ahead of November’s midterm elections.