Diplomacy moved fast on Sunday. President Donald Trump announced that the United States had agreed with Israel to hold off on any new military strikes against Iran, provided that a deal could be reached quickly. Formal negotiations, he said, would begin on Monday — a timeline that few analysts had expected even forty-eight hours earlier. The decision to pause strikes came hours after Iran signalled it was close to an agreement with Oman over an alternative shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.

That waterway carries roughly a fifth of the world's traded oil, and any disruption there would ripple through markets from Tokyo to Lagos. The Omani channel — Muscat has long served as a quiet back-door between Washington and Tehran — appeared to give both sides just enough cover to step away from the edge. Yet the wider region offered little comfort. Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza for a second consecutive day on Sunday, killing at least 18 Palestinians, according to medics on the ground.

The strikes came despite Trump's earlier announcement of a breakthrough in efforts to revive last year's ceasefire agreement, exposing the gap between diplomatic statements and battlefield reality. Separately, Iran confirmed that the surviving crew of an Iranian commercial vessel struck in a Ukrainian attack had returned home, along with the body of one sailor killed in the incident — a reminder that this conflict has already drawn in more than two parties. Whether Monday's talks produce anything durable remains entirely open. Iran's supreme leadership has historically treated negotiations as a tool rather than a commitment, while Trump's own record on diplomatic patience is short.