The US and Iran signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding aimed at ending four months of conflict on Jun 17, under which both sides agreed to cease hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically transits.
But tit-for-tat weekend strikes threatened to derail the fragile accord.
A return to talks would follow several days of strikes and counterstrikes since an Iranian projectile hit a cargo vessel in the strait on Thursday, with both the US and Iran accusing each other of breaking the interim ceasefire.
“There were attacks on commercial vessels that the United States of America, directed by the president, responded to, and that will continue to happen, but we hope we don’t see that. The president obviously wants to see the peace process play out,” Leavitt said on the Fox & Friends programme.