Trump pauses Iran war amid warnings about stockpiles 

Thank you for signing up!

Subscribe to more newsletters here

US holds off Iran strikes for now 

Ken Martin back under scrutiny 

Maine Senate matchup set 

German police kill Pride attack suspect 

The war with Iran took a pause over the weekend as top U.S. officials raise concerns about dwindling munitions stockpiles. 

The U.S. and Iranian militaries broke a streak of 13 consecutive days of tit-for-tat strikes Saturday, after President Trump threatened last week to drastically escalate the war if Iran continued to threaten ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.  

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told “Fox News Sunday” that Trump is trying to give peace talks “some space.”  

“He’s giving it a little bit of room,” Waltz said. “We’ve had both Oman and Iran and a number of our other negotiators engaged at every level, from the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level, over the past few weeks and particularly in the past few days.” 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iran has made progress in talks with Oman about establishing safe passage for ships seeking to traverse the waterway. Still, he maintained that the strait’s status is the same, requiring Iranian oversight of vessels passing through the strait on an approved route — a status quo that has thus far been unacceptable to the Americans.  

A memorandum of understanding signed last month effectively collapsed two weeks ago, leading Trump to consider a return to all-out war. Some of his top advisors seem to be steering him away from escalation. 

The New York Times reported Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has privately argued resuming major combat operations against Iran would seriously deplete the antimissile interceptors available to U.S. Central Command (Centcom). The outlet reported the threat to interceptor stockpiles is one of many considerations that have made a return to major combat operations risky. 

Vice President Vance raised concerns about escalating the war in a meeting with the president at the White House on Friday, CNN reported. 

Two sources with knowledge of Adm. Brad Cooper’s position told Axios that the Centcom commander has recommended stopping the bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz because it has reached the limit of its effectiveness.   

Waltz appeared to both confirm and brush off concerns about stockpiles in multiple Sunday morning news show appearances, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the U.S. has “everything that it needs” to conduct military operations against Iran. 

“I want to be crystal clear: The U.S. military, and I’ve verified this every which way, has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be,” he said. 

Waltz also pointed the finger at the Biden administration, arguing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “inherited a depleted situation” because of U.S. support for Ukraine and strikes on the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Trump administration also conducted strikes on the Houthis last year over the militant group’s targeting of ships in the Red Sea. 

The debate comes as the administration has been trying to put pressure on Congress to provide supplemental funding for the Pentagon to continue the war. 

House Republicans approved a $95 billion framework last week for a reconciliation package that would provide additional funding for munitions. But the proposal faces an uphill battle in the Senate with Democrats overwhelmingly opposed and would not immediately alleviate the weapons squeeze.  

Waltz emphasized that the U.S. is ready to return to combat operations at any point. 

Tensions are still on the rise in other parts of the region. The Houthis fired missiles and drones toward Saudi Arabia on Saturday in retaliation for Saudi attacks. 

Meanwhile, Iran summoned a Ukrainian diplomat to Tehran on Sunday after Ukraine........

© The Hill