'Back to our Sunday ritual': Jessica Tarlov mocks U.S.-Iran ceasefire reset before talks

After escalating strikes between Iran and the U.S. over the weekend yet again threatened the fragile interim peace agreement, the two countries agreed late Sunday to halt the hostilities and hold talks on Tuesday. The incidents have sparked criticism over the integrity of the deal, with some, including political commentator and author Jessica Tarlov, claiming the strikes were halted right in time before the markets opened. 

The ceasefire, which is barely two weeks old, is already on shaky ground as renewed fighting was sparked by competing interpretations of the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the war, especially its terms on the Strait of Hormuz, the critical crude oil and natural gas shipping lane. U.S. forces targeted Iranian "surveillance infrastructure" on Thursday after Tehran struck a cargo ship, and in retaliation, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Qatar over the weekend. Finally, late on Sunday, U.S. officials announced that the two sides had agreed to halt the strikes and progress talks on Tuesday. Reacting to the news on X, Tarlov wrote: "Guess we're back to our Sunday ritual so the markets don't flip out tomorrow morning," referring to the pattern of negotiations. 

The efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without Iran's oversight sparked days of crossfire, with Tehran launching strikes on neighbouring countries and the U.S. launching strikes on sites in southern Iran. On Sunday, Tehran reportedly launched strikes against Kuwait, which hosts a major U.S. army base, and Qatar reported an incident in which one national had been killed in "military operations ⁠in the area."

The U.S. military later confirmed that it struck Iranian military "surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities" following an attack on a ship on Saturday. The Panamanian-flagged tanker carried crude oil for Qatar's state-run energy company, as per PBS. Trump then followed up on Truth Social, accusing Iran of violating the peace deal and warning that the U.S. may "be forced to militarily" to finish the job. "If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!" Trump wrote. Despite the exchanges, the U.S claimed ship traffic on the strait had increased over the past 72 hours, and the multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy on Sunday claimed that "U.S.-assisted commercial transits continued uninterrupted" through the crucial shipping lane that Tehran wants to control.

Furthermore, a U.S. official confirmed that both sides had agreed to halt recent hostilities and renew talks on the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday in Qatar, which is a mediator in the negotiations. "Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU. Both sides will stand down for now, and vessels can move freely," the official told The Guardian, referring to the 14-point MoU. "We decided to stop all the kinetic activity," another senior U.S. official confirmed to Axios.