The renewed hostilities between Iran and the US in the Middle East have cast doubts over the trajectory of peace talks to finalize an agreement to end the conflict.
US President Donald Trump struck a belligerent tone by hinting at military action against Iran, which in turn has threatened to bring the talks to a complete halt.
The escalation of the conflict with Iran targeting US allies Kuwait and Bahrain spurring US overnight strikes on Tehran has cast doubts on the next round of negotiations, Axios reported.
The US and the Iranian negotiators are slated to hold discussions from Tuesday in Switzerland.
The initial signing of the agreement was also held in Switzerland. It has set a 60-day deadline to reach a final agreement, but hostilities have resumed, putting peace talks in limbo.
Trump had put out a similar threat on June 21 also, prompting anxious moments on whether an initial round of peace talks itself would be derailed.
The immediate trigger of the present uncertainty is the renewed strikes by the US and Iran, but the core issue is the interpretation of the memorandum of understanding signed between the sides, on the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran had reportedly committed to allow safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's energy supplies via commercial ships passed before the conflict began. Its closure had sent oil prices soaring to as high as $120 a barrel during the conflict.
The US lifted its naval blockade on Iranian ports enforced during the conflict, which went on for more than 100 days before the ceasefire.
It was envisaged to set up a "hotline" between the U.S. military and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's military command, to coordinate issues related to the shipping traffic in the strait.
The Axios report said as on Saturday, that hotline was not operational. Iran made claims that ships need to coordinate with it to ensure safe passage. Then came the strikes and counterstrikes with the US military attacking Iranian targets as a retaliatory measure on what it claims was a Saturday strike by Tehran on a commercial tanker.
Iran also responded with missile attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain, countries having bases of US forces, according to the IRGC.
The IRGC has threatened more attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and raised the prospect of the peace process coming to a halt.
CENTCOM said the US targeted Iranian. Trump has confirmed the strikes and threatened to wipe out Iran.
"There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist," he said in a Truth Social post.
Iran is reportedly toying with the idea of making concessions related to its nuclear program, Axios reported.
But a clarity on the confusion regarding the terms of a safe passage for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is vital for peace to hold.
Apart from that, the end to the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah also needs to hold before a concrete agreement is in place.
The final condition for talks to progress is that Trump himself should restrain from making threats. That would give Iran a moral leeway to walk away from the peace talks to end the protracted conflict.
