The United States and Iran on Sunday refrained from carrying out strikes for the third day in a row. Washington and Tehran are attempting to give peace negotiations another chance.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said that President Trump is “leaving room and time for diplomacy.”

“He is giving diplomacy a chance,” Waltz said during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation.

“We will see how events unfold in the coming days. But make no mistake: additional military forces are already being deployed to the region,” he added, noting that “the regime must believe the president when he says that troops are ready for combat and that all options remain on the table.”

On Sunday, an Iranian military spokesman announced that Tehran had also halted “retaliatory operations” in the region.

This came after 13 consecutive nights of US strikes on Iran, which, according to the US military, were aimed at “weakening Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The strait remains a focal point of tensions between Washington and Tehran and was a key element of the “memorandum of understanding” agreed upon by the sides in June.

Under the terms of the preliminary agreement, Iran committed to reopening the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most important transit routes for oil and gas — and to confirm that it “would not acquire or develop nuclear weapons.” In return, the United States pledged to lift the naval blockade of Iran and remove sanctions against Tehran. The agreement gave the two countries 60 days to reach a final deal.

However, Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz triggered renewed US strikes and the resumption of a naval blockade of Iranian ports, threatening the peace efforts.