President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran had agreed to allow 20 more oil cargo ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for oil and gas, casting Iran’s decision as a sign that negotiations to end the war were underway.

Hours later, two Chinese-owned commercial vessels that had abandoned efforts to transit the strait Friday successfully passed through the waterway, according to ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic. The crossings offered an initial indication that Iran could be relaxing its de facto stranglehold of the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent the price of oil and gas soaring more than 50% since the United States and Israel began attacking Iran a month ago.

The fighting continued Monday as Israel kept up its aerial bombardment of Iran, which fired volleys of ballistic missiles and drones across the region.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump said Iran had agreed to permit ships to pass through starting Monday as a “sign of respect” to the United States. Iranian forces have blockaded the waterway — through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil transits — in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes.

On Monday, Trump wrote on social media that “great progress” was being made toward reaching an agreement with Iran. But if a deal isn’t struck, he warned, the United States would bombard Iran’s “Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island,” from which Iran exports the majority of its oil.

It was not clear who the 20 cargo ships belonged to or where they were headed. China and India are among the largest buyers of Iranian crude. Iran allowed about 10 ships to pass through the strait last week, a step Trump also portrayed as progress.

A day earlier, hundreds of U.S. Special Operations forces were said to have arrived in the Middle East, according to two U.S. military officials, giving Trump new options to escalate the war. The commandos, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, join thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers and have not been assigned specific missions, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

Here’s What Else We’re Covering:

— Pakistan talks: Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey convened Sunday in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, for further discussions aimed at ending the war. The United States, Israel and Iran were not part of the talks, and it was unclear whether any progress was made. Mediators from Pakistan had passed along to Iran a 15-point U.S. plan to end the conflict. But the speaker of Iran’s parliament accused Trump on Sunday of engaging in a front of diplomacy while “secretly planning a ground invasion.”

— Lebanon: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he had ordered his forces to increase the territory they control in southern Lebanon, adding to fears among many Lebanese of a long-term military occupation of the area. Lebanon’s president has denounced Israel’s campaign there against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia. The Israeli military said that at least six of its soldiers were injured Sunday, three of them severely, amid the clashes with Hezbollah.

— Peacekeeper killed: U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned an attack that killed an Indonesian member of the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon on Sunday. The Indonesian government said three other Indonesian peacekeepers had been injured in the episode, which involved “indirect artillery fire” near their post. The peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, said Monday that it did not know the origin of the projectile and was investigating.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By David E. Sanger, Aaron Boxerman and Sanam Mahoozi/Avishag Shaar-Yshuv
c. 2026 The New York Times Company