A senior US official said the United States is demanding that Iran issue a public statement saying the Strait of Hormuz is open and that ships transiting the vital waterway will not face attacks again, adding that internal power struggles in Tehran have made it difficult to reach and maintain an agreement.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the resumption of strikes this week came after what he described as a rogue faction of Iranian hardliners attempted to sabotage the ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran.
This comes as US President Donald Trump affirmed on social media on Friday that he considers the temporary ceasefire agreement "over", but said the United States would continue talks aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war.
The official said on Friday that Trump is giving US negotiators a limited amount of time to reach a deal with Iran, but signalled the challenges ahead, confirming that the president has a wide range of options should the talks collapse.
He added that a power struggle is currently under way in Iran after US and Israeli strikes at the outset of the war resulted in the killing of its supreme leader Ali Khamenei.