WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has paused attacks on Iran to allow more room for diplomacy, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Sunday.

"He's giving talks some space, he's giving it a little bit of room," Mike Waltz told the "Fox News Sunday" program.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged the removal of all sanctions imposed on Syria during the era of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad, as he concluded a two-day visit to the country.

Syria's new authorities, who took power in December 2024, are trying to turn the page after more than 13 years of war, and to reboot the economy and rebuild infrastructure and institutions.

July 26 (Reuters) - The main land border crossing between Kuwait and Iraq has reopened, Iraq's state news agency cited the country's border crossings authority as saying on Sunday.

The Abdali border crossing was temporarily closed after a drone attack on Thursday that caused material damage but no casualties, the Kuwaiti army said.

Abdali, in Kuwait's northern Al-Jahra Province, is a key route for passenger and commercial traffic between the two countries. It was not clear who launched the drones.

(Reporting by Eman Abouhassira; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Iran and the United States held their fire Monday, handing Gulf shipping and the oil industry a respite from missile strikes as Donald Trump's UN envoy said the president was "giving talks some space".

Tehran said it had halted retaliatory attacks against Washington's allies in the Middle East, and US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told "Fox News Sunday" that, while forces remained "locked and loaded", Trump would give negotiations "a little bit of room".

By Raphael Satter and Lefteris Papadimas

WASHINGTON/ATHENS, July 26 (Reuters) - The Iran war broadened over the weekend despite a pause in U.S. strikes, as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and Iran accused Ukraine of targeting one of its vessels in the Caspian Sea.

The U.S. military said on Saturday its naval blockade against Iran "remains in full effect" but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes.

July 25 (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned on Saturday a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying it resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another.

Throughout the war in Ukraine, Kyiv has had to counter Iranian-designed drones deployed by Moscow. Kyiv has offered its drone interception expertise to countries in the Middle East that have suffered strikes from Iran.

By Lefteris Papadimas and Idrees Ali

ATHENS/WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants fired on Saudi oil installations in two ports on the Red Sea coast on Saturday, but the U.S. held back from launching air strikes on Iran for the first night in two weeks.

Washington gave no immediate explanation of why it had abruptly halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz since an interim deal to end hostilities collapsed.

By Ali Sawafta

RAMALLAH, July 25 (Reuters) - Israeli forces arrested dozens of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, after at least four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed in a shootout when armed Israeli settlers approached a Palestinian village.

By Federico Maccioni, Timour Azhari and Eman Abouhassira

RIYADH, July 25 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants fired on Saudi oil installations in two ports on the Red Sea coast on Saturday and Saudi-backed forces bombed the Houthis, as the war in the Gulf that has disrupted global supplies extended to a second front.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had targeted and successfully struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil giant Aramco in Jizan and Yanbu.

By Tala Ramadan and Kinda Makieh

DAMASCUS, July 25 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledged help for Syrian reconstruction on Saturday during the first visit to Damascus by a serving United Nations chief since 2009, before the start of a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa received Guterres at the presidential palace in Damascus, state news agency SANA said, without providing further details.