Washington DC - Iran and the US held their fire Sunday, handing Gulf shipping and the oil industry a respite from missile strikes as President Donald Trump's United Nations envoy said the president was "giving talks some space."

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

Before Friday, the US military had carried out strikes on Iran for 13 consecutive nights, in the largest rekindling of the almost 5-month-old war since an April ceasefire.

But two consecutive nights have now passed without bombing.

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"These attacks continued until two nights ago, but over the past two nights the Americans have stopped their attacks," said Iran's army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia. 

"Since ... our strategy has essentially been retaliatory, we have also halted our retaliatory operations."

The recent lull has revived hopes of a return to negotiations, although American media reported the pause could also reflect pressure on US stockpiles of Patriot interceptors and other defensive weapons.

In a second interview with NBC News, Waltz dismissed this idea.

"I want to be crystal clear: The US military — and I've verified this every which way — has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be," he insisted.

Plans to escalate the US campaign have been shelved in part because of shrinking munitions supplies, The New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the matter.