The article names Iran as the actor behind its halted operations and quotes its spokesman directly, while describing the American cessation of bombing in agentless or subject-free constructions, applying a stricter attribution standard to Iran than to the United States.

How it builds, in Ceasefire announcement paragraph

No actor named: who stopped bombing?
Friday and Saturday nights passed without bombing.
Agentless construction; the US is not named as the party that halted strikes
Iran's spokesman names the US as actor
These attacks continued until two nights ago, but over the past two nights the Americans have stopped their attacks
US named as actor only when filtered through an Iranian military spokesman
Iran names itself and explains its rationale
Since (...) our strategy has essentially been retaliatory, we have also halted our retaliatory operations.
Iran is named as actor and its reasoning is quoted directly and in full
Iran named as actor with characterisation of targets
Iran said it had halted retaliatory attacks against Washington's allies in the Middle East
Iran is the grammatical subject; its targets are specified as Washington's allies
Iran's proxy labelled; Saudi side unlabelled
Iran-backed Houthi rebels, on Sunday, said they downed a Saudi drone over northwestern Yemen
Iranian backing is foregrounded for the Houthis; Saudi Arabia carries no equivalent sponsor label

The same decision, both sides

Whether the halting side is named as the grammatical actor

The US ceasing its strikes is rendered without a named actor, leaving the reader to infer who stopped.

Friday and Saturday nights passed without bombing.

Iran halting its strikes is rendered with Iran as the explicit grammatical subject.

Iran said it had halted retaliatory attacks against Washington's allies in the Middle East

Whether the side's own rationale is quoted directly

The US rationale for pausing is attributed to American media speculation about munitions shortages, not to a US military spokesman explaining the halt.

American media reported the pause could also reflect pressure on US stockpiles of Patriot interceptors and other defensive weapons.

Iran's rationale for pausing is quoted directly from its army spokesman in the first person.

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

Whether proxy relationships are flagged editorially

The Houthis are labelled Iran-backed, tying their actions to Tehran editorially.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels, on Sunday, said they downed a Saudi drone over northwestern Yemen

Saudi Arabia's strikes on Houthi targets carry no equivalent label linking Riyadh to Washington or any other sponsor.

after Riyadh bombed Houthi targets on Friday

What a reader is left with. A reader is left with the impression that Iran is the more transparent and self-explaining party, because its actions and reasoning are attributed directly, while the American pause is described in passive or impersonal terms and its motives are supplied by unnamed media sources rather than by US officials explaining the halt itself.

Every highlight is a quote the model flagged. Tap one — or a metric below — to see what it measures and why it scored the way it did.

Aggressor framingHeadline analysisProxy framing

US and Iran halt attacks in tentative opening for renewed talks

A vessel transits the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of southern Yemen on July 25, 2026. KHALED ZIAD / AFP Iran and the United States held their fire on Sunday, July 26, handing Gulf shipping and the oil industry a respite from missile strikes as 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 Sunday that, while forces remained "locked and loaded," Trump would give negotiations "a little bit of room." Fighting over the strategic Strait of Hormuz derailed diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran, triggering a US air campaign and Iranian reprisals that expanded the conflict to shipping lanes, Gulf allies and military bases across the region. Read more Subscribers only Trump threatens Iran with escalation, including strikes on civilian and nuclear infrastructure Prior to Friday, the US military had carried out strikes on Iran for 13 consecutive nights, in the largest rekindling of the almost five-month-old war since an April ceasefire. However, Friday and Saturday nights passed without bombing. "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." Oil prices tumbled on Monday as investors breathed cautious sighs of relief at the pause in combat. The price of a barrel of international benchmark North Sea Brent crude shed more than 7% at one point early on Monday to briefly drop back below $90, while US counterpart West Texas Intermediate was down 4% at $85.45 a barrel. Unconfirmed Iranian media reports on Sunday said an oil tanker had been damaged by a sea mine. 'One way or the other' The 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. 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. Help us improve Le Monde in English Dear reader, We’d love to hear your thoughts on Le Monde in English! Take this quick survey to help us improve it for you. Take the survey Trump, however, insisted "we have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need" in an interview with The Wall Street Journal . Waltz also dismissed the idea of a weapons shortage, in a second interview with NBC News' Meet the Press . "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 said. Read more Subscribers only Israel is considering new operation against Iran, as war escalates with the US Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due at the White House on Tuesday, and is expected to urge Trump to continue to take a tough line on Tehran, in particular on its nuclear program. Iran has long insisted the programme is for civilian purposes but the US and its allies allege it is aimed at developing a weapon. Also speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu said he fully backed Trump's effoprogram, down Iran's nuclear programme. "If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that's fine. Why not? But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear programme, and with a deal or without a deal, that has to come to an end," he said. New front Trump also faces the risk of a wider Middle East war, the estrangement of vulnerable Gulf allies and further shocks to the global economy, the New York Times said. Trump said, on Friday, he had not decided whether to return to an all-out operation. "We're talking to them right now. I think they're getting more and more serious," he told journalists. The war that Trump once predicted would last four or five weeks is now nearing its fifth month and weighing on the Republican's approval ratings ahead of crucial US midterm elections in November. On Sunday locals in Tehran carried on with a normal day, dealing with heavy traffic jams on their way to work, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist said. Shops and restaurants were open as usual as the city suffered a heatwave. Fighting has meanwhile spread to a new front. Iran-backed Houthi rebels, on Sunday, said they downed a Saudi drone over northwestern Yemen, a day after the Yemeni group claimed it attacked oil facilities in the Gulf kingdom. The Houthis had said they struck Saudi Aramco sites in Jizan and Yanbu, after Riyadh bombed Houthi targets on Friday. Read more Subscribers only Bab Al-Mandab Strait threatens to be new front in war with Iran Le Monde with AFP

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