A homemade bomb carried by a woman killed three people and injured at least 21 in an explosion near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow ​on Saturday evening, the authorities said.

The explosion occurred just before 2000 ​local time close to an Italian restaurant located in one ⁠of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinkskaya Square, the police said, Reuters reported.

Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee said that ​an unidentified woman had tried to get into the restaurant but was stopped by ​a security guard, the state RIA news agency reported.

It said the woman, the security guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant had been killed in the ​blast that followed.

Those injured received wounds of varying seriousness, the police said.

Russia’s state ​RIA news agency released video of heavily armed law enforcement officers at the scene, which ‌had ⁠been closed off to the public.

The authorities did not name those killed or injured nor did they say who they thought might have been responsible.

More than four years into a full-scale war with Ukraine, Russia’s FSB security service said earlier ​this year that authorities would step ​up protection for ⁠high-ranking military officials after a series of assassinations and attempted killings it blamed on Kyiv.

The Kommersant daily newspaper cited its ​own sources as saying that the bomb had been intended ​to maim ⁠and kill guests who were enjoying themselves on the restaurant’s summer terrace outside.

It suggested that the bomb had been set off by someone else remotely and ⁠that the ​woman carrying it may not have known ​that it was an explosive device.

The restaurant’s website said the venue had been closed on Saturday for ​a private event.

U.S. President Donald Trump said ​late on Saturday he would hold off on a fresh attack on Iran as long as a deal could be reached quickly to halt Iran’s nuclear ‌ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.

Iran and “other Middle Eastern Countries” asked for a time to complete a deal that would lead to “the Immediate, Complete and Total” reopening of the Strait and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject ​to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”

Israel “joins me in this commitment,” Trump wrote. Israel did not immediately make a public statement on the issue.

Iran warned the U.S. this ​weekend against any “adventurous action” and said it would retaliate decisively if American forces followed through on Trump’s threats of fresh attacks on Iranian targets.

Iranian ⁠Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi’s comments in separate phone calls on Saturday with senior Turkish, Pakistani and Saudi officials came just hours after Kuwait’s army said it destroyed hostile drones launched by ​Iran against several vital facilities.

Speaking to Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Araqchi said Iran would respond decisively to any “aggression” and discussed the consequences ​of “destabilizing actions” by the U.S., as well as prospects for heightened regional insecurity, according to Araqchi’s Telegram account.

Araqchi later told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan that any attacks by the U.S. and Israel or participation by regional countries in such actions would be met with a “proportionate response.” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke to Trump on Saturday and “expressed concern and asked for clarity” about U.S. plans for Iran, ​a U.S. official told Axios.

The Saudi crown prince spoke to Trump, a White House official told Reuters, but did not provide details.

Nournews, a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s top security body, ​said on Saturday that U.S. attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure would prompt Iranian strikes on oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the gas fields of Qatar and ‌Israel, saying, “all ⁠will be burned to ashes.”

At a cabinet meeting on Friday at the Camp David retreat, Trump said he believed U.S. negotiators, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, could still reach a deal with Iran, read the report.

But Trump also said he was losing faith in the Iranians, saying, “They break their word so often” — a claim Tehran has frequently leveled at Washington — and said he would be “hitting them.”

Oil prices have stayed high since U.S. and Israeli forces started the war with strikes on Iran on February 28. Trump has ​argued that his stated goal of keeping ​Iran from gaining nuclear weapons justifies higher fuel ⁠costs in the near term, but the economic pain has put political pressure on him to find a way to end the war.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 24% in July, and analysts polled by Reuters expect prices to rise further this year.

The risk of Iranian attacks has deterred ​most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, an important conduit for global energy supplies, since the start of the conflict, sending shockwaves through ​the world economy.

A government ⁠facility in northern Kuwait and civilian property belonging to a company on Bubiyan Island were hit on Saturday, with falling shrapnel causing material damage but no casualties, the Kuwaiti army said.

Adding to the energy industry’s concerns, Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen recently began threatening the Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the other end of the Red Sea from the Suez Canal, another export route for Saudi ⁠crude.

The United Kingdom ​Maritime Trade Operations said on Saturday it had received reports of two maritime incidents off Oman, including one ​in which a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile that damaged the engine room. In the other incident, the master of a tanker reported seeing a large splash and an explosion close to the vessel, though no ​damage was reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump said talks in Cairo between mediators and Hamas leaders on Thursday have led to a phased disarmament agreement in ​Gaza, but a Hamas official described the deal as a draft and U.S. officials said Israel was skeptical the militant Palestinian group would surrender its weapons.

What is Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’?

“Today, the Board of ‌Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” Trump said in a social media post, adding that the disarmament would come in phases. “This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY.”

The agreement was a critical step towards Gaza being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the so-called Board of Peace, Trump said. “At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used ​as a base for terror attacks,” he added, Reuers reported.

A Hamas source told Reuters the “draft agreement” stipulates that ​heavy weapons would only be stored and kept under the control of a Palestinian administration, and the weapons cannot be transferred to Israel.

“We will not take ⁠any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel’s withdrawal from the Strip,” Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating team, told Al Jazeera.

A U.S. official on Thursday told reporters that Israel is “very skeptical that Hamas ​will disarm.”

“We’re very confident they will adhere to it,” the U.S. official added. “If they don’t, obviously President Trump would be very, very disappointed.”

There were also questions about how long the process would take. A Board of Peace official ​gave an estimate of 200 to 320 days, but a U.S. official played down that timeline.

An Israeli official, who declined to be identified, said before Trump’s announcement Israel had rejected a proposal.

“Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and the complete demilitarization of the Strip as a precondition for any process,” the official said earlier on Thursday.

“The 15-point document in question does not provide a satisfactory response to these demands and Israel conveyed its objections.”

Earlier, Israeli ​strikes killed at least six Palestinians in Gaza, including two children, medics said.

A ROADMAP TOWARDS HAMAS DISARMAMENT?

Hamas leaders held talks with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey on the second phase of Trump’s Gaza plan, ​as presented to them by his Board of Peace.

Trump set up the board to oversee a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza and rebuild the devastated territory. He appointed members of the board with himself as chair and said last ‌year that the ⁠board will supervise Gaza’s temporary governance.

“Ahead of us is a Gaza rebuilt, governed by Palestinians and at peace with Israel an a political horizon to a meaningful resolution the Israeli Palestinian conflict,” Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, said in a statement after the president’s post.

Officials involved in the talks shared few details about plans to rebuild Gaza.

The plan also calls for a surge in humanitarian aid, governance by a civilian Palestinian administration, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the deployment of an international force to help maintain security.

HANDOVER OF WEAPONS COULD BE STICKING POINT

The reality on the ground in Gaza, so far, ​remains far from the goals of the agreement.

Hamas wants ​Israel to commit to ending attacks on ⁠Gaza and withdraw its forces.

It is not yet clear what will happen regarding light or personal weapons or whether the new Hamas stance will be accepted by Israel or the Board of Peace.

The plan includes the elimination of tunnels, arms stockpiles and weapons production facilities, a diplomat involved in the talks said, adding that ​by the end of the process there would be no remaining militant infrastructure in Gaza.

“This isn’t really a trust deal,” a U.S. official said on ​Thursday, calling the agreement a “conditions-based ⁠deal.”

The Israeli military has continued to expand its military occupation of Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel intends to expand the area under its control to 70% of the enclave.

It remains unclear how many forces would be available to deploy with the planned International Stabilization Force, and whether Israeli troops would withdraw from the enclave.

ATTACKS CONTINUE

Health officials said separate Israeli strikes had killed at least two children, a woman and three men in Gaza ⁠on Thursday. The ​Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants in the enclave.

The ceasefire in Gaza has been repeatedly violated, with more than 1,200 Palestinians, ​mostly civilians, being killed by Israeli attacks and four Israeli soldiers being killed by militants since the truce began in October, according to Gaza health officials and Israeli authorities, respectively.

Hamas does not usually disclose its losses.