Iranian missiles are displayed in a park, in the context of the conflict between the United States and Israel with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on March 26, 2026. (Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA Reuters)

Iran wins, for now

The gap between how the two sides perceive each other remains far too wide. These five weeks of war have done nothing to close it — if anything, they have only widened it.

by · L'Orient Today

The Strait of Hormuz remains partially closed, Iran has carried out a series of attacks on Gulf states, Israel has launched its deadliest strikes since the start of the war in Lebanon, and the ten points intended to form the basis of a future Iranian-American agreement strike anyone who has followed the issue in recent years as utterly incoherent.Conclusion? There are three basic possibilities: this cease‑fire is simply a bluff ahead of a new round of fighting; Donald Trump is prepared to accept a strategic defeat at the hands of Iran; or the Iranian regime has genuinely “changed” and is ready to “capitulate” on key points. Of the three, the first scenario now appears the most likely.It’s certainly possible that the American president is looking for a way out of a war that is growing ever more costly for U.S. forces, the global economy,...

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