It has been two weeks since the United States and Iran signed their memorandum of understanding to end active fighting in the latest war in the Middle East, so a logical question to ask is: How are things going?
The answer is: not great. Iran has already received sanctions relief through the summer, boosting its exports of oil, as well as written commitments from the United States to release billions of dollars in frozen assets. The Strait of Hormuz, while not entirely closed as it was this spring, is not entirely open yet, either, even though that was the whole point of the MOU. Whatever leverage the United States had until recently has been whittled away, just like its store of munitions.
It has been two weeks since the United States and Iran signed their memorandum of understanding to end active fighting in the latest war in the Middle East, so a logical question to ask is: How are things going?
The answer is: not great. Iran has already received sanctions relief through the summer, boosting its exports of oil, as well as written commitments from the United States to release billions of dollars in frozen assets. The Strait of Hormuz, while not entirely closed as it was this spring, is not entirely open yet, either, even though that was the whole point of the MOU. Whatever leverage the United States had until recently has been whittled away, just like its store of munitions.
