As US and Iran pursue talks, both signal they are still ready to use force against each other.

The regional conflict has hardened into a stalemate as the U.S. and Iran failed to turn a fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace deal.

The current ceasefire has held just enough to prevent a return to all-out war, but neither side is close to achieving peace, says Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and…