Critics had a field day last week when President Donald Trump signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran. Some picked on the US agreeing to lift sanctions, allowing Iran to resume exporting oil, withdrawing forces from its vicinity, and releasing its frozen assets. Some focused on the agreement’s implicit acceptance of an Iranian role in managing the Strait of Hormuz.

Islamabad deal pauses U.S.-Iran conflict, but Lebanon, sanctions, nuclear oversight and Israeli opposition threaten its survival

The U.S.-Iran deal shaped regional dynamics with the rise of a constructive regional bloc and disruptive Israel resisting the shift