WAS THE CEASEFIRE DESIGNED TO STOP THE WAR? The framing that the US and Iran are “still fighting” despite the Islamabad MOU contains an assumption that contains more than meets the eye. The assumption that the ceasefire was designed to stop the war is largely contradictory; it was designed to manage the war’s tempo while each side pursued objectives that were, to begin with, reconcilable at the negotiating table. Eleven days after Trump and Pezeshkian signed remotely from Ve

In January 2025, a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza lasted barely 58 days before Israel launched a devastating wave of airstrikes, killing over 400 people overnight. Simultaneously, the US and Iran agreed to yet another ceasefire in April 2026, only for the US strikes to resume within weeks, leaving the truce on what Trump called “life support.” The pattern was similar; it's a reminder of what diplomacy alone cannot do. Signed agreements create pauses and not peace. In conflicts