Confusion reigned over whether the US and Iran will hold talks in Doha. Washington said they would meet; Tehran said its representatives would only see Qatari mediators.
Iran insists vessels pass through its waters in the Strait of Hormuz as it seeks to maintain the control over the strait it cemented during the war. That leverage is a sign the US has lost power following its conflict, a former American diplomat wrote: “Reopening the strait was not a goal … because the strait was open before the war.”
The ceasefire also involves letting Iran sell oil again and win $300 billion in reconstruction funds. “The United States lost the war,” failing to achieve any of its stated objectives, one scholar agreed.