The memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian outlines the political, military, and economic consequences of the ill-judged decision to attack Iran on February 28.

The human cost is already clear: thousands have been killed, many civilians, in Iran and Lebanon.

The US, and by extension Israel, have suffered a strategic defeat. The Tehran regime faced its worst nightmare: a joint military operation by the world's strongest power and the Middle East's superpower. The regime has not just survived; it has been empowered.

Its strategy of blocking the Strait of Hormuz has forced Trump to agree to a series of concessions that have infuriated US Iran hawks and the Israeli government.

The memorandum calls for an end to the war in Lebanon. Israel says that cannot happen, potentially causing a sharper rift between Israel and the US.

In return for reopening the Strait, the US will lift its counter-blockade of Iranian ports, waive sanctions, and unfreeze Iranian assets abroad.

Hard negotiations on a nuclear deal lie ahead. The agreement is better than war, but success is not guaranteed.

Source: www.bbc.com