Fresh hostilities in Gulf suggest US-Iran memorandum was too broadly worded

Fresh hostilities in the Gulf erupted just 10 days after Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding intended to end the conflict, raising the prospect of a return to war. The memorandum's deliberately opaque wording on the Lebanon ceasefire and the Strait of Hormuz has not withstood competing interpretations, leaving supporters in Tehran on the back foot as criticism grows that the government should never have agreed to reopen the strait.

The 14-point document left two ceasefire arrangements in place that now pull in opposite directions. A ceasefire noted in the memorandum and developed at the Lucerne talks attended by the US vice-president, JD Vance, gave Iran and Hezbollah a role through a new deconfliction mechanism and seemed to squeeze out Israel.

Iran, Tehran

us iran, memorandum, gulf hostilities, hormuz strait, lebanon ceasefire, lucerne talks, jd vance, hezbollah, israel, deconfliction