The View from India newsletter | How a U.S.-Iran deal over Hormuz unravelled

(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.)

The chase for peace continues in West Asia. Last week, a ceasefire in Lebanon and an Iranian announcement that the Strait of Hormuz would be open for commercial traffic raised the prospects for a broader U.S.-Iran settlement. But such hopes were quickly replaced by escalating rhetoric from both sides, deepening the crisis.
Iran has consistently argued that the ceasefire should cover Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground invasion last month. Israel initially said Lebanon was not part of the agreement, but, under pressure from the U.S., the Israeli government held direct talks with Lebanese government officials in Washington, after which U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Mr. Trump said the Lebanon ceasefire was not linked to the U.S.-Iran truce. But Iranian officials quickly claimed credit, saying it was their pressure that led Mr. Trump to force Mr. Netanyahu to stop attacking Lebanon.