Bowen: US-Iran deal raises inescapable question of what the war was for
Key takeaways
- Thousands have been killed, many of them civilians, in Iran and Lebanon.
- The US, and by extension Israel, have suffered a strategic defeat.
- The memorandum of understanding - or MOU - calls for an end to the war in Lebanon.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Jeremy Bowen International editor AFP via Getty Images Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Iran as a result of the war The memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump and President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran lays out the political, military and economic consequences of the ill-judged decision to attack Iran on 28 February.
The human cost is already clear. Thousands have been killed, many of them civilians, in Iran and Lebanon.
The US, and by extension Israel, have suffered a strategic defeat. The regime in Tehran faced its worst nightmare: a joint military operation to cripple or destroy it by the US, the world's strongest power, and Israel, the Middle East's superpower. The regime has not just survived. It has been empowered.