DC Edit | For Peace Deal To work, US Must Rein In Israel

It should be considered incidental that the United States and Iran actually had the sense to reach a preliminary agreement to stop the West Asian conflict. It would be even more surprising if Israel, which is not yet a party to the agreement, had decided to give up the war in Lebanon and give peace a chance to repair a region devastated by decades of man-on-man aggression.

If common sense persists and the Strait of Hormuz is opened to ship traffic freely to bring oil and gas to Asia, the world will breathe a great sigh of relief. Of course, many issues remain unresolved, especially Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which formed the basis for the US and Israel’s foolish action to force the issue by declaring war this year.

Skepticism aside, taking the memorandum of understanding further with the easing of Western sanctions and the gradual release of funds to Iran would mean that lasting peace could return and that all parties, including Iran’s militant proxies in Hezbollah and Hamas, would have to find other ways to contribute meaningfully to life in a conflict-ridden region torn by religious hatred.

It doesn’t matter that US President Donald Trump, who has plunged into this region with ‘epic fury’, arrived at the signing of the agreement in Geneva on Friday with his tail down, having to concede in the end that this was an unwinnable war in which there was room to believe that the only ones who had won anything, like Iran and Israel, were saying their own purposes.

The world would be a better place if the same wisdom had dawned on Russian President Vladimir Putin, the idea that no war can be won in a world where asymmetric warfare with armed long-range drones is a new feature. The biggest fear in West Asia is that the disruptive actions of Israel and its Prime Minister in the war hawk Netanyahu will disrupt things between now and the end of the 60-day period following Friday, when many conditions will have to be met.

Any offensive action would disrupt talks over how much economic aid to provide to Iran if it remains stubborn about keeping its nuclear fuel enrichment options open and its advanced ballistic missile program, which gives it the ability to respond to Gulf states angered by aggression from a mostly Muslim-majority neighbor.

The reason for hope is a little deeper this time, because Mr. Trump, who boasted of destroying Iran’s nuclear fuel depot in attacks last year and this year, appears determined to bring Mr. Netanyahu to his senses. His readiness to release at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets to make a final deal possible is a sign that the need to talk about the issues has become crucial.

The truth is that Messrs. Trump and Netanyahu started this war, and the Revolutionary Guard, which seized greater powers in a period of conquest after the death of the Ayatollah and the disfigurement of the son of the token leader, found the courage to launch attacks on Israel and US assets in its military bases.

India, which suffered the deaths of three sailors due to US action, would, like all other countries, be pleased if the main combatants of the war, including Iran, agreed to an “immediate and permanent” end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon. Getting Israel to fall into line is as difficult a task for Mr. Trump as negotiating with Iran.