After a month and a half of spiraling conflict in the Middle East, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday – less than two hours before US President Donald Trump’s deadline, after which he had promised to wipe out a “whole civilization.”
That threat, which critics warned could be a war crime if carried out, appears to have been staved off for now at the 11th hour. But there remains a gulf between the two countries, who each portrayed the temporary truce as a victory for their nations.
The ceasefire is a starting point for further negotiations, and it remains to be seen what final terms may be included in a proposal to definitively end a war that has upended the Middle…