Iran did not win the war. But it denied Washington and Tel Aviv the victory they needed most: the power to decide what the war had made of Iran. The recent US-Iran memorandum of understanding is important for that reason. It is designed to end the near four-month war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz gradually and move the hardest questions into follow-on negotiations. That is not the result of a state untouched by punishment. It is the result of a state damaged enough to need relief, but still coherent enough to bargain over the terms of its survival. This distinction matters. The campaign hurt Iran. Its infrastructure, economy, military networks and civilian population absorbed severe pressure. But damage answers only […]