Just two weeks ago, it would have been inconceivable that a day on which Iran fired missiles at a U.S. base would also be seen as a day of de-escalation.

But that was the bizarre nature of Monday, when Iran targeted the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East but did so in a way that seemed purely symbolic. By day’s end, President Trump had announced a ceasefire between the Islamic Republic and Israel.

There are a host of questions still to be answered. The most pressing of them revolve around the nature of the ceasefire Trump has declared, whether both sides truly have agreed to it, what the conditions are, and how long it will last.

The head-spinning sequence of events had its first moment of high drama with the Iranian attack. It comprised 14 missiles, according to Trump, caused no injuries and came with a prior warning.

Trump responded with a social media post which, although couched in his characteristically unconventional terms, offered an off-ramp from the crisis.

In the post, Trump explicitly offered his thanks to Iran for “giving us early notice” even as he derided the apparent feebleness of the Islamic Republic’s “very weak response, which was expected.”

More significantly, Trump said that now Iran had “gotten it all out of their ‘system’” there was a possibility that “Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”

Capping it all off, Trump contended around 6 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time that there was a “fully........

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