On Sunday, Washington and Tehran confirmed that both sides had “electronically signed” a preliminary memorandum of understanding aimed at ending their 15-week war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. President Donald Trump took to social media to declare the deal “complete,” enthusiastically instructing the “Ships of the World” to start their engines and let the oil flow.

Yet beneath this triumphant rhetoric lies a sobering reality: a fabricated victory following an immensely costly war that has claimed thousands of lives, crippled maritime commercial corridors and severely upended global trade. The immediate significance of the “deal” lies not just in its shaky geopolitics, but in the medium of its authentication. In international affairs, form........

© The Japan Times