The announcement of a framework agreement between the United States and Iran has understandably been greeted with relief. Oil prices have retreated from their wartime highs, stock markets have rallied and governments dependent on Gulf energy supplies have welcomed what appears to be a retreat from the edge. But relief is not the same as resolution. The world may have avoided a wider West Asian war. It has not yet secured peace. That distinction is more than semantic.

It goes to the heart of what has actually been achieved. For weeks, the conflict demonstrated how a regional confrontation can swiftly become a global economic problem. The disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz exposed the fragility of an international system still heavily dependent on the uninterrupted flow of Gulf energy. Rising fuel costs threatened to aggravate inflation just as many economies were struggling to regain stability. Thousands of miles from the battle zone, consumers, businesses and governments were reminded that geopolitical crises carry an economic price paid far beyond the countries directly involved.

The framework agreement has bought time. That alone is........

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