The cease-fire deal that Washington and Tehran announced on June 14, 2026, is a revelation rather than merely a diplomatic move. It reveals three distinct diplomacies, three relationships with time, and three perspectives on power. The US wants to emerge quickly from a costly war; Iran aims to turn its military weakness into political survival. Israel, for its part, is discovering once again that its security agenda no longer always matches that of the Americans.

First, we must call things by their name. What has been announced is not a final peace. It is a framework agreement, a strategic pause, with a ceasefire, the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the US naval blockade. Discussions must then address the most difficult issues: Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions, regional security, Lebanon, and Hezbollah. In other words, the fire is out, but the house is not yet repaired.

Here, American diplomacy takes on its most Trumpian characteristics: it is enthusiastic under threat, swift when leaving, and fixated on tangible outcomes. Washington threatens, strikes, blocks, and then looks for an agreement that can be portrayed as a win. D.Trump hopes to be able to claim that he calmed the markets, reopened Hormuz, forced Iran back to the negotiating table, and prevented a quagmire. This is not diplomacy for transforming the Middle East, nor is it moral diplomacy. It is cost-benefit diplomacy.

This does not mean that the US is weak, as its military power remains overwhelming. But that power........

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