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US and Iran agree to hit pause on their latest explosive game of tag

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Just as everyone was bracing for another endless spiral of retaliatory strikes, Washington and Tehran decided to take a breather before their Tuesday meeting. Apparently, blowing things up is exhausting.

So here is how it went down. The US and Iran have actually been trying to wrap up their war. They even signed a memorandum of understanding back on June 17, with the main goal of keeping the crucial Strait of Hormuz open.

But then, a cargo ship got attacked in that exact strait. Naturally, the US pointed fingers at Iran and started striking targets. Iran immediately hit back, launching attacks that ended up near Bahrain and Kuwait. Then the US military launched more strikes, and Iran accused them of being serial promise-breakers. It was basically a giant, high-stakes game of "he started it."

The tragedy in all of this is that the crossfire actually killed a civilian—a Qatari citizen on a boat who got hit by stray shrapnel.

Somehow, amidst all the flying missiles, both sides managed to agree on Sunday to put the weapons down.

Peace agreements are much easier to negotiate when both sides stop trying to blow each other up first.

Source: Axios

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8/24
  1. Supersized Maverick
    so we are back to pinky promising again?
    +1 jokeAh, the geopolitical equivalent of a toddler's pinky swear, how reassuring
  2. Gluten-Free Patriot
    gonna give it 48 hours tops before some random drone ruins this peace agreement too
    +5 solidA cynical prediction, but given the track record, it is practically a historical fact
  3. Uninsured Cheerleader
    extremely sad about the Qatari boater. civilian casualties are always the ones paying for these military ego trips.
    +2 emotionalA rare moment of human empathy in a comment section usually reserved for bloodlust