Iran presents the June 17 Islamabad agreement as if it were still in effect. The United States frequently states that a new, broader agreement is needed.
Whatever the agreement may be, the two main protagonists—the United States and Iran—will have to realize that their respective behaviors will inevitably lead to the rapid collapse of any agreement.
Why?
Each belligerent acts as if it alone has the right to launch ad hoc military operations:
- The United States considers that it has the right to eliminate personnel associated with a missile described as capable of launching mines (without providing any credible evidence),
- The United States considers that it can neutralize any radar, missile, or equipment suspected of helping the Iranians control or neutralize maritime traffic,
- Iran considers itself entitled to use force to neutralize any ship that does not comply with Iran’s wishes,
- the United States considers it legitimate to launch a military strike against Iran following any attack on a ship attributed to Iran,
- Iran considers it normal to respond militarily to any attack on its territory by bombarding U.S. military bases with bombs and missiles,
- etc., etc.
The scenario is always the same: Iran attacks one or more ships, the United States responds militarily, Iran fires missiles at U.S. bases, and so on.
To this basic scenario, each belligerent is adding additional rules:
- The United States is establishing a policy for responding to any ship attacked by an enemy vessel,
- Iran is considering whether it might be possible to add preemptive strikes
On top of that, each side adds ongoing threats, conditions for resuming talks, and so on.
What is a ceasefire?
This is an agreement in principle to halt all military operations and move forward diplomatically. There are always violations of a ceasefire, and if no provisions are in place to address these violations, the war will resume if each belligerent believes it must respond to every violation with several new ones. This leads to further escalation and, soon, war once again. That is what is happening. Do they truly want an agreement and a ceasefire? Presumably not, and there will be none unless they change their behavior or agree to a system for monitoring and enforcing the ceasefire. There is no such system at the moment, and none of the belligerents intends to halt its military operations—which it considers legitimate—even though the June 17 agreement states the opposite, starting with point 1.
Point 1 of the memorandum states:
“1. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as their allies in the current war, by signing this memorandum of understanding, declare the immediate and definitive cessation of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and hereby commit to not waging any war or military operation against one another, to refrain from any threat or use of force against one another, …”
None of the belligerents has complied with this provision. A military response to an incident of misconduct constitutes a violation of the agreement and of Provision 1, which was accepted by both parties.
There remains a long list of cases—not covered by Provision No. 1—in which each belligerent has claimed a right to intervene that is not mentioned anywhere in the memorandum of understanding signed on June 17.
And the only response from these warring parties is a childish one: “It’s not me—it’s the other person who’s to blame.”
Regardless of the agreement or the negotiations, you have to change your behavior if you hope to ever reach an agreement that will hold up.
We could talk about it and explain more specifically what needs to change, but does anyone even care?
September 4, 2026
Naej DRANER (naej.draner@gmail.com)
