A Mideast deal a must

Escalation is on the cards in the Middle East as the uneasy ceasefire that has been in place since April 8 seems to be unravelling. Fresh skirmishes have been reported after the US military said it struck radar sites in Iran. In retaliation, the IRGC has pounded American interests in Kuwait and Bahrain with ballistic missiles. This has raised fears of resumption of hostilities as Tehran and Washington are digging in their heels for reasons of political exigency, getting farther from a perpetual peace deal.

The main factors stopping the two arch foes from finding a common ground are uranium enrichment threshold and the Strait of Hormuz manoeuvres. To add to this complexity is the new assessment from the UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA, which suspects that Iran is much closer to a bomb. Iran has, however, refuted such assumptions, saying the IAEA is "turning technical reports into tools of political pressure", as it has "lost oversight at some facilities" owing to attacks from the US rather than a lack of cooperation from the Islamic republic. This sensitivity too is in need of being ironed out to the satisfaction of all stakeholders in the region and beyond.

The good point, nonetheless, is that Tehran and Riyadh are inching towards a greater understanding for serenity in the region, and fences have also been mended with the UAE. The onus is on the US to encourage this silent phase of diplomacy, and not to complicate it by flagging the "indispensability" of furthering the Abraham Accords, which are anyway a non-starter in the Muslim world.

Taming Israel from going berserk over Lebanon and desisting from trigger-happiness over Iranian installations is a must if the fragile ceasefire is to be upheld. Iran is on record saying that "Lebanon is not a bargaining chip". Thus, a plethora of notes that have been exchanged between Iran and the US must graduate into a deal, and the goodwill mediation on the part of Pakistan must reap peace dividends. All it entails is writing a broad-based deal for the region in all sincerity.