How to end the war in Iran

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.BE GRATEFUL FOR small mercies. The ceasefire between America and Iran holds. Talks that began in Islamabad last weekend may soon resume.

Though the Strait of Hormuz is closed, oil markets are no more spooked than they were. And while economic damage is gradually spreading globally, a deep Hormuz-induced recession could yet be averted.But small mercies are not enough. If they are not to return to a futile war, America and Iran will have to ensure the ceasefire produces a lasting peace, by opening the strait and settling their dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.

That will require compromise and a willingness to grapple with complexity that has eluded both sides—especially President Donald Trump.The search for peace starts with a reckoning of America’s leverage. Mr Trump’s imposition of his own blockade was an attempt to strengthen his hand after weeks of bombardment failed to force Iran’s capitulation. It traps tankers taking as much as 2m barrels a day of Iranian oil to market even as war raged.

The idea is to use the economy to get Iran’s hardliners to give ground in talks.It is a less harmful tactic than the many bad ideas America’s president has aired in recent weeks—bombing Iran’s power plants, sending American troops to be sitting ducks on Kharg Island or wrecking Iran’s oil industry. Indeed, a dire economy was Iran’s greatest weakness before the war began. Mass protests were the result of fury over the currency’s collapse, energy and water shortages, joblessness and impoverishment.

The regime responded by murdering demonstrators in January. The blockade’s success, however, is highly uncertain. Such measures usually take months, even years, to force compliance.