For a few nerve-racking hours on Wednesday morning it appeared US President Donald Trump and the remnants of the murderous regime in Iran were locked in a mutually destructive pact that would have led to thousands of civilian deaths and accusations of genocide and war crimes on both sides.
Trump has been trying to bully the Iranians into a ceasefire for days but in a turn of phrase that was shocking, even by his low standards, he said, “a whole civilisation will die tonight” unless Iran struck a peace deal before his deadline.
The Iranian response was to urge people to act as human shields at power plants in the hope they would deter the US president from ordering missile strikes against energy systems.
What followed was awful: unverified videos and photographs of Iranians waving flags and holding hands as they gathered on bridges and power plants at imminent risk to their own safety – ready to be sacrificed as pawns.
In direct contravention of international norms, the Iranian deputy minister for youth and sport, Alireza Rahimi, tried to put civilians between the American enemy and its targets.
“I invite all the youth, athletes, artists, university students and professors to come tomorrow, Tuesday, at 2pm, and circle the power plants which constitute national assets and capital,” he said.
In this scenario, it was hard to work out which side was worse: the remnants of a brutal theocratic regime – or a bellicose US leader who had earlier warned his rivals he would bomb the country back to the Stone Age if it didn’t “open the f—n’ strait”, a reference to the Strait of Hormuz.
As it transpired, it was yet another TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) moment: although the US did carry out some air raids on Iranian-controlled Kharg Island, Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire contingent on Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The White House, predictably, declared victory, but this seems extremely premature, with Israel claiming the ceasefire did not apply in Lebanon and continued its bombing campaign there.
Despite the lack of detail, the ceasefire agreement sent oil prices falling sharply on Wednesday, with the cost of a barrel of Brent Crude oil, the global benchmark, plunged 15 per cent to below $US91.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the ceasefire and commitment to reopen Middle East shipping lanes, declaring it could lead to a permanent end to a conflict that has cut off 20 per cent of global oil supplies and sent fuel prices soaring.
“This is positive news. We’ve been calling for a de-escalation for some time,” Albanese said.
The Herald welcomes this temporary cessation of hostilities with Iran and can only hope that a permanent peace deal will follow. While the outrageous rhetoric of both Iran and the US have not helped, we can only hope that behind the scenes calmer heads will prevail. Any escalation of this conflict that would lead to mass civilian casualties must be avoided at all costs.
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