In today\u2019s newsletter: The truce offers a reprieve after weeks of turmoil, \u200bb\u200but unresolved disputes and competing interpretations \u200bof what was agreed, threaten to pull the region back toward crisis\u200b at a moment\u2019s notice<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Good morning. On Tuesday, just an hour before the deadline imposed by Donald Trump for Iran to reopen navigation in the strait of Hormuz or face a wave of \u201ccivilisation-ending\u201d strikes, a two-week pause in hostilities was announced. After weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Tehran, and Iranian retaliation across the region, the news prompted relief among world leaders.<\/p>\n
But unanswered questions are piling up. Israel\u2019s assault on Lebanon continues<\/a>, with Trump describing that conflict as a separate skirmish not included in the deal, despite Iran seeming to think otherwise. Overnight the US president has used social media to warn that \u201cthe \u2018shootin\u2019 starts,\u2019 bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before\u201d unless Tehran complies with \u201cthe real agreement\u201d.<\/p>\n Middle East<\/strong><\/em> | The fate of the two-week ceasefire in the Iran conflict looked in peril<\/a> as both sides gave divergent versions of what had been agreed. Iran halted the passage of oil tankers because of an alleged Israeli ceasefire breach.<\/p>\n Middle East<\/strong><\/em> | Israel carried out its largest attack on Lebanon<\/a> since its war with Hezbollah began, killing at least 254 people and wounding 837.<\/p>\n Middle East<\/strong><\/em> | The UK has a \u201cjob\u201d to help reopen the strait of Hormuz<\/a>, Keir Starmer said on arriving in the Middle East, as Iranian reports said the key shipping route was closed again just hours after the supposed US-Iran ceasefire.<\/p>\n Ukraine<\/strong><\/em> | The US has ignored compelling evidence<\/a> that Russia has been helping Iran to target US bases in the Middle East because it misguidedly \u201ctrusts\u201d Vladimir Putin, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n Education<\/strong><\/em> | Many English universities are taking excessive financial risks<\/a> with borrowing and expansion of student numbers, threatening not only their own survival but that of others in the sector, the thinktank Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) has warned.<\/p>\n