US-Iran Peace Deal: Winner and Losers

The test of the deal sealed electronically on June 17 and signed by Donald Trump at a Versailles dinner is not the claims made for it but how it fares against the US president’s earlier proclamation that there would be no deal without Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER”. The 14-point MoU, the path to a permanent agreement, opens the Strait of Hormuz andallowsvesselstoplyfreely. What is left unsaid is the lesson Tehran has learnt—it can leverage the strait to threaten the global economy anytime. The US insists Iran will never get a nuclear weapon. But the deal falls far short of ensuring that. Tehran and Washington have 60 days to sign a lasting nuclear pact. For now, all Iran has to do is “downblend” its stockpile of enriched uranium under IAEA supervision. Furthermore, Iran gets a $300 billion commitment for its reconstruction although the Americans insist, again, they won’t be paying. But a GCC nation like the UAE or Qatar can build infrastructure in Iran with America’s blessings. More cruelly for Iranians who had hoped for regime change, non-interference in internal affairs means Trump has killed his promise to Iranians that help was on the way. As for America’s “allies”, meaning Israel, it has achieved little of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s objectives while being asked to stop its military action in Lebanon. The regime in Tehran has survived and it looks like its proxy, a headless Hezbollah, will too.

Sir Keir’s Kiss of Death

It’s likely Keir Starmer won’t be prime minister for much longer. Not necessarily replaced by Andy Burnham, but definitely by someone a little less unloved. In Sir Keir’s destroyed government and devastated country there will be those holding him accountable for the assisted dying controversy among many other things. The original bill, brought in 2024 by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, had collapsed in the House of Lords as the peers were accused of filibustering by listing a thousand-plus amendments. Labour MP Lauren Edwards has now reintroduced the legislation, but Starmer finds himself at the centre of the storm for his government’s “neutrality”—supporters of the bill and opponents have both taken him to task. Experience from other countries, like Canada, shows mentally and financially vulnerable individuals being increasingly coerced to choose assisted dying under familial and social pressure. The bill’s medical oversight is evidently weak as it allows any registered medical practitioner to give a diagnosis of terminal illness. In February 2025, even the provision of judicial oversight was removed. While medical bodies have joined campaigners against the bill, calling it unsafe and half-baked, the refusal or inability of Starmer’s government to take a call is seen as an abdication of responsibility. That won’t prevent the mess from being tied to his legacy.

The Bielsa Exception

He should have won the World Cup with Argentina in 2002. But the favourites had crashed out from the group stage. He brought Leeds United back to the Premier League. Pep Guardiola regards him as a guru. Maverick and maniacally innovative, Marcelo Bielsa is one of the greatest cerebral football coaches of all time but never got the recognition he deserved. Now coaching Uruguay, ‘El Loco’ insisted on not looking into the camera for his official World Cup portrait, staring hard at the ground instead. His explanation: he doesn’t need to give one; he is “not a model” after all. Never question a man who sits on an icebox during matches.