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With the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, the fallout from the recent war by the United States and Israel on Iran is now becoming clear. Operation Midnight Hammer was intended to neutralise the Iranian nuclear threat and permanently reshape West Asia, but it failed on both counts. The attacks on Iran in 2025 followed by the recent military strikes have left the region more volatile and the US-Israel alliance more isolated. 

While the bombs were still falling, the strategic map of the world changed. It did not produce a safer world or a more stable energy market. Instead, it exposed the limits of American power and the fragility of Israeli security – and India’s increasing irrelevance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Here are 10 things that this war on Iran, and the ensuing ceasefire, have actually thrown up. 

Pakistan and China as the peacemakers

Pakistan and China as the peacemakers

The most striking shift from peace negotiations is the diplomatic vacuum filled by Beijing and Islamabad. While Washington provided the munitions for the strikes on Natanz and Fordow, China and Pakistan moved to present a credible peace plan. China used its economic weight to press Tehran for a ceasefire while Pakistan leveraged its unique ties and trust of all the major actors, as well as its geography in the conflict. These moves have effectively sidelined the US in the very region it sought to dominate, and the Global South will now increasingly look towards Beijing for stability rather than Washington.

Iran as the gatekeeper of Hormuz

Iran as the gatekeeper of Hormuz

In the last five weeks, Tehran has proven that its threats were not empty. During the height of the conflict, Iran demonstrated its ability to stop all commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Global oil and gas prices surged because almost all non-Iranian shipping ceased. Even with a massive US military presence in the region, the risks to commercial shipping posed by a resilient Iranian military made the passage uninsurable. Tehran has established its sole control over the world’s most critical energy chokepoint. Every major........

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