Pakistan, June 11 -- The latest exchange between the US and Iran has left the ceasefire alive in name, but badly wounded in substance. What began with Iran bringing down a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz has quickly turned into American strikes on Iranian air-defence, radar and ground-control sites, followed by Iranian missile and drone attacks on US-linked facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

President Donald Trump's warning that Iran has taken too long to negotiate and will now "pay the price" has made matters worse. Threats to hit bridges, power plants and other infrastructure cannot be treated as routine pressure tactics. Even when such targets are described as dual-use, they sit dangerously close to civilian life...