New Delhi, March 24 -- A silver lining seems to have appeared around the clouds of war over West Asia. Donald Trump put off by five days the US threat of bombing Iran's energy infrastructure just hours before his 48-hour deadline was to expire for Iranian forces to open the Strait of Hormuz.

The US President cited "very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East" between the US and Iran over the past two days as the reason for his decision. Meanwhile, Iran's embassy in Kabul sought to portray this as the US backing down in the face of Tehran's counter-threat of reprisal strikes across the Gulf.

Whether or not Trump has "chickened" out, as some market watchers claim he al...