New Delhi, July 2 -- a communications hotline, partial release of frozen Iranian assets, and confirmation that discussions would continue. What they did not announce was equally significant. The nuclear inspection file - the question of whether IAEA inspectors can access the sites destroyed by US and Israeli airstrikes in February - was explicitly deferred to a future round. The Strait of Hormuz toll question, which the United States had designated as the primary focus of the Doha session, ended without agreement.

the framework is still standing, the talks are continuing, and neither side walked away. It does not go far enough to describe what the 60-day window requires before August 16.

The maritime industry has not recalibrated. Despi...