On April 12th, after 21 hours of talks, America and Iran failed to reach an agreement, marking a fragile ceasefire that may be the end of the war in Iran.
The biggest loser in this conflict is likely to be Donald Trump, whose chief war aims have been set back and the shallowness of his vision for a new way of wielding American power has been revealed.
The peace is fragile, with America and Iran disputing whether it covers Lebanon, and their negotiating positions are so far apart that they cannot agree on what plan to discuss in Islamabad at the weekend.
Despite this, Mr Trump now grasps that he should never have started the war, and his abhorrent chest-beating posts threatening to destroy Iran look like attempts to dress his climbdown in Kevlar.
Iran, too, has reasons to hold back, with its leaders keeping being killed and the wholesale destruction of power and transport networks making the country harder to govern.
The most likely outcome is a wounded Iranian regime clinging to power and holding out for maximal goals in talks.
Mr Trump's war has harmed regional security, and Iran has established a new source of leverage by attacking Gulf countries and blocking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The regime remains, despite Mr Trump's feeble claim to have brought it down, and the war may have aggravated the nuclear threat, with 400kg of highly enriched uranium still buried at nuclear sites.
The war has shown the limits to what military power can achieve and how its appetite for pre-emptive attack is leading to fear and loathing in the region.
For many Israelis, to fight as America's equal stirred great national pride, but even as Israel has earned the praise of Republican politicians, 60% of Americans now look unfavourably on it, a rise of seven percentage points from last year.
