MARK ALMOND: It was Donald's visit to China last week that has set the stage for compromise See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source By MARK ALMOND Published: 03:15 BST, 25 May 2026 | Updated: 03:49 BST, 25 May 2026 We've been promised peace deals before of course, and we're yet to see the full details of what Washington and Tehran are reported to have tentatively agreed.
But some things are already crystal clear: there are winners from the 12-week conflict, and major losers, too.
And whatever agreement is eventually reached, the Middle East has been reshaped.
First, the losers – Israel in particular.
Its two friends in the Gulf – Bahrain and the UAE – have been economically damaged by Iranian missiles.
Meanwhile, Tehran's blockade of the Persian Gulf has left them unable to export oil.
The UAE had led the region's efforts to diversify away from hydrocarbons, but business and tourist-friendly policies – drawing investors and 'influencers' to Dubai, for example – cannot work under the threat of drone strikes.
The Sunni rulers of these oil-rich states are now desperate for a settlement with Shiite Iran.
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is widely thought to have been the one who persuaded US President Donald Trump to attack Iran in the first place, at a secret White House meeting back in February.
This was in the apparent belief that the mullahs could be forced from power with bombs.
Yet the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp continues to control Tehran, an awkward fact that will make Israel's coming general election tricky for Netanyahu.
Most Israelis support a hard line against Iran and its two proxies on their borders – Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , is widely thought to have been the one who persuaded US President Donald Trump to attack Iran in the first place China's President Xi Jinping and his Pakistani allies seem to have quietly manoeuvred America and Iran into a deal that suits Beijing nicely, writes Mark Almond But three years after the bloody Hamas outrage on October 7, Netanyahu has won only tactical victories.
Despite assassinating the leaderships of Iran and its proxies, thousands of enemy rockets and fighters are still in place.
Britain and Europe are losers, too.
The oil shock means that inflation and interest rates are rising, putting paid to any hopes for badly needed growth.
Worse, the continent has been exposed militarily.
Europeans, including most Britons, are angry at Trump – not without reason – but gloating over a setback for the....
