The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding after a rocky start, giving rise to cautious hope it could lead to a longer term peace agreement even as Tehran insisted it would not give up its nuclear program.

After twelve days of intense strikes between Israel and Iran – punctuated by the United States’ bombing of Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend and Tehran’s performative retaliation – a US-brokered ceasefire appeared to be holding on Tuesday.