Neither the US nor Iran is blinking in their economic brinkmanship

SIX months into the Iran war, the missiles have been fired and gone quiet in stretches, and the Strait of Hormuz has opened and closed and opened again.

A ceasefire memorandum signed in June collapsed mere weeks later, and has since expired without signs of renewal, though talks between the US and Iran are reportedly still taking place. 

But the fight that never pauses is the one being waged in ledgers, oil manifests and currency markets. Call it what it is: a game of chicken, and the weapon of choice on both sides is the other side’s economy.