Analysis: Be cautious about optimistic expectations in the upcoming "peace agreement" in the Middle East

Thierry Weizman and Gareth Berry, global strategists at Macquarie Bank, said in a report that it is too early to raise high expectations that a "peace agreement" in the Middle East will be reached in the next few days, because the demands of both sides still seem difficult to agree. The idea that the United States would abandon its demands on Iran's nuclear assets, or that the United States would simply withdraw from its bases in the Gulf, would be unrealistic.<br /> It is also unlikely that Iran will abandon its support for its proxy forces at this stage. But the war is unlikely to last beyond mid-April, when the Iranian threat is likely to be eliminated. Once the threat is eliminated, the United States will have the upper hand in any subsequent negotiations.