In the ancient calculus of oil and war, a momentary silence between Washington and Tehran was enough to move markets on Tuesday — Brent crude falling to $86.52 and WTI to $80.71 as traders exhaled at the prospect of a conflict that might not consume the world's most critical energy corridor. The pause was neither confirmed nor permanent, with Iran rejecting ceasefire reports even as the shooting slowed, and President Trump's contradictory signals about military readiness adding further uncertainty to an already fragile moment. Humanity has long measured the distance between peace and catastrop