While it was inevitable both the US and Iran and would claim victory in the wake of the exchange of missile strikes, the truth is there are no winners here.
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The immediate losers are the 176 people killed when their Ukrainian International Airlines flight went down shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport.
There is some speculation the aircraft, a Boeing 737 described by UIA as one of the best planes in its fleet, may have fallen victim to the city's anti-aircraft defences or even been struck by one of the ballistic missiles launched against US troops in Iraq.
The latter is unlikely given several hours had elapsed since the salvo of 22 rockets, two of which reportedly failed to explode, were launched.
No explanation has been given as to why Tehran air traffic control allowed the plane to take off at such a demonstrably dangerous time or why UIA felt it was prudent to fly in what was effectively a warzone.
Nobody is talking about what, if any, military assets the US may have had operating in Iranian air space at the time.
The other big losers in the events of recent days, in addition to the as many as 56 Iranians reportedly trampled to death in the massive crowds that gathered to mourn assassinated strong man Qasem Soleimani, are the people of Iraq.
Their sovereignty has been violated with military attacks on their soil by two separate nations, one allegedly an ally, in less than a week.
They have, once again, been the meat in the sandwich in the proxy war between the US and Iran.
There is no shortage of people to blame for the latest round of bloodshed, heartbreak and tragedy.
US President Donald Trump and the Mullahs leading Iran have all contributed to the escalation of hostilities in roughly equal measure.
Soleimani, meanwhile, could be said to have had a hand in his own demise by invoking increased levels of anti-American activities. This included the missile attack that killed a US contractor just before New Year and last week's assault on the US embassy in Baghdad.
Trump's decision to respond to this, and the embassy attack, with an assassination strike by drone cannot be swept under the carpet on the grounds it was a justified "calculated risk".
It was no more, and no less, than a foolhardy gamble with the lives of tens of thousands of people in the Middle East and appears to have been as impulsive as it was reckless.
If it turns out that the UIA flight was shot down as a result of the hostilities then Trump, and the US, could be considered to be partly culpable.
The only positive development to date has been the Iranian leadership's apparent willingness to draw a line under its retaliation strike in order to de-escalate a situation that could easily plunge the region into yet another major war.
Trump's response, including as it did more threats against Iran's nuclear weapons program and additional sanctions, has been less positive.
Iran's reaction to this will, no doubt, become apparent over the coming weeks and months.
The best that can be said at the moment is that the world is still well short of all out war between Iran and the US and its allies which include Australia.
Only time will tell if we are on the cusp of a genuine push towards peace or if this is just the calm before the storm.
