After months of diplomacy punctuated by military strikes, the United States and Iran have stopped fighting and signed a memorandum of understanding. The technical grind of nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz will consume much of the 60-day period for negotiations. But the deeper question is whether durable stability is possible without addressing the … Read more
The House Rules Committee has advanced an amendment by Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to strip $3.3 billion in funding for the Israel Defense Forces from the federal budget. That means that as early as Thursday, every member of the House will have to vote on the proposal. Constituents will have the opportunity to see if their … Read more
As J.D. Vance struggles to finalize a peace deal with Iran, and Trump threatens to resume bombing his adversary if they don’t comply, Congress is voting to halt the war altogether. On Tuesday, the Senate voted 50-48 on a resolution ordering the president to pull forces out of Iran pending the legislative branch actually authorizing … Read more
On June 18, Iran and the U.S. signed an agreement, titled the “Islamabad Memorandum,” which committed both countries to an immediate and permanent end to hostilities, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and 60 days of negotiations to reach a final agreement. Within 48 hours, Iran had closed the strait again. The reason was … Read more
The Trump administration has spent the last several days blasting away at bipartisan critics in Congress and from the usually friendly rightwing media sphere after the president signed a deal last week with Iran to stop the fighting and move toward more comprehensive negotiations. Things appear poised to get a lot worse as the pressure … Read more
On Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, a deal that sets off a 60-day ceasefire and longer-term nuclear talks between the two nations. It also, critically, reopens the Strait of Hormuz, that narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that usually serves as one of the globe’s vital energy … Read more
Assume, for the sake of argument, that you think the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) just signed by President Donald Trump in Versailles is a disaster for both the United States and especially for Israel. Who would you want to be in the forefront of the campaign to persuade American public opinion that it should … Read more
I have spent years fighting against Trump’s push toward war with Iran, and I have the scars to prove it. When Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, I warned that it would eventually bring us to this moment. Ever since, I have consistently argued against the confrontational path he set the United States on. … Read more
After months of on-and-off talks, Iran and the United States are set to end their war and sign an interim peace agreement on Friday June 19 in Switzerland. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led most of the negotiations, but no Iranian politician has benefited more from the talks than Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of … Read more
In a flurry of diplomatic activity over the last days, Iran and the U.S. appear at last to have reached an initial agreement to wind down hostilities and open the Strait of Hormuz to seaborne traffic. The agreement is due to be signed in a formal ceremony Friday in Switzerland, but the immediate impact of … Read more