President Trump signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or “Strategic Framework Agreement” with Iran on Wednesday. Trump signed it in France where he was attending the G7 Summit. The MOU was signed electronically at the Palace of Versailles with cameras rolling, and filmed so that it could be transmitted to the Iranians who did the same with their signing. The framework agreement sets a 60 day time limit, wherein the MOU is to be transformed into a final deal. The White House has released the text of the 14-point plan which opens the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, removes the US blockade of Iranian ports and lays out broad commitments aimed at restraining Iran’s nuclear program. So far, it doesn’t require Iran to give up its ballistic missile program, a major setback for Trump’s original demands. The biggest threat to the deal turns out to be Israel, which refuses to abide by Iran’s demand in the deal that Israel stop attacking Lebanon, and withdraw from its occupation of S. Lebanon. Trump has expressed considerable displeasure with PM Netanyahu over Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon, but it is doubtful Trump has the determination to threaten Israel with a cutoff of military aid if Netanyahu continues to sabotage the US/Iran deal. Israel may even have blackmail on Trump through the still-concealed Epstein files. I’ll cover all of these stories and more in this week’s important brief.
To receive a free one-time sample of this Brief, click on Request a sample on the left.
Also:
Israel Already Trying to Scuttle Trump’s Iran Deal
Iran to immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz without tolls during a 60-day period of negotiations.
Iran has also agreed to, at a minimum, downblend its stockpile of enriched uranium. The deal allows for potential future economic relief if Iran responds favorably to the United States’ demands.
The agreement would also allow Iran to sell its oil without restrictions. The deal provides for a 60-day window for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
President Trump's comment at the tail end of the G7 press conference about rapidly depleting crude reserves may have been the clearest admission yet of what is really driving the urgent push for an MoU with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
"We run out of reserves in about four weeks," Trump told reporters.
A 17th-century chapel in Brittany lost most of its roof and part of its framework, while a centuries-old cloister housing thousands of rare books in the southwest saw its library devastated.
These blazes fit a widening pattern of attacks on churches and sacred sites that shows no sign of slowing, even as the state claims it lacks funds for preservation while directing resources elsewhere.
At least three Iranian oil tankers and two cargo ships carrying essential goods broke through the US naval blockade following an accord between the countries.
A large Iranian VLCC and another vessel used to transport livestock moved from open waters toward Iranian ports, the agency said. Another Iranian tanker carrying oil also crossed the Gulf of Oman toward its designated export port, Fars said, without providing further details about the destination.
Trump made these comments during his bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
"I'm going to do whatever I can," Trump said, to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump said he wants to focus on Ukraine now, saying Iran will soon be "back in the rearview mirror."
The group allegedly planned to use explosive-laden drones to hit buildings near the event, force a mass evacuation, and steer crowds toward a pre-staged sniper team.
A "second wave" was then allegedly planned to storm the White House gate, according to officials. -Fox News
This saga fits a familiar pattern of privatized surveillance creep: Companies like Flock build the infrastructure, police query it with minimal friction, and civil liberties erode under the banner of security. As similar systems proliferate, the question remains whether Americans are willing to accept a perpetual digital dragnet in exchange for promised safety.
The committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines has been paralyzed by a March ruling by a federal judge, leaving it unable to carry out work ahead of the upcoming respiratory virus season, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has warned.
Iran Says Peace Deal Requires Israeli Withdrawal From Lebanon
Hormuz Fears Ease As Trump, Ghalibaf Virtually Sign US-Iran Deal, But Energy Flows Remain Months From Normal
One transaction stands out. The Washington Free Beacon reported that Newsom asked a Native American tribe to make two separate $500,000 donations to the California Partners Project. Contemporaneously, he took that tribe's side in a dispute with another tribe over a proposed casino. The juxtaposition of large directed donations to a family-linked nonprofit coinciding with favorable official action has fueled questions about whether donors with business before the state were effectively paying for access or goodwill through the governor's wife's charity.
Asked whether he was concerned Trump could veto a stand-alone renewal, Thune said he hoped the president would ultimately support restoring the authority.
“I certainly would hope if we can get FISA off the floor, he would sign it,” Thune said.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett didn’t mince words on Monday: the clock for regime change in Iran starts ticking the moment Israel gets a new government.
“Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” Sharif wrote on X moments before Trump confirmed the plan.
Iran will not have a nuclear weapon under the new deal.
The agreement includes strong policing and enforcement powers.
Past U.S. payments to Iran were a failed bribe attempt.
Sanctions relief will only happen if Iran complies with terms.
Iran gets no money or relief just for signing the deal.
Trump: Ships starting to move through strait or Hormuz
Vice President JD Vance Begins Optics Roadshow to Boost Investor Confidence On Deal
Iran Offers 60-Day Toll-Free Hormuz Transit As 100s Of Ships Await Reopening
Looking at WTI crude futures and the AAA national average for gasoline, the implied decline suggests gas prices at the pump could tumble toward $3.75 by mid-summer.
“You testified under oath that it would take years to rebuild those stockpiles,” Brennan emphasized.
"You don’t have to read back to me what I testified," Hegseth shot back. "I speculated some munitions take more time than others. We’ve got lots of them, we’re building more than ever before. The Biden administration gave away hundreds of billions to Ukraine. And so President Trump had to refill, and he has, and we have in real time."
According to the UK Ministry of Defense, it was a six-hour operation and a massive display of force involving a flotilla of navy vessels - including the frigate HMS Sutherland - and a fleet of aircraft, most notably heavy-lift Chinook helicopters.
The target has since been identified as the Smyros - a vessel allegedly flying under the radar in an effort to bypass Western embargoes.
Consider two people who both earn $100,000 per year. Person A spends $90,000 and saves $10,000. Person B spends $70,000 and saves $30,000. After 20 years of investing at a 7 percent annual return, Person A has about $410,000. Person B has about $1,230,000. They earned exactly the same amount. The difference is entirely in spending decisions.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose government has helped facilitate talks between Washington and Tehran, had indicated in an earlier press statement on June 13 that the deal was expected to be finalized “in the next 24 hours.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote that once the deal is signed, the Strait of Hormuz will immediately be “open to all.”
Alaska's election officials may have just saved a U.S. Senate seat from one of the more brazen ballot schemes in recent memory. The state's Division of Elections issued a preliminary ruling this week that Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg is ineligible to appear on the 2026 Senate ballot, dealing a significant blow to Democrats - in what Republicans have characterized as a coordinated Democratic effort to siphon votes from incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan through deliberate name confusion.
Errant Ukrainian drones which wonder across borders and into neighboring Baltic and Eastern European countries are becoming enough of a problem to where some NATO allies pushing for a self-destruct function.
Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruta has proposed that Ukraine program its maritime drones to self-destruct if they veer into the country's territorial waters, coming just on the heels of a major disaster.
The defense angle for the Phantom MK1 is quite simple: replace the human soldier with the robot for close-quarters battle (CQB) operations, including breaching and room-clearing support.
Beyond CQB, a never-before-seen video now shows the Phantom MK1 operating a mobile light mortar system during a live-fire training exercise in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The arrests are expected to lower the amount of gang violence seen across the Central Valley, the department added.
Among those arrested was Stefan Coronado from Stockton, California, who was identified as a secretary for the Mexican Mafia, Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni said during a press conference.
California keeps dumping votes. Odds are shifting because the vote dumps always seem to go one way.
Count until you get the result you want?
— Ron DeSantis
Video has emerged of an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Soldier, testifying UNDER OATH that on October 7, he was told to "Stand-Down" from 5:20am to 9:00am during the "HAMAS ATTACK."
The soldier is testifying in an Israeli Knesset (Legislature) subcommittee.
On Sunday, it appeared that Republican mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt would fall out of contention for the general election after several days of appearing in the top two vote recipients along with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat. Another Democrat candidate, Nithya Raman, appeared to overtake Pratt for second place to face Bass in the general election. The state’s primaries allow the top two vote-getters, rather than party nominees, to advance to the general election.
California also doesn’t allow local jurisdictions to require voter ID and allows 22 days for “curing” ballots.
