Free Republic

A federal judge in Maine on Friday barred the Trump administration from enforcing sanctions on two U.S. citizens and human rights advocates who work with the International Criminal Court (ICC).On April 11, Matthew Smith and Akila Radhakrishnan, a human rights nonprofit leader and lawyer, respectively, filed a 39-page lawsuit against President Donald Trump and several other members of his administration over an executive order that imposes sanctions on the ICC, prohibits certain interactions with designated ICC officials, and threatens both civil and criminal penalties for any such violations.The lawsuit was premised on the idea that the sanctions "violate their First...

A major crisis was narrowly averted Sunday over Iran's nuclear facilities and the planned booting of IAEA inspectors from key sites, scheduled according to a prior Iranian parliament decision for Feb.21. Tehran reached a last-minute agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog, now being described as a temporary "technical understanding" to keep the inspections going for another three months.According to the agreement, the IAEA will no longer conduct last-minute "snap inspections" after Tehran argued that it shouldn't be subject to such after the US tore up the deal under Trump. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said Sunday that "This is not a...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this week threatened President Trump, saying “in a few days, the life of this criminal will end.” Rouhani made the threat in a speech to the Iranian Cabinet, citing the “martyred” Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was taken out in an airstrike nearly a year ago that was ordered by Trump. In an English translation posted online by the Iranian government, Rouhani said: “In a few days, the life of this criminal will end and he will go to the dustbin of history.” “One of the effects of this stupid and disgraceful act,” Rouhani said of the...