Free Republic

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Senate Democrats, seething over the Trump administration’s revived war with Iran, blocked a traditionally bipartisan defense funding bill on Tuesday. The Defense Department is seeking more than $1 trillion through a broad package that includes program funding, pay raises and policy directives as the ceasefire with Tehran ends. The administration’s hopes for the historically high request were suppressed on Capitol Hill, where a mostly party-line vote delayed passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, which usually succeeds with ease. Forty-five Democrats voted against the legislation, preventing Republicans from overcoming the 60-vote barrier set for most...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was the Trump administration’s frontman for waging war on Iran during weeks of kinetic operations aimed at decimating its nuclear threat. Since President Trump signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran to end the war, without securing significant concessions on its missile or nuclear stockpiles, Hegseth has said little about the shift in strategy — as Vice President Vance takes the spotlight in defending the tenuous diplomacy. The public positioning of the top Trump advisers reflects reporting on their private counsel to the commander in chief, with Trump saying in March that Hegseth was “the...

U.S. officials believed that Israel might have been plotting to kill Iran’s top negotiators while Washington was engaged with Tehran in delicate talks this spring to reach an interim peace deal, according to current and former American officials. Killing senior Iranian leaders had been part of Israel’s strategy from the start of the war. But American concerns about the targeting of two particular Iranian officials — Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Parliament — spiked during delicate cease-fire negotiations that began in April. Fearful that an Israeli assassination effort would doom the negotiations,...

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday ​the United States was getting along ‌very well with Iran and that recent meetings in Qatar went well. "The denuclearization of ​Iran is moving along well," Trump ​told reporters. "They've had very good meetings, and ⁠we'll see." The U.S. and Iran ​held technical talks in the Qatari capital of ​Doha on Wednesday as they seek to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait ​of Hormuz and secure a lasting ​ceasefire, a source with direct knowledge of the talks ‌and ⁠an Iranian official said. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff met...

• Nuclear monitoring: US Vice President JD Vance touted Sunday as a “very, very good day” of negotiations between the US and Iran and denied that bombastic statements from President Donald Trump upended negotiations. In what he described as a “major milestone,” Vance said Tehran has agreed to admit nuclear monitors into the country. • Waiver for Iranian oil sales: The vice president today also described an initiative for unfreezing Iranian assets that would grant the US approval over what Tehran can purchase using the money. And the US Treasury today issued a 60-day waiver on the sale of Iranian...

So, how are gas prices where you are?Two weeks ago in my part of S.E. Tennessee: $4.49 - $4.69/gal Today? I filled up at $3.29/gal as I'm going to my good friend Lazamataz's house in Georgia, and we're going to take in an Atlanta Braves v. San Francisco Giants game tomorrow in a Corporoate Suite.

The United States on Wednesday released the official text of the memorandum of understanding reached over the weekend with Iran. A senior US administration official read out the 14-point document, which spells out provisions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, easing certain financial restrictions on Iran and sets out expectations for addressing Iran’s nuclear program during future technical talks. Titled the “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the document was released after outcry that its text hadn’t been released publicly. “This is fundamentally an agreement that allows us to open...

President Trump arrived late to Wednesday’s morning G7 meeting but wasn’t fazed as he walked into the session already in progress, declaring to his fellow leaders he was the “boss.” The rest of the G7 leaders were seated and were beginning their discussion on economic issues when Trump walked into the room. President Emmanuel Macron welcomed him with, “Oh, hello, Mr. President.” Trump paused on his way to his seat and declared, “I’m the boss” as everyone laughed. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was seated at the American place at the table but quickly vacated after Trump’s arrival, letting the president...

When President Trump gave thanks to those who had helped him reach an initial cease-fire agreement with Iran, he praised two world leaders he has called his friends — Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The leaders, he said, had aided the Americans in sealing the deal with the Iranians, or at least had helped set the conditions by not sending oil and gas tankers or other commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz to compromise a U.S blockade aimed at pressuring Iran. “He was a total gentleman,” the American president said of Mr. Xi in...

The US secretly approved a financial and maritime arrangement between Qatar and Iran, under which billions of dollars were paid to Tehran in exchange for free passage for Qatari tankers and ships through the Strait of Hormuz, three diplomatic officials now confirm. This was a deliberate and conscious course of action by the US administration, which allowed its navy to turn a blind eye to the arrangement, in complete contradiction of its declared policy. The move was intended to ease the crisis in global energy markets and curb rising oil prices. The current revelation proves that the White House had...

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the war he had hoped would secure his legacy — Israel and the United States together attacking Iran — may be ending in a way that could sully it. The framework agreement to end the war in Iran, which was announced on Sunday, omits some of the most important things Israel wanted. The full text of the deal has not yet been released and Israel was not directly involved in the negotiations. Initial details suggest that the agreement does nothing to curb Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, or its funding of regional proxies like...

Ed O’Keefe, CBS News’ senior White House and political correspondent, spoke with Vice President JD Vance on Monday morning and pushed him on whether or not Iran’s claim that it will have access to $300 billion for reconstruction from the Trump administration’s peace deal is accurate. “Walk through some of this. The Iranians are saying that they’re gonna have access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund, true or false?” O’Keefe began. “Well, Ed, that’s the sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf coast coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation. I...

Today, 1:59 am Share 10 The United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy say they are prepared to lift sanctions on Iran in response to steps on its nuclear program after the US and Iran say they reached a deal to end their war. The deal, to be signed on Friday, will reportedly kickstart 60 days of talks over Iran’s nuclear program. “Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. We stand ready to work with the US, Iran and the IAEA to this end,” the leaders of the countries say in a joint statement, referring to the United Nations’ nuclear agency.

The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all! I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow! President DONALD J. TRUMP

US President Donald Trump has confirmed Pakistan's report that the US and Iran have reached a deal. "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," he writes on Truth Social. "I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade," he says. "Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!" Pakistan PM's statement in fullpublished Here is the full statement from Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has just announced that a peace deal between US and Iran...

Barack Hussein Obama’s Deal with Iran, the JCPOA, was an easy, beautiful, smooth road to a Nuclear Weapon, which Iran would have had six years ago, and would have used long before now. My Agreement with Iran is the exact opposite, A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON! In fact, they no longer want a Nuclear Weapon, nor will they have one, either through purchase, development, or any other form of procurement. The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL. Our relationship with Iran is a much different...

Donald Trump has agreed to a major concession to end the war in Iran: allowing the Islamic Republic to retain some of its civilian nuclear program. 'Now, on the civilian nuclear program, I think that we have to be very careful and very precise here,' a senior White House official discussing the pending memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran told reporters on a call Friday afternoon. 'We're not bothered at all by the idea of civilian power plants in Iran; what we're bothered by is the type of infrastructure that would allow them to jump from civilian power...

President Trump said the supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has agreed to the peace deal, including its provision that Tehran cannot have a nuclear weapon. “They will not have a nuclear weapon, they’ve agreed to that,” he said. “They will not only not have, they will not purchase, develop in any way, any shape, in any way, shape, or form a nuclear weapon. They will not have a nuclear weapon.” The president has been adamant that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, leaving it as a make or break condition in the talks. Tehran had pushed back, claiming...

Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening. Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others. The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing...

US President Donald Trump canceled the planned attacks on Iran Thursday due to progress in negotiations with the Iranian leadership.