Free Republic

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.

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...

The amount of oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve plunged last week to the lowest level since 1983 as the Trump administration continues to deploy emergency oil to minimize the damage from the war with Iran. According to federal data released Monday, US officials released another 8.9 million barrels from the SPR last week alone. “The Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases, combined with releases by other governments and China reducing its exports, have prevented the Armageddon scenario of $150 oil from happening to date.” The emergency oil released since the war with Iran start will have to get replaced over...