Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that the United States and Iran are on the verge of signing a peace agreement and announced that he will cancel fresh missile strikes. His comments came in a new bout of public diplomacy via social media, which was not immediately confirmed by the Iranian leadership.
Another Claim of Imminent Peace
This is far from the first time the president and his administration have announced such a development. The US and Iran have been locked in a cycle for months, inching closer to peace only to have talks fail, fingers pointed, bombs dropped, and negotiations resume yet again. Trump has claimed dozens of times to be close to an agreement and has previously stated that the Iranian leadership had agreed to peace terms when they had not.
A diplomat briefed on the talks said that the deal had largely been agreed to several weeks ago but that there was still a “50% chance” that it will collapse. “There are a lot of potential spoilers,” the diplomat said.
Details of the Proposed Agreement
The new agreement would provide for a timeline for demining the Strait of Hormuz, during which the US naval blockade would remain in place. It also discusses mechanisms for further nuclear talks and the release of frozen Iranian assets but does not contain concrete agreements about how that will take place. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said: “So far, Iran has not reached a final conclusion on the agreement.”
Military Strikes Under Scrutiny
Military strikes that damaged two water storage facilities in southern Iran may constitute a war crime, military and legal experts say, after reviewing media reports and visual evidence of a 10 June strike on Bemani, a small district about 2 miles from the Strait of Hormuz. It is unclear if the strikes deliberately targeted the district’s water tanks or unintentionally destroyed a key reservoir for about 20,000 people living nearby.
Trump Nominates Jay Clayton as Top Intelligence Official
Donald Trump has nominated Jay Clayton, former head of the top US markets watchdog, to be the country’s leading intelligence official. The US president faced widespread criticism of his decision to install a controversial ally, Bill Pulte, as acting director of national intelligence while searching for a permanent candidate.
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Makeover Complete
The final drops of water have been added, and the nanobubbler switched on. Donald Trump’s “beautiful” makeover of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, one of Washington DC’s most historically symbolic attractions, is officially complete, and the public is getting its first glimpse of how the project’s $14.2 million was spent. Contrary to the president’s predictable assertion that it was receiving “rave reviews”, early impressions are decidedly mixed.
Republicans Split on Voting Bill
Donald Trump has demanded that congressional Republicans get to work on a party-line measure that would ensure defense spending reaches its highest level in decades and also make a likely fruitless attempt to impose a host of new restrictions on voters nationwide.
Democrats to Call on Vance to Testify Over Epstein Files
Democrats on the House oversight committee, led by Representative Robert Garcia, plan to call on JD Vance to testify on the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files following a major report on Wednesday from the New York Times, which described how the Epstein files became the source of an internal crisis within Trump’s administration.
Investigation Into Etching on National Mall
US federal authorities are investigating what appears to be a massive etching of “8647” into the grass of the National Mall. Live webcam footage from atop the Washington Monument as of Thursday afternoon shows the markings, with a highly visible “8”, along with less visible “6”, “4” and “7”.
Other Notable Stories
- El Niño, the climate phenomenon that supercharges weather around the world, has officially arrived and could intensify to historic levels in the fall, US officials said on Thursday.
- Dozens of US lawmakers urged the Trump administration on Thursday to roll back any plans to ship to unsafe third countries Afghan nationals who worked with US forces during the war in their homeland.
- The US Supreme Court overturned on Thursday an obstruction conviction of a former Twitter employee accused of spying for Saudi Arabia, saying he was tried in the wrong state for knowingly falsifying a document to impede an FBI investigation.
- New documents reviewed by the Guardian show that a group behind misleading advertisements leading up to the 2024 election received financial support from a non-profit linked to prominent election deniers with ties to Trump.
- The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed new US House districts drawn by Republicans to be used in the midterm elections, marking another victory for the GOP in a nationwide redistricting effort aimed at helping the party retain its slim House majority.
