LeMonde– small excerpt. When I can, I’ll cover this topic a bit more indepth

Since October 2025, Turkey has quietly launched an extraordinary project in central Somalia. Warsheikh, a city on the edge of the Indian Ocean, 70 kilometers north of Mogadishu, will host the future flagship of the Turkish space program: a satellite launch base that will be doubled by a ballistic test site for the missile tests of Ankara’s powerful defense industry.

If it has formalized it in December 2025, the Turkish government has been working for several years on this project, the cost of which is estimated at 350 million dollars (218 million euros). “For Ankara, it is a strategic infrastructure, which will allow it to access space autonomously and strengthen its position in the global space economy,” said Arda Mevlütoglu, director at the Turkish-based consulting firm Mergen Analytical Strategies. With this base, Turkey will become the thirteenth country in the world to have a sovereign space launch site.

The choice was made on Somalia not only because of the close bilateral relationship between the two nations, but also because of technical criteria. The country’s proximity to the equator’s line reduces fuel costs and increases the load propelled into space. Its location also allows the debris to fall safely into the Indian Ocean. According to a Turkish government source, the infrastructure will be profitable by allowing other nations to send their satellites….

Interesting, indeed.

NYT’s oped/ via Archive.ph

Start with the ballooning federal budget deficits and national debt, a product of tax cuts combined with large spending increases in areas such as defense — and that was happening even before the war with Iran. The U.S. debt-to-G.D.P. ratio recently surpassed 100 percent, and one forecast suggests it will reach an astonishing 194 percent by 2054. The Yale Budget Lab predicts that 10-year Treasury yields — the interest rate the government has to pay — will increase by 1.4 percentage points over its recent rate of about 4.4 percent by 2054 if you extrapolate the consequences of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

When the government competes for money by offering higher interest rates, it undercuts long-term capital accumulation by businesses, which is one of the key determinants of overall economic health and broad-based prosperity. While various tax cuts associated with Mr. Trump’s signature domestic policy law have some short-run value by raising profitability, higher interest rates will swamp this effect. This is what led the researchers at the Penn Wharton Budget Model to conclude that the U.S. capital stock, now $80.8 trillion, will decrease by 0.6 percent by 2034 and 8.3 percent by 2054. It means we are getting poorer.

The United States is approaching a day when interest rates exceed economic growth rates, producing macroeconomic problems ranging from soaring inflation to the deterioration of the dollar as confidence in the American economy evaporates. Even under the best-case scenario, today’s budgetary decisions handcuff future policymakers. To ignore the dynamic consequences of today’s deficits to spur short-run G.D.P. growth is to whistle past the graveyard of dysfunctional economies of the future.

Yes, spending cuts are being made, but in the worst way possible: We are slashing investments in education and science. The House Appropriations Committee has recently proposed cuts to the Department of Education budget that will take $2 billion from K-12 education in poor communities. One consequence of this defunding is the inability to collect data needed to assess education policies. That’s not trimming a bloated bureaucracy; it’s handicapping governments at all levels in finding what policies work best for our children.

In higher education, revenue reductions for universities have led to thousands of layoffs. At the same time, federal policy is making higher education less affordable. Mr. Trump’s budget bill imposed significant caps for parents who take out loans to help their children attend college, and for graduate students who take out loans themselves.

The caps also mean that students from lower-income families have fewer opportunities to excel. This math adds up to a less skilled American work force as potential students find it more difficult to attend college or graduate school, and those who do so will benefit less. Today’s kindergartners, then, are facing a degraded education through college.

The economies that win the 21st century will be those that maximize the potential of their entire population. This requires careful policy design given the complex, dynamic process by which firms invest capital, and by which society invests in education and allocates workers to jobs. It’s a process that requires investments that make capital and labor most productive. A society that turns away from science, fails to treat the human capital and skills of its work force as paramount social objectives and does not aspire to attract the most able from around the world is one that courts long-run decline. No amount of short-run economic news, especially when paired with unsustainable government debt, will stop it.

Ukraine has publicly shown off a truck-mounted missile launcher it received in secret four years ago and has kept hidden from cameras ever since, revealing for the first time exactly what its American-supplied Harpoon coastal defense system looks like.

During a visit to Ukraine’s Odesa region this week, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s military officials displayed the country’s full arsenal of shore-based anti-ship weapons, including the domestically built Neptune missile system, Norway’s Naval Strike Missile, Sweden’s RBS-15, and, for the first time publicly, the Harpoon coastal battery Ukraine received from the United States and Denmark back in 2022.

Ukrainian naval command separately confirmed to Interfax-Ukraine that the visit included a briefing on the Naval Forces’ strike capabilities, listing Neptune and Harpoon missile systems alongside new-generation unmanned systems and torpedoes as part of the coordination meeting on security in the southern region.

The Harpoon has actually been fighting for Ukraine since shortly after it arrived, and Pentagon officials have said the system helped sink at least two Russian vessels in the Black Sea, but Ukraine’s navy deliberately kept its exact appearance secret, blurring or omitting the launcher from official footage for years even as the missile itself became one of the most consequential weapons systems Kyiv received early in the war. This week’s display finally revealed the specific configuration Ukraine operates, a launcher mounted on a cargo truck chassis carrying four missile canisters, a setup adapted from the ship-based system the U.S. Navy originally designed the Harpoon around. The missile itself, built by Boeing, is a decades-old design that has been repeatedly upgraded, flying just above the water’s surface using active radar homing to strike ships from ranges that most versions place in the neighborhood of 70 to 130 nautical miles depending on the specific variant fielded.

Neptune, the domestically produced missile displayed alongside it, remains Ukraine’s signature anti-ship weapon and the system credited with sinking the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s flagship cruiser Moskva in April 2022, an attack that forced Russia to keep its remaining major surface combatants farther from Ukraine’s coast for years afterward. Developed by Kyiv’s Luch Design Bureau using the Soviet-era Kh-35 missile as a starting point before substantially upgrading its range, targeting, and electronics, Neptune’s anti-ship variant carries a roughly 150-kilogram (330-pound) warhead out to a maximum range near 300 kilometers (186 miles), while a newer land-attack derivative called Long Neptune, which Zelensky unveiled in combat footage in late 2025, extends that reach to approximately 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) for strikes deep inside Russian territory.

Norway’s Naval Strike Missile, shown alongside the Ukrainian and American systems, represents a more modern design built specifically to be difficult for enemy radar to detect. The missile carries a 120-kilogram (265-pound) penetrating warhead out to 200 to 300 kilometers (124 to 186 miles) depending on the version, cruising at speeds up to roughly 1,100 kilometers per hour (684 mph), and it navigates toward its target using a combination of GPS, inertial guidance, and a terrain-comparison system that matches the terrain it flies over against a preloaded map, before switching to a passive infrared seeker in its final approach that can automatically recognize its target without emitting any signal an enemy could detect and jam. Discussions about supplying Norwegian Naval Strike Missiles to Ukraine had circulated since 2023, but this week’s public display marked the first confirmation that the system has actually reached Ukrainian hands rather than remaining a topic of speculation.

Sweden’s RBS-15, officially named Gungir after the mythological spear wielded by the Norse god Odin, rounds out the displayed arsenal and has its own confirmed combat record in Ukrainian service.

The Ukrainian Navy used RBS-15 missiles in April 2026 to destroy the Sivash drilling platform, a Russian-held rig in the Black Sea that Moscow’s forces had been using for airspace monitoring, electronic warfare, and as a makeshift air defense position. The missile carries a heavier, roughly 200-kilogram (441-pound) semi-armor-piercing, high-explosive fragmentation warhead than the Naval Strike Missile, reaching similar ranges of 200 to 300 kilometers (124 to 186 miles) at comparable speeds, but relies on an active radar seeker in its terminal phase rather than infrared guidance, giving it the added ability to home in on the source of enemy jamming if a target tries to blind the missile electronically.

Displaying all four systems together sends a message well beyond simple military inventory disclosure, since it demonstrates that Ukraine has assembled a genuinely layered coastal defense network built from four different countries’ missile technology, each with distinct strengths in range, warhead design, and guidance that complicate any single Russian countermeasure from working against the entire arsenal at once. A

Israel was allegedly going to assassinate the Iranian negotiating team- But the US dissuaded them from doing so. If the US really did dissuade Israel from acting, why don’t they don’t more to reign in that nation, from it’s endless pursuit of war and genocide? Just asking?

Israel planned to carry out an assassination attempt against the Iranian negotiating delegation during talks between Washington and Tehran, The New York Times reports.

The article notes that, according to former and current US officials, during the negotiations that intensified in April, Israel sought to kill the negotiating delegation led by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

US officials, however, dissuaded Israel from the plan, fearing that if those individuals were killed, there would be no one left in Iran with whom to conduct dialogue.

The Iranian side, in turn, demanded guarantees from the United States that the negotiating delegation would not be killed.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not comment on the report.

Fertilizer shortages, food shortages, higher prices

With the strait closed, fertilizer shipments from the Persian Gulf slumped and prices rose, affecting countries all around the world that import fertilizer. The war also created a global shortage of natural gas, a key component in nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing.

Mass Mourning in Iran for murdered Leader

Iran Holds Funerary Processions for Late Supreme Leader

The mass funeral rites for Khamenei, who was killed by the U.S. and Israel at the start of their war with Iran, will begin in Tehran. The processions will continue next week in Qom, as well as ceremonies in Karbala and Najaf in neighboring Iraq, before the late leader is buried in Mashhad on July 9.

Iran’s rulers have cast the funeral procession as a symbolic rebuke to the U.S.-Israeli war that sought to decapitate the country’s leadership. Officials expect as many as 20 million people to attend, which would make it one of the largest public gatherings in Iran’s history.

Oil glut calls getting ahead of reality

Oil prices have fallen as traders bet on recovering Hormuz exports and renewed oversupply, but analysts warn the rebound reflects delayed tanker departures rather than a full restoration of Middle East production.
Production remains well below pre-war levels in key Gulf producers, while high shipping costs, limited insurance coverage, and slow inbound tanker traffic continue to constrain supply.
Despite record U.S. crude output, uncertainty over Iran, Hormuz, and regional production means the market may be underestimating ongoing supply risks.

Interpol issues notice for Ukrainian woman over Monaco bomb attack

The organisation named 39-year-old Anastasiia Berezovska as the main suspect in the bombing, which took place on Monday evening and left multiple people injured. Ukrainian business tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev was reportedly one of those wounded in the attack.

The alert says Berezovska speaks German, has dark hair, and has a tattoo – possibly of a snake – on her upper right arm.

A red notice requests law enforcement around the world to locate and provisionally arrest an individual. It is not an international arrest warrant.

A prosecutor told reporters that the suspect had been sitting on a bench in the Place des Moulins before placing an explosive device outside the building in which the victims were staying as they returned from a dinner.

Greek PM’s Security Advisor Duped by Russian Pranksters

Russia plotting attack on Poland to test Nato’s resolve, US claims

The US claims, the US lies. The narrative originates with the US! I don’t believe this for a moment. False flag potential is very large

The US has warned Warsaw that Russia is planning an armed “provocation” against Poland to test Nato’s resolve, according to reports.

The assault could see Poland’s vital infrastructure targeted by missiles or drones, or even Russian soldiers crossing the border into Nato territory, Washington has said.

Sources close to Polish president Karol Nawrocki told Polish outlet Onet that the aim of Moscow’s possible assault, which could be launched in a matter of months, would be to provoke tensions and pressure Ukraine’s Western allies to suspend their military and financial aid.

The US has prepared Poland for more than a decade now, as it’s new front line against Russia..

Flashback to 2014, published at my censored site

My hubby is in hospital and has been since mid week, last week. My time is filled with being at the hospital with him.

We have a whole pile of people already praying for him, but, would welcome more if you wish to do so. Prayers, well- wishes, good thoughts.

All appreciated.

Thank you

Russians can now freely use Mir cards in Iran, following the completion of the final phase of integrating Russia’s Mir payment system with Iran’s Shetab network. Muhammad Abed Amiri, head of the Iran division at the BRICS Hub platform, confirmed the news to TASS on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN events in Kazan.

According to Amiri, Mir cards are now accepted without restrictions throughout Iran. “You can now easily use Mir cards in Iran. The third and final stage of integrating the Shetab payment system in Iran with Mir has been completed. Payments in Iran can now be made smoothly,” he said.

He clarified that this marks the conclusion of the last of three phases to connect the two national payment networks.

Addressing the impact of rising tensions in the Middle East on trade between Moscow and Tehran, the BRICS Hub representative noted that business is largely continuing as usual. However, he cited temporary communication outages-linked to internet shutdowns in Iran-as a challenge, though these did not halt trading activity.

Amiri also stated that Moscow and Tehran aim to boost bilateral trade by 2030, seeking to further expand business opportunities between the countries.

Earlier reports indicated that the A7 payment system, which helps bypass sanctions, along with Promsvyazbank, received a fatwa allowing Islamic cross-border transfers for settlements with partners in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, including Iran. This move forms part of Russia’s broader effort to build alternative financial infrastructure amid its limited access to SWIFT.

Let’s look at what’s been happening. The article linked directly below fits in with a recent arrest made by Turkey. And ties nicely into a video from Brian Berletic

Russian Military Returns to Afghanistan

Interesting. Suggest of a counter move to the American empire’s agenda. Keeping in mind that Pakistan is hosting ISIS- K– Remember the attack on the Crocus City Hall Music Venue.

Covered in previous posts

Just as the Soviets were forced out of Afghanistan in 1989, the Americans were forced out in 2021, and Trump is surrounded by military officials who feel this loss in the same way that officers such as Putin felt the shame of the Soviet withdrawal. For two of America’s top geopolitical strategists of the 20th century, Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzeziński, it comes down to geography and Afghanistan’s position in relation to Russia and China. For them, US control over Afghanistan was essential to influencing what they called ‘the Eurasian chessboard’ of Central Asia.

British military thinkers in the 19th century, such as Halford Mackinder and Thomas Holdrich, thought similarly, designing the Afghan map to keep the Russian Empire away from the British Empire. Fast forward 200 years and the same themes were at play in the Cold War, immortalised in the popular imagination by the 2007 film Charlie Wilson’s War starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, in which an American politician quietly works with the CIA to fund and equip the Afghans fighting the Soviets. Decorated CIA officer Milt Bearden, who was a consultant on the film, has issued warnings from history about the importance of not ignoring Afghanistan.

I’ve talked about Mackinder’s theory more than once at this site and the other one (censored)

Economically, China is the biggest investor in Afghanistan today. Both Moscow and Beijing, who dominate the BRICS group, want Central Asian states such as Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to invest in Afghanistan as well.

Although the Taliban has no ideological fans in a region averse to fundamentalism, relations are dictated by pragmatism and realpolitik. Neither Russia nor China wants Afghanistan to fall back into the American orbit. By recognising the Taliban and, most recently, striking a defence accord with Kabul, Moscow will hope to have stolen a march on Washington in the ‘great game’ that Hopkirk referred to.

Turkish Arrest Renews Focus on ISIS-K Presence in Pakistan

Aziz Maarij, a former diplomat, said: “This case serves as documented evidence showing that ISIS centers, its growth, and its safe havens are located in Pakistan. It also disproves Pakistan’s repeated claims that terrorists and ISIS militants originate from Afghanistan or receive support from India.”

The arrest of Ahmad Kazanji, a member of ISIS-Khorasan, by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has once again drawn attention to the group’s operational hubs in Pakistan.

ISIS-K is in Pakistan because that’s where the Americans want them

According to a report by the Turkish media outlet Kısa Dalga, Kazanji traveled to Pakistan in 2024 and produced Turkish-language propaganda materials for ISIS-Khorasan in the mountainous regions of Balochistan.

Brian Berletic talks about ISIS-K in the video below

Just days after the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran announced the critical waterway is closed again, threatening oil flows after they had barely started to rebound. (Thanks Israel!)

On Saturday, Iran’s military command said it closed the strait, citing continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon and U.S. “bad faith” in failing to uphold commitments to end the war. It also warned that “if the aggression continues, subsequent steps have been planned.”

Not to be outdone, President Donald Trump threatened to charge U.S. tolls for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East,” if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days.

Guardian Angel Trump- the entire reason the Straits are shut down is because the US and Israel attacked Iran

While the U.S. ended its naval blockade on Iran as part of the MOU, Central Command also said “U.S. forces remain present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect.”

For its part, Tehran’s new Persian Gulf Strait Authority warned that ships must follow a regime-established route that passes along the Iranian coast and that alternatives are prohibited.

And despite its deal with the U.S. banning tolls for 60 days, the PGSA is requiring insurance that will eventually come at a cost.

“At present, this insurance is provided free of charge to the vessel owner, with all expenses covered by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iran said. “The PGSA reserves the right to introduce insurance fees in the future, which will be determined by the relevant insurer. Owners will then be required to purchase and renew coverage accordingly.”

For ships that require assurances of safe passage, recent developments aren’t helping. Oil prices tumbled after the U.S. and Iran announced the deal last weekend, but a return to normal flows will take months.

And until supplies recover, global oil inventories will continue to remain under pressure. In the U.S., the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has already plunged to the lowest level since 1983.

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz, which was the scene of regular skirmishes between the U.S. and Iran before the latest deal, highlights the private sector’s role.

“But it’s not Iran or the US who decide that the strait is open—it’s shipping and insurance companies,” Eurasia Group senior analyst Gregory Brew posted on X.

While other Iran experts predicted Saturday’s announcement of the strait’s closure would scare off ships just as traffic was showing signs of climbing, Brew questioned if that will be a sufficient threat

Again, it’s up to the ships to decide.

“Will the Iranian announcement be enough to deter them? Or will Iran need to resort to force and directly violate the MOU’s terms?” he added.

Even before the latest flurry of mixed signals, the industry had doubts. One shipping executive told the New York Times on Friday that he deemed the conditions too uncertain for his ship to leave the Persian Gulf.

Israel ‘ready to sabotage’ US-Iran memorandum, Turkish top diplomat says

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan cautions that Israel may act cynically to derail the US-Iran agreement implementation during the ongoing regional diplomatic negotiations process

Trump is counting on it.

Israeli Minister says Lebanon Must Burn

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel on Friday of wanting “permanent war” following remarks from its far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir saying “all Lebanon must burn” after four Israeli soldiers were killed there. (Invading and occupying another country)

“This is not a rant by a random genocidal lunatic. It’s a public post by the national security minister of the Israeli regime. The genocidal death cult headquartered in Tel Aviv is a threat to all of humanity. It threatens all humans. Its only interest is permanent war,” Araghchi said on X.

Ben Gvir should have been tried for war crimes long ago.. Instead he’s as disgusting, despicable and hateful as always. Of course, he gets away with it

At least 31 killed as Israel keeps attacking Lebanon

At least 31 people were killed and several others injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon since early Friday, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported, marking the deadliest escalation since the US and Iran signed an agreement aimed at ending war on multiple fronts, including Lebanon.

Israeli strikes after midnight targeted residential homes in the towns of Al-Sharqiyah, Harouf and Kfar Sir in the Nabatieh district, causing casualties and leaving several people missing, NNA reported.

At around 2.10 am local time (2310GMT Thursday), Israeli warplanes launched a series of strikes on Nabatieh city, Kfar Tebnit, Nabatieh al-Fawqa and the Rayhan heights, according to the agency.

Several other strikes hit the Kfarjoz-Nabatieh area, the university neighborhood in Nabatieh and the Al-Baydar neighborhood in Harouf, killing eight people around 3 am (0000GMT), according to the news agency.

Another strike targeted the Al-Ashamiya area between Al-Sharqiyah and Doueir, destroying a house and killing four people, according to the agency.

US/Iran deal Strait of Hormuz- Shipping oil/gas prices

Gas Prices Could Take Months to Return to Pre-War Levels Even After U.S.-Iran Deal

It could take months for gas prices to fall to pre-war levels and economies to fully recover even after the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war on Wednesday, analysts tell TIME, dashing hopes that countries around the world may find instant relief.

“Any indication that negotiations towards a final deal are not progressing as expected could raise concerns that the Strait of Hormuz may be blocked again,” adds Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO).

More than 40 energy infrastructures across the Middle East were damaged in attacks during the war, forcing many refineries across the Gulf to halt production. Middle East crude oil exports fell from 15 million barrels per day before the war began to around seven million barrels per day at the start of April

Ludher tells TIME that the repair of damaged fertilizer production facilities could take years. Food prices will also be dependent on how soon fuel supplies reach markets and whether suppliers opportunistically price gouge, she adds.

Trump condemned Obama’s Iran deal. Here’s how his own compares.

Read at this link via archive.ph

Related to yesterday’s post…

The “leaked” memorandum

Below is the full text of the alleged agreement between Washington and Tehran as circulated by Al Arabiya and Israeli media. A summary of the same 14 points was published by Bloomberg. The White House has not confirmed the authenticity of the leaked text, and RT could not independently verify the claims in the list.

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare, upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this article and the remaining articles.

2. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

3. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.

4. Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States will lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity. The traffic of ships shall be proportional to the prewar volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement.

5. Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the prewar volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.

6. The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.

7. The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral US sanctions, both primary and secondary.

8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran’s nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this article.

9. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.

10. The United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like.

11. The United States undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations toward a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available. These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final-beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be fully available for use. The United States undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis.

12. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of, and future commitment to, the final agreement. (IAEA will be back inspecting, as they did under JCPOA 1)

13. Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, as well as the continued implementation of these steps, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States will enter into negotiations for a final agreement solely with respect to the remaining articles.

14. The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council. (Exactly like the JCPOA 1- negotiated under the Obama administration- without all the damage to the global economy)

JCPOA 1 summarized

The JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) involved several core components tying the Obama-era agreement to the United Nations:

• UN Endorsement: In July 2015, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2231, which formally endorsed the agreement, terminated previous UN sanctions resolutions, and outlined a timetable for ending all UN-imposed nuclear restrictions. [1, 2]
• The Obama Strategy: The Obama administration’s primary goal for the agreement was to utilize diplomatic fanout with international partners (the P5+1) to lengthen the time Iran would need to develop a nuclear weapon—stretching their “break-out time” from 2-3 months to a full year. [1, 2, 3]
• IAEA Monitoring: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was designated as the independent body responsible for monitoring, investigating, and verifying Iran’s compliance with the deal’s strict limits on uranium enrichment and centrifuge counts. [1, 2, 3]
• Enforcement (“Snapback”): A unique UN provision allowed any participant in the JCPOA to trigger the “snapback” mechanism. If Iran was found to be violating the deal, this mechanism would automatically reinstate all previously lifted UN sanctions without requiring a new Security Council vote. [1, 2, 3]
• Current Status: The United States withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and formally pulled away from UN Resolution 2231’s framework. Since the U.S. exit, Iran has gradually suspended its adherence to many of the deal’s limits. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• France, Germany and the UK initiated the snapback mechanism in advance of the US/Israel attacks

On 28 August 2025, France, the United Kingdom and Germany (E3) activated the “snapback” mechanism, which re-establishes the international sanctions on Iran put in place in 2015