On Friday, the Oil Minister of Iran <a href="https://www.jpost.com/international/article-851626?utm_source=jpost.app.apple&amp;utm_medium=share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that Russia would fund the construction of a new nuclear plant in Iran.
“Iran and Russia will continue their cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the construction of new nuclear energy facilities and the completion of phases two and three of the Bushehr power plant using Moscow’s credit line,” Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/04/25/russia-fund-new-nuclear-power-plant-iran-bilateral-ties-deepen-amid-us-talks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “Multilateral cooperation between Iran and Russia through membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, and OPEC+ has led to the provision of common interests, peace, stability, and international security, and I am confident that this cooperation will deepen.”
“Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law officially ratifying a <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/04/22/russia-ratifies-strategic-partnership-iran-strengthening-military-ties/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20-year strategic partnership agreement with Tehran</a>, further deepening their military cooperation,” the Algemeiner reported.
In January, Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran, which <a href="https://irangov.ir/detail/456479" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>, “The Contracting Parties shall confirm their commitment to develop military-technical cooperation.”
In 2007, Russia sent 80 tons of uranium fuel to Iran to help the Islamist dictatorship build a nuclear reactor in Bushehr. Russia stood to gain $1 billion, since the plant was to be constructed by the Russian state-owned Atomstroyexport.
Russia’s ties with the terrorist group Hamas, which acts as a proxy for Iran, run deep; roughly two weeks after the Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 people in Israel in October 2023, the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/garantex-russian-crypto-hamas-crime-sanctions-a3648357" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that a Moscow-based crypto exchange, Garantex, acted as a conduit for illicit funds for Palestinian terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre to finance their operations. “Digital wallets controlled by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which joined Hamas in the attacks, received a portion of $93 million via Garantex, according to analysis by researcher Elliptic, which said Hamas also used a similar financing strategy.”
“Russia has been actively engaged in expanding security and military ties with the Houthis, including providing weapons to the organization,” The Jamestown Foundation <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/russias-increases-ties-with-irans-axis-of-resistance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in November 2024. “Media reports indicate that Russian intelligence officers were spotted in the Houthis-held territory, and Moscow has even considered sending significant military support to the Iran-backed militia (<a href="https://www.iranintl.com/en/202409256862" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iran International</a>, September 25).”
“The <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter95&amp;edition=prelim" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iran Freedom and Counterproliferation Act of 2013</a> prohibits the ‘sale, supply or transfer of certain materials to and from Iran related to the regime’s nuclear, military, and ballistic missile programs and allows the president to submit sanctions waivers every 180 days containing exemptions based on national security reasons,” the Foundation for Defense of Democracies <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/policy_briefs/2025/01/22/russia-touts-illicit-nuclear-work-in-iran/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in January. “Absent a waiver, the president is obliged to sanction foreign individuals and financial institutions that violate the act.&#8221;
The Obama administration issued waivers for certain Russian nuclear work in Iran as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, and upon taking office, the first Trump administration <a href="https://apnews.com/us-clamps-down-on-waivers-tied-to-irans-nuclear-cooperation-ef68a5ccab2f3e0b2247e0ebeda37147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ended</a> U.S. participation in the agreement and the waivers. The Biden administration <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/biden-administration-restores-sanctions-waiver-iran-talks-final-phase-2022-02-04/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restored</a> the waivers soon after taking office to help restart Iran talks.

Iran-Life And Fun Under The Shadow Of Nuclear Power Plant

Russia Will Fund New Nuclear Plants In Iran

Global Politics

Iran

Nuclear

Politics

Russia

A massive explosion at a strategic Iranian port killed at least 14 people and injured 750 others on Saturday, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in the coastal city that serves as a vital shipping hub for the Islamic Republic.
The explosion occurred at the port of Bandar Abbas in southwestern Iran, sending a massive plume of thick gray smoke into the air, with footage showing the blast originating in what appears to be a warehouse facility, according to videos <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/26/middleeast/iran-bandar-abbas-port-explosion-intl/index.html">geolocated</a> by CNN.
Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani indicated the explosion likely involved chemical containers, stating that they were stored in a “corner of the port that likely contained chemicals which exploded.”
However, she cautioned, “Until the fire is extinguished, it&#8217;s hard to ascertain the cause.&#8221;
Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni confirmed that six people remain missing as firefighters battle the blaze amid challenging high winds.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
BREAKING: Massive explosion hits the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas <a href="https://t.co/PDNvcmCVOi">pic.twitter.com/PDNvcmCVOi</a>
— BNO News (@BNONews) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1916063449383153959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The state-controlled oil company denied responsibility for the explosion, with state media company IRIB reporting that the explosion took place in the chemical and sulfur section of the port.
The blast caused widespread destruction, shattering windows within a radius of several kilometers and leaving buildings at the port complex severely damaged, with reports indicating some people may be trapped in collapsed structures.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has <a href="https://x.com/drpezeshkian/status/1916111653445284183">ordered</a> an investigation into the incident and dispatched the interior minister to the region to &#8220;examine the dimensions of the accident&#8221; and conduct &#8220;a comprehensive assessment&#8221; to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Health authorities have advised citizens to remain indoors, avoid outdoor activities, and keep windows closed due to significant air pollution concerns, while many Iranians were seen lining up at health centers to donate blood for the injured.
The now-decimated facility is a critical infrastructure asset for Iran, spanning 2,400 hectares with 35 shipping berths and handling approximately 70 million tons of cargo annually, including oil shipments and general cargo, per CNN.
Regional governor Mohammad Ashouri Taziani confirmed that injured people were being transferred to local medical centers in Bandar Abbas, while the port has been closed and all maritime operations suspended until further notice.

TOPSHOT-IRAN-PORT-EXPLOSION

Massive Explosion Rocks Major Iranian Port, Killing 14 And Injuring 750

Explosion

General

Middle East

Oil and Gas

World

Once again, the Islamic Republic of Iran is drawing the United States into talks through the Sultanate of Oman. Some Western officials and analysts frame this as an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-us-start-talks-oman-under-shadow-regional-conflict-2025-04-12/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opportunity</a> for de-escalation, but the evidence suggests otherwise. The regime’s decision to engage is a tactical maneuver aimed at delaying pressure, repositioning itself diplomatically, and benefiting from potential external shifts. If not met with firm containment, this round of diplomacy will mirror past failures.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iran’s</a> current position is fragile. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/06/us-will-collapse-irans-economy-by-shutting-down-its-oil-industry-treasury-secretary-says.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economy</a> is deteriorating rapidly, with persistent inflation and currency depreciation undermining basic economic stability. Domestically, the regime continues to face discontent that, while suppressed by force, has not been resolved through legitimacy. 
Regionally, its power projection has eroded. Hamas has been severely degraded, Hezbollah has suffered significant military setbacks, and Iran’s network of militias faces growing pressure from Israel and Western-aligned actors. The regime is seeking time for political dynamics in Washington to shift, for global energy markets to realign, and for Persian Gulf partners to return focus to short-term economic stabilization over long-term isolation strategies. None of this signals readiness to change course — it signals a regime buying time, again.
Engagement with Iran does not support the Iranian people. Every round of diplomacy has ended with the IRGC stronger, dissidents more isolated, and Tehran more defiant. Historically, sanctions relief and renewed <a href="https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/how-the-iranian-regime-seeks-to-build-its-power-upon-american-naivete" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diplomatic engagement</a> have bolstered the regime’s internal security networks. Resources gained through these openings are funneled to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), intelligence services, and patronage systems that reinforce regime control. The October 7 massacre was the price of appeasement. Billions flowed to Iran under Biden — and blood flowed in Israel.
The coalition pushing for a deal does not have American interests in mind. China and Russia want breathing room for their ally. The Europeans want to claim progress ahead of their own elections. And some in the Persian Gulf would rather appease Tehran than risk direct confrontation. 
<div id="attachment_911379" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-911379" class="size-large wp-image-911379" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2210316600-864x576.jpg" alt="Italian police officers outside the entrance of the Omani embassy, in Rome, Italy, on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Iran and the US on Saturday began a second round of talks aimed at reaching a deal over Tehran's nuclear program, according to Iranian state television. Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2210316600-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2210316600-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2210316600-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2210316600.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Italian police officers outside the entrance of the Omani embassy, in Rome, Italy, on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
President Donald Trump has an opportunity to break this cycle of failure. His administration must recognize that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is not a rational actor. He does not negotiate in good faith, he does not reform, and he does not seek peace. Like Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar, Khamenei sees both survival and martyrdom as victory — an outlook rooted in radical Islamist ideology that glorifies death over compromise. As Gaza burned, Sinwar sat gripping a stick, waiting for the drone that would kill him — convinced he had already won. Khamenei would do the same to Iran. He would rather watch cities collapse and millions suffer than compromise with the West. 
Some argue that if Tehran <a href="https://allisrael.com/is-the-libyan-disarmament-a-viable-model-for-iran-understanding-the-option-netanyahu-would-like-to-see" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismantles</a> its nuclear program and allows missile inspections, a deal might be acceptable — similar to the Libya model. But that view misunderstands the nature of the Islamic Republic. Its nuclear ambitions are a symptom, not the root of the threat. The regime’s hostility toward the U.S. and Israel is ideological, rooted in its identity. That identity cannot be negotiated away. A deal now would prolong the regime’s survival and empower the institutions behind its repression and aggression. 
Tehran’s use of calibrated escalation further underscores the risks of engagement without parallel containment. In 2019, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-refineries-drone-attack.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regime</a> struck Saudi oil infrastructure expecting a restrained U.S. response. Israeli <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgr0yvrx4qpo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strikes</a> on IRGC-affiliated targets have been met with limited, symbolic responses rather than strategic confrontation. This behavior is consistent with a <a href="https://www.iiss.org/globalassets/media-library---content--migration/images/comment/analysis/2017/december/2-mcinnis2125.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doctrine</a> of calculated, limited escalation designed to generate leverage and delay decisive retaliation. It is not evidence of de-escalation.
While indirect negotiations may appear diplomatically useful, they allow Tehran to manipulate outcomes while avoiding direct commitments. Engagement becomes a form of enablement. The danger is not the act of negotiation itself, but the repetition of a failed process in which pressure is relieved while Tehran stabilizes, regroups, and continues regional destabilization.
To protect U.S. and allied interests, the correct response to the regime’s current posture is neither renewed engagement nor war, but the full activation of isolation mechanisms. This includes triggering the UN snapback sanctions mechanism under <a href="https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/sres81/BILLS-119sres81is.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNSCR 2231</a>, designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization at the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-838780" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EU level</a>, freezing <a href="https://financialpost.com/pmn/us-imposes-sanctions-on-a-chinese-refinery-accused-of-buying-iranian-oil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">assets</a> linked to Chinese and Malaysian brokers facilitating regime oil exports, and exposing the logistical infrastructure that allows the IRGC to operate regionally. European banks and Persian Gulf financial institutions still transacting with regime-linked entities should face coordinated diplomatic and financial pressure. Isolation must be operational and enforced.
<div id="attachment_911393" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-911393" class="wp-image-911393 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209282209-864x576.jpg" alt="An Iranian driver sits in his vehicle, which is parked under an anti-U.S. mural in downtown Tehran, Iran, on April 12, 2025, during the day of the Iran-U.S. nuclear discussions. According to Iranian officials, indirect nuclear discussions between Iran and the United States begin in Muscat, Oman, on April 12. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209282209-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209282209-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209282209-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209282209.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />An Iranian driver sits in his vehicle, which is parked under an anti-U.S. mural in downtown Tehran, Iran, on April 12, 2025, during the day of the Iran-U.S. nuclear discussions. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)</div>
In the likely event of further regime degradation, the United States and its allies must be prepared for a leadership vacuum. Any transition scenario must include support for figures with broad-based legitimacy, cross-generational appeal, and a clear public commitment to secular democratic governance. The <a href="https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/the-u-s-must-engage-with-reza-pahlavi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">son of the late Shah</a> is uniquely positioned as a unifying figure with broad-based legitimacy and recognition required to facilitate a post-regime transition. He consistently advocates a referendum-based process to empower Iranians in determining their political future, explicitly refraining from promoting any particular system, including monarchy. His value lies in providing political continuity, grounded solely in his national stature and widespread public recognition during a potentially volatile transition period. During recent national celebrations — including Nowruz and Chaharshanbe Suri — <a href="https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-847541" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iranians</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUrz6uoeRXc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chanted</a> his name in cities across the country. These were not isolated incidents or orchestrated campaigns; they were widespread, public expressions of recognition. No other figure inside or outside Iran has generated this level of organic visibility. 
There are additional risks that must be managed. Steve Witkoff, appointed as special envoy by the Trump administration, currently leads the Iran talks. His extensive <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2024/11/steve-witkoff-middle-east-envoy-real-estate-mogul-donald-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">business</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/us/politics/witkoff-trump-middle-east-envoy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">connections</a> with investors in Persian Gulf states, notably Qatar and Saudi Arabia, raise legitimate concerns about regional influence over U.S. policy direction. Some regional partners could advocate for a &#8216;stability-focused&#8217; agreement that sustains a weakened yet intact Islamic Republic, rather than supporting a genuinely secular and democratic alternative beyond their sphere of influence. This scenario would replicate the strategic failures of the JCPOA, entrenching regime survival without accountability, and directly compromising U.S. and Israeli national security interests.
If negotiations stall, Tehran’s fallback is limited, survivable conflict. The regime has long embraced a strategy of controlled escalation — not to win wars, but to provoke just enough confrontation to shift global focus, fracture internal dissent, and reset its legitimacy. In its calculus, limited war is safer than isolation. That’s why containment must be decisive. If neither diplomacy nor confrontation offer the regime an exit, internal collapse becomes inevitable.
The current diplomatic track with Iran is not designed to prevent conflict or nuclear escalation. It is designed to create space for the regime to survive. That calculation must be reversed. The United States and its allies must pursue containment and isolation as the strategic baseline — not the fallback. That’s how you flip the script — and how you make Tehran fear American resolve again.
* * *
Dr. Aidin Panahi is an Iranian-American research professor, energy expert, and political activist. He is the cofounder of the “From Boston to Iran” initiative and his analyses on security and policy issues have appeared in outlets including The Jerusalem Post, Washington Times, Middle East Forum, Homeland Security Today, and Visegrád24. X: @Aidin_FreeIran 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Iran and US Begin Second Round of Mediated Nuclear Talks in Rome

A Tactical Trap. Why It’s Time To Flip The Script On Iran.

Ali Khamenei

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

China

Iran Nuclear Deal

Nuclear Weapons

Oman

President Trump

Saudi Arabia

Steve Witkoff

The Trump administration on Tuesday announced new sanctions against two Iranian petroleum magnates who use their business to funnel revenue to the Iranian regime — one of whom was caught last year attempting to export cargo to China from off the coast of Houston.
Petroleum magnate, Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh, his son Meisam Emamjomeh, and his corporate network — now sanctioned by the Trump administration — are responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars worth of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) to foreign markets, <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0093">according</a> to the Treasury Department. LPG is a large source of revenue for the Iranian regime, which funds regional terrorist proxy groups including Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas.
The sanctions come as the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-saturdays-nuclear-talks-between-the-u-s-and-iran?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Here%E2%80%99s+What+You+Need+To+Know+About+Saturday%E2%80%99s+Nuclear+Talks+Between+The+U.S.+And+Iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attempts to negotiate</a> a nuclear deal with the Iranian regime while also keeping up its maximum pressure campaign. The sanctions were announced by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and are in line with Executive Order 13902, which targets those operating in certain sectors of the Iranian economy.
“Emamjomeh and his network sought to export thousands of shipments of LPG—including from the United States—to evade U.S. sanctions and generate revenue for Iran,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “The United States remains committed to holding accountable those who seek to provide the Iranian regime with the funding it needs to further its destabilizing activities in the region and around the world.”
Under the sanctions, &#8220;all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,&#8221; according to the Treasury Department. All transactions by American citizens or within the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designees are prohibited. Violations may result in civil and criminal penalties, according to OFAC.
OFAC added that its power comes from its ability to both add and remove people to a sanction list, stating that “the ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.”
Emamjomeh, who is based in Iran, and Meisam, a UAE-based British-Iranian, have owned and operated an LPG sales, transportation, and delivery network through multiple companies in Iran and the UAE for over a decade, according to the Treasury Department.
TINOS I, a large gas carrier vessel in the network, attempted to load LPG off the coast of Houston, Texas, to sell to China in June 2024, according to Lloyd’s List, which <a href="https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1153240/EXCLUSIVE-How-an-LPG-tankers-maiden-voyage-ended-with-the-US-sanctioning-a-sprawling-Iranian-gas-network" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took credit for alerting</a> American authorities about the ship when it was en route to Houston.
According to the maritime news outlet, TINOS I, built in 2024, was on its maiden voyage before sitting at anchor following Lloyd’s list asking authorities for comment. Pearl Petrochemical told Lloyd’s List that it received a license from OFAC but did not specify if it was permitted to lift cargoes in the United States.
Until October 2024, Emamjomeh owned UAE-based Pearl Petrochemical FZE, the beneficial owner of TINOS I, before ownership passed to Meisam.
&#8220;Emamjomeh also owns or controls nine additional LPG companies in Iran, including, reportedly, one company with a monopoly on the National Iranian Gas Company’s LPG deliveries,&#8221; the Treasury Department reported. &#8220;Meisam acts as director and chief executive officer (CEO) of United Kingdom-based Worldwide LPG Limited, while also serving on the board of directors of many of Emamjomeh’s Iran-based companies.&#8221;
One of Emamjomeh’s UAE-based companies, Caspian Petrochemical FZE, is &#8220;part of a network that has exported thousands of shipments of LPG from Iran to Pakistan and [has] conducted tens of millions of dollars in business on behalf of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Co. (PGPICC).&#8221;
PGPICC has been designated by OFAC since July 2019 for being owned or controlled by Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), which was also designated on the same day for providing financial support to Khatam al-Anbiya, the engineering conglomerate of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Emamjomeh’s designation is the consequence of his operating in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy. The designation will extend to several of the companies he owns or controls, including Caspian Petrochemical FZE, Parsa Fidar Paydar Engineering and Technology Company, Nilgon Parsa Caspian Shipping Company, Arsa Gas Company, Pasar Gas Company, Petro Parsa Caspian Iranian Company, Pasar Gas Novin Trading Company, Parsa Salakh Qeshm Industrial Complex, Parsa Trabar Caspian International Transportation Company, and Parsa Trabar Persia International Transportation Company.
Meisam and his Pearl Petrochemical FZE and Worldwide LPG Limited are also being designated, according to the Treasury Department&#8217;s announcement, on similar grounds. The TINOS I will be identified “as property in which Pearl Petrochemical FZE has an interest.&#8221;

Iran To Meet Own Gasoline Needs After Persian Gulf Star Refinery Expansion

Trump Sanctions Iranian Petroleum Magnate Caught Trying To Move Oil From Texas

Sanctions

Scott Bessent

Fox News host Mark Levin said Sunday that he believed that President Donald Trump was the &#8220;right man&#8221; to ensure that Iran doesn&#8217;t get nuclear weapons.
Levin made the comment during a discussion on the necessity of eliminating Iran&#8217;s capacity for having nuclear weapons with Arkansas GOP Senator Tom Cotton, the Iraq War veteran who is the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and sits on the Armed Services Committee. Cotton has long been a staunch opponent of Iran having a nuclear weapon; he led the charge against the Obama nuclear deal with Iran that permitted the terrorist regime to continue the pursuit of building nuclear weapons.
&#8220;I’m not asking you to violate any secrets, obviously, or anything of that sort,&#8221; Levin began. &#8220;Is Iran really close to having a nuclear weapon and is that something we should take seriously? Or, as some people say, &#8216;It’s very manageable. Don’t be a warmonger. Don’t interfere. Don’t be a neo-con. Just let the good little terrorists do whatever they’re going to do and we’ll be just fine.'&#8221;
&#8220;Mark, Iran is very close to having a nuclear weapon, and it’s something that we should fear and that we shouldn’t tolerate.&#8221; Cotton replied. &#8220;Donald Trump’s been very clear about this; for as long as he’s been in politics, going back 10 years. In fact, the first conversation I ever had with Donald Trump, he was coming to Arkansas to speak at a Republican party dinner. I happened to be going to Vienna that weekend to meet with the International Atomic Energy Agency. And he called me and he said that the one thing we can’t do is let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And he’s been clear about that publicly over and over again because Iran is not a normal nation. It’s a fanatical theocratic dictatorship. And if they get nuclear weapons, they’re likely to use them.&#8221;
Answering Levin&#8217;s question about how close Iran was to having a nuclear weapon, Cotton continued, &#8220;How close are they? They have enough enriched uranium now that they could probably produce enough weapons-grade in just a matter of days, maybe a few weeks. And then it’s only a matter of marrying up that nuclear weapon to the missiles they already have that can reach our friends in Israel and throughout the Middle East.&#8221;
&#8220;But it’s worse than that, Mark,&#8221; Cotton declared. &#8220;They have a space launch program which is really just flimsy cover for a ballistic missile program, and they’re probably just a few years away from having missiles that could hit us here in the United States, that could hit Florida or Arkansas or Washington, D.C. So it is a grave threat, not just to our friends in the Middle East but to the United States itself. And that’s why President Trump has been completely clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.&#8221;
&#8220;And Mark, I think it’s important to remember how we got to this point as well,&#8221; he recalled. &#8220;We got here because of the terrible Obama deal with Iran that allowed them to enrich uranium, that allowed them to keep all their centrifuges, that allowed them to continue research into ballistic missiles. President Trump has been clear that Iran has no reason to enrich uranium. They therefore have no reason to keep their centrifuges, and they certainly have no reason to be developing intercontinental missiles that could hit the United States. If Iran is willing to make a deal on those terms, and as President Trump said last week, we can have peace and they can live happily without death.&#8221;
Trump has recently said, &#8220;Iran has a chance to have a great country and to live happily without death.&#8221;
&#8220;But if they insist on keeping all that enriched uranium and all those centrifuges and their missile program, as he has said, we’re going to have to take a different path,&#8221; Cotton said.
&#8220;In other words, they need to dismantle this, and it needs to be provable in a way in the past it hasn’t been provable, cause they cheat and they lie and they steal,&#8221; Levin stated. &#8220;I mean, after all, they are terrorists and just because they signed a piece of paper, &#8216;Oh, yeah, we’ll sign whatever you give us. Oh, that all you have? Sure, sure, sure,&#8217; it means absolutely nothing.&#8221;
&#8220;I have complete faith in Donald Trump on this; he’s the right man at the right time,&#8221; Levin asserted. &#8220;I have complete faith in Benjamin Netanyahu; he’s the right man at the right time. And I think there’s a lot of static out there by a cabal of individuals who seem to think that nuclear weapons in the hands of an enemy — not just any enemy, but one that doesn’t believe in mutually assured destruction, it just believes in destruction — is manageable or it’s OK. And I’m not willing to bet our country, society, my children and grandchildren, on that. Are you?&#8221;
&#8220;No,&#8221; Cotton said firmly. &#8220;Absolutely not, Mark. And I agree with you: I have confidence in President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu; they understand the stakes here; they understand that the only acceptable deal is one in which Iran dismantles its nuclear program, turns over its enriched uranium, turns over its centrifuges, stops ballistic missile research.&#8221;
Cotton pointed out that the U.S. had intervened before to stop a rogue state from having nuclear weaponry, recalling, &#8220;Libya did the exact same thing in 2003. It was scared straight; it threw open the doors, let us come in and take away all of its nuclear programs as well as biological and chemical weapons programs as well. And we took Libya off the list of state sponsors of terrorism; we lifted sanctions on them. They became a de facto ally, even though Muammar Khadafi still had a lot of American blood on his hands in the past.&#8221;
&#8220;There’s a clear model of what a good, enforceable, verifiable deal would look like here,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;It does not involve any enrichment of uranium, or Iran possessing centrifuges or continuing its production of ballistic missiles. That’s the kind of deal that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have both been clear about for many years.&#8221;
&#8220;You know, senator, if Iran doesn’t intend to build nuclear weapons to harm us or anybody else, then what’s the problem?&#8221; Levin asked. &#8220;Why won’t they dismantle it? But if they won’t dismantle it, then they’ve revealed what they’re really up to.&#8221;
&#8220;They claim they want a nuclear energy program; there are plenty of countries around the world that have nuclear energy and don’t enrich uranium, that don’t have centrifuges, that acquire it [nuclear energy] from countries that do,&#8221; Cotton noted. &#8220;There’s no reason for Iran, as you say, to have this vast nuclear infrastructure. That’s why they’re only a few months away from getting the bomb. It’s what Barack  Obama let them get.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s funny; they sell their oil to Communist China. I guess they’re not exactly running out of energy. But they’re liars, they’re thieves, and they’re terrorists. That’s what the regime is. That’s the bottom line,&#8221; Levin concluded.
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Levin, Cotton On Iran: President Trump The ‘Right Man At The Right Time’

Donald Trump

Mark Levin

Tom Cotton

The second negotiation session between the Trump administration and Iranian officials will take place on Saturday in Rome, as both parties hope to continue working towards a nuclear deal.
In preparation for the meeting, President Donald Trump met with senior staff on Tuesday in the White House Situation Room to discuss the ongoing negotiations, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/04/15/trump-iran-nuclear-deal-situation-room-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axios reported</a>. Officials present reportedly included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and more.
This week, Trump also reportedly spoke with the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, the leader of the country who mediated and hosted the first meeting.
“President Trump expressed his appreciation for the bilateral relations between the two countries and for Oman’s efforts in the ongoing negotiations between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Oman News Agency <a href="https://omannews.gov.om/topics/en/81/show/121785" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a statement</a>.
Here’s what you need to know before the next round of talks.
<h3>First Meeting Recap</h3>
The first set of talks in Oman last Saturday was reportedly positive, with Iranian state-owned news outlet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-says-nuclear-talks-with-trump-team-were-constructive-agrees-to-meet-again?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Iran+Says+Nuclear+Talks+With+Trump+Team+Were+%E2%80%98Constructive%2C%E2%80%99+Agrees+To+Meet+Again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IRIB reporting</a> they were conducted in a “constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect.” The talks went on for more than two and a half hours before the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes with Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi.
The White House said Witkoff communicated that he received instructions from Trump to “resolve our two nations’ differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible,” according to a White House statement.
“Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome,” the statement added.
Oman, which also helped negotiate President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal with Iran, will continue mediating the talks at its embassy in Rome.
<h3>Military Threats If No Deal</h3>
While Trump has expressed his preference to resolve Iran’s nuclear challenges with diplomacy, he has threatened military force if a deal cannot be made. When announcing the talks earlier this month during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said Iran could “be in great danger” if diplomacy failed.
“I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger,” Trump said. “It’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, that’s all there is.”
Last month, during an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-iran-was-told-to-accept-nuclear-deal-or-face-u-s-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump said</a> Iran can be handled militarily or through negotiating a deal.
“I would rather negotiate a deal,” he added. “I’m not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily. But the time is happening now. The time is coming up. Something’s going to happen one way or the other.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hegseth-trump-dead-serious-about-stopping-iran-from-getting-a-nuclear-bomb?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Hegseth%3A+Trump+%E2%80%98Dead+Serious%E2%80%99+About+Stopping+Iran+From+Getting+A+Nuclear+Bomb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hegseth said</a> Trump is “dead serious” about preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and is open to options such as using the military.
“He wants it done peacefully, and that’s why he’s going straight to these talks,” Hegseth said. “But he’s also dead serious that if we can’t figure this out at the negotiating table, then there are other options – to include my department – to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb.”
<h3>Israeli Concerns</h3>
Netanyahu has been loudly opposed to any deal that grants Iran even a shred of nuclear capability — just as he was with the JCPOA, which he famously opposed in a 2015 joint address to Congress, against Obama’s wishes.
Netanyahu has taken credit for leading a global campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, including leading “countless overt and covert operations,” according to a Thursday statement from the prime minister’s office.
“[I]t is only due to these operations that Iran does not currently possess a nuclear arsenal,” the statement read. “These actions have delayed Iran&#8217;s nuclear program by approximately a decade.”
During his Oval Office meeting with Trump, Netanyahu said he would like to see Iran following the path of Libya’s 2003 deal, which led to the voluntary dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program. In a <a href="https://x.com/netanyahu/status/1909634954809450878" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video statement</a> released before departing the United States, Netanyahu said the agreement should be a “Libya-style agreement” where those authorities “go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision with American execution.”
According to a New York Times report, Trump rejected an Israeli proposal to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, amid internal clashes within his administration over whether military action or diplomacy was the better path forward.
On Thursday, Trump said he hasn’t necessarily “waved off” an Israeli plan to attack, but that he is “not in a rush” to greenlight it.
“If there’s a second option,” Trump said in the Oval Office when taking questions from reporters. “I think it would be very bad for Iran, and I think Iran is wanting to talk. I hope they’re wanting to talk. It’s going to be very good for them if they do.”
Netanyahu was criticized for the leak of the proposal to attack, which a senior Israeli official told <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-850505" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Jerusalem Post</a> was “one of the most dangerous leaks in Israel’s history.”
Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, and Mossad Director David Barnea, had a low-profile meeting with Witkoff in Paris ahead of the Rome meeting. The two top Israeli officials reportedly sought to express their government’s concerns over pursuing a deal that would be similar to the JCPOA, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/04/18/witkoff-met-dermer-barnea-paris-iran-talks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axios reported</a>.
Netanyahu is set to issue a “special statement” on Saturday night following the talks and at the end of the Jewish Sabbath.
<h3>Iranian Nuclear Enrichment and the JCPOA</h3>
On Tuesday, Witkoff said that Iran “must eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program,” <a href="https://x.com/SE_MiddleEast/status/1912141949932298432" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in a post on X</a>, which was in contrast to his comments the day before when he left room for the Iranians to enrich uranium up to 3.67%.
“They do not need to enrich past 3.67%,” Witkoff said on Monday, recounting the first meeting in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPFj2sH7vcg&amp;t=332s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview with Fox News</a>. “You do not need to run, as they claim, a civil nuclear program, where you are enriching past 3.67%, so this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program.”
An enrichment level of 3.67%is <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/2015-08/section-3-understanding-jcpoa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">typical for fueling</a> nuclear reactors for a civilian nuclear program, according to the Arms Control Association. The JCPOA had a 3.67% cap with several sunset periods that eventually permitted Iran to enrich up to any level and increase its stockpile to any level by 2031.
<a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-ending-united-states-participation-unacceptable-iran-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump withdrew</a> from the deal in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
<a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/03/iran-non-proliferation-private-meeting.php#:~:text=In%20its%20most%20recent%20quarterly,significantly%20during%20the%20reporting%20period%2C" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A February report</a> from the International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to 60 percent purity — close to the 90 percent level considered weapon-grade. The total enriched uranium stockpile now stands at approximately 8,294 kilograms, vastly exceeding the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.
Iran can currently produce enough weapons-grade fissile material to  make a nuclear weapon in a week or two, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/blinken-iran-one-two-weeks-away-from-producing-enough-material-for-nuclear-weapon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> in July 2024, adding that Iran had not yet produced a weapon to utilize the material.
Witkoff also said that there must be oversight of Iran’s armament capabilities such as its missiles, though a spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded, stating &#8220;Iran&#8217;s military capabilities are a red line, we will never be willing to discuss this,” <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-850149" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Jerusalem Post reported</a>.
<h3>Iran’s Foreign Minister Meets Putin</h3>
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the Iranian delegation, visited Russian President Vladimir Putin this week and discussed the negotiations. Though Russia does not have a direct seat at the table, Araghchi said during a news conference that he hopes “Russia will play a role in a possible deal.”
Last week, Araghchi <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/in-wapo-op-ed-irans-foreign-minister-says-theyre-ready-to-make-a-deal-with-the-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published an op-ed</a> in the Washington Post, stating that the Iranian regime is ready to make a deal with the United States. In response to Trump’s military threats if a deal cannot be made, Araghchi wrote that in order to move forward, there needs to be an agreement that there is no “military option” or “military solution.”
“The proud Iranian nation, whose strength my government relies on for real deterrence, will never accept coercion or imposition,” the foreign minister wrote.
On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/irans-fm-says-uranium-enrichment-non-negotiable-after-us-says-it-cannot-continue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Araghchi said</a> that the regime’s uranium enrichment was “non-negotiable.”
“Iran’s enrichment is a real, accepted matter,” he said. “We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is non-negotiable.”
He condemned what he claimed was “contradictory and conflicting positions” from the Trump administration, adding that “We will find out the true opinions of the Americans during the negotiation session,” he said.

United States and Iran nuclear program deal talks

Here’s What You Need To Know About Saturday’s Nuclear Talks Between The U.S. And Iran

Vladimir Putin

A Chinese satellite company linked to the communist government is aiding the Houthis with their attempted attacks on US vessels by giving them imagery the Houthis can use for targeting.
“We can confirm the reporting that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd. is directly supporting Iran-backed Houthi terrorist attacks on U.S. interests,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce <a href="https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-april-17-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Thursday. “Their actions and Beijing’s support of the company, even after our private engagements with them, is yet another example of China’s empty claims to support peace.”
“We urge our partners to judge the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese companies on their actions, not their empty words,” she continued. “Restoring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea is a priority to President Trump. Beijing should take this priority seriously when considering any future support of CGSTL. The United States will not tolerate anyone providing support to foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis.”
“The United States has raised our concerns privately numerous times to the Chinese government on Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Ltd’s role in supporting the Houthis in order to get Beijing to take action,” a senior State Department official said, according to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/628b404b-2a24-4853-8f3c-9caad408ef8f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Financial Times</a>. The official added that China had “ignored” those concerns.
“Chang Guang is one of a handful of ‘ostensibly’ commercial Chinese satellite companies that are in fact deeply embedded in the military-civil fusion ecosystem, supplying global surveillance capabilities to both civilian and military customers,” James Mulvenon, an expert on Chinese military and intelligence services, asserted.
“Under China’s military-civil fusion programme, companies must share technology with the PLA when ordered by the government,” the Financial Times noted. Matthew Bruzzese, a China defense expert, said CGSTL had “close connections” to the Chinese Communist government and the country’s military.
China helps the Houthis by buying vast amounts of Iranian oil, the Atlantic Council <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/china-is-supporting-the-houthis-heres-how-the-trump-administration-can-respond/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed out</a> in January, adding, “China is Iran’s biggest customer, with more than 90 percent of Iran’s exports going to China in 2024. As a result of these exports, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-revolutionary-guards-extend-control-over-tehrans-oil-exports-sources-say-2024-12-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> received as much as half of the fifty billion dollars in oil revenue that Iran earned last year. In turn, the IRGC uses its funds to support its proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.”

China Launches 18 Satellites From Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site

China-Linked Satellite Company Helping Houthis Launch ‘Attacks On U.S. Interests’

Communist China

Houthis

Red Sea

Satellites

Terrorism

Trump Administration

The virulently anti-Israel Biden administration envoy who claimed the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah — who are proxies for the despotic Islamic Iranian regime — were simply misunderstood by the West, cheered the idea that President Donald Trump might make a nuclear deal with Iran.
Rob Malley, Biden’s Special Envoy to Iran, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/25/politics/malley-nuclear-deal-tenuous/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in 2022, “The simple fact is this: as a means of constraining Iran’s nuclear program, the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] was working. Leaving it has not.”
Malley recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/briefing/new-talks-with-iran.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The New York Times, “Biden was lukewarm about a deal; Trump is eager. Biden fixates on domestic politics; Trump couldn’t care less. Biden was calculating; Trump, impulsive. Trump is throwing caution, prudence and logic to the wind. Which is why there is probably a greater chance of some kind of understanding now than there ever was under the prior administration.”
Malley, who had a friendly relationship with arch-terrorist PLO leader Yasser Arafat, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/20/comment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in July 2001, in the middle of the murderous Second Intifada in which Palestinians murdered more than 1,000 Jews, that the idea of blaming Arafat for the failure of peace talks with Israel “acts as a harmful constraint on American policy by offering up a single, convenient culprit (Arafat) rather than a more nuanced and realistic analysis.”
According to the <a href="https://www.ict.org.il/#gsc.tab=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Institute for Counter-Terrorism</a>, during the Second Intifada, 887 of the 1,137 Israelis murdered in attacks from September 2000 – 2005 were civilians. Just between May 2001 and May 2002 there were these massacres: five Israelis murdered by a suicide bomber at the HaSharon Mall in May 2001; 21 Israelis murdered by a suicide bomber at the Dolphinarium Discotheque in June 2001; 15 Israelis murdered by a suicide bomber at Sbarro’s Pizza in August 2001, including six children and a 31-year-old woman who was the only child of her parents and was five months pregnant; 11 Israelis murdered in a bus bombing on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem on December 1, 2001; 12 more Israelis murdered the very next day in a Haifa suicide bombing; 11 more Israelis murdered in a bus attack 10 days later in Immanuel; six Israelis murdered in an attack at a bas-mitzvah in January 2002; 11 more Jews killed in an attack on a yeshiva in March 2002, including a five-month-old child; 11 Jews murdered in a bombing at Café Moment in March 2002; 30 Israelis killed as they celebrated Passover in Netanya on March 27, 2002; 16 Israelis murdered in a suicide bombing four days later at the Matzah restaurant, and 16 Israelis murdered in Rishon LeZion in May 2002.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), possibly the staunchest opponent of Iran in the U.S. Senate, reacted harshly when reports indicated Biden would select Malley as his Special Envoy to Iran, <a href="https://x.com/SenTomCotton/status/1352434894484500483">stating</a> in 2021, “It’s deeply troubling that President Biden would consider appointing Rob Malley to direct Iran policy. Malley has a long track record of sympathy for the Iranian regime &amp; animus towards Israel. The ayatollahs wouldn’t believe their luck if he is selected.”
Three U.S. officials left the team negotiating with Iran because Malley would not take a harder negotiating position regarding sanctions.
Wang Xiyue, imprisoned in Iran between 2016 and 2019, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-21/biden-s-first-foreign-policy-blunder-could-be-on-iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in 2021 that Biden appointing him as Special Envoy “would send a chilling signal to the dictatorship in Iran that the United States is solely focused on re-entering the Iran nuclear deal, and ignoring its regional terror and domestic crimes against humanity. It would also send a signal to Iranians, Syrians, Iraqis, Lebanese, and all others that are being repressed by the Iranian regime and its proxies that the Biden administration does not care about their human rights.”
“In 2023, Malley stopped briefing Congress about his diplomatic efforts,” The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/national-security/rob-malley-cheers-trump-nuclear-talks-with-iran/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. “It soon became clear that he had been placed on administrative leave pending a State Department investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Malley eventually had his top secret security clearance pulled, and the FBI picked up the investigation into his activities. The Biden administration never released information about the findings of its investigation into Malley before leaving office.”
In 2010, in a documentary called Cultures of Resistance, Malley <a href="https://www.commentary.org/articles/eli-lake/robert-malley-noxious-views-now-mainstream/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> for Israel to allow Hamas “to govern” Gaza. In a 1980 <a href="https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=d&amp;d=YDN19801027-01.2.5&amp;srpos=4&amp;e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN--------false" target="_blank" rel="noopener">piece</a>, he justified the violence Palestinians inflicted on Jews, writing, “There is a lot to be said about the Israeli treatment of Arabs — shameful on the part of a people who suffered more than any other from the injustices and horrors of racism. And the fact must be faced that the resort to violence by the Palestinians is the inevitable corollary of the violence done to them.”

US-IRAN-POLITICS-MALLEY

Anti-Israel Biden Envoy Cheers Idea Of Trump Making Deal With Iran

Biden Administration

Israel

Tech titan Nvidia makes a major investment in the United States – as President Donald Trump tweaks the terms of his tariffs. The Trump administration continues to pursue a nuclear deal with Iran after holding the first direct talks with the country in years. And, it&#8217;s April 15 – tax day. How would the “big, beautiful bill” affect taxes going forward?
It’s Tuesday, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-tweaks-tariffs-revives-iran-nuclear-talks-4-15-25/id1576594336?i=1000703570759" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>New Tariffs, New Factories</h2>
<div id="attachment_907691" style="width: 887px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-907691" class="size-large wp-image-907691" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NVIDIA-Chip-877x576.jpg" alt="" width="877" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NVIDIA-Chip-877x576.jpg 877w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NVIDIA-Chip-300x197.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NVIDIA-Chip-768x504.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NVIDIA-Chip-1536x1008.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NVIDIA-Chip-2048x1344.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 877px) 100vw, 877px" />(Photo by Antonio Burdonovi via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: President Trump announced new tariffs Monday, as tech giant Nvidia announced a historic investment in American chip manufacturing.
As we reported yesterday, the White House said it planned to offer tariff exemptions for certain tech imports like laptops and smartphones. But by Monday, the president announced that one crucial product — semiconductor chips — would not be exempt, and would instead be subject to their own tariffs. We’re still waiting to hear what sort of rate they’ll face, but it’s a big move — the United States imported nearly $850 billion worth of semiconductors last year.
In a major victory for the White House, tech giant Nvidia announced a half-trillion-dollar investment in American manufacturing. Over the next four years, the company will set up shop in Arizona and Texas – it has commissioned more than a million square feet of manufacturing space there. When production is complete, Nvidia says it will be able to construct supercomputers entirely in the United States. The company’s CEO said the investment would “strengthen our supply chain and boost our resiliency.”
“Nvidia controls almost that entire sector, which is one of the most important sectors in the world,” President Trump said at the White House on Monday in response to the announcement. “The reason they did it was because of the election on November 5th and because of a thing called tariffs.&#8221;
Trump also received good news from the Federal Reserve, which released its latest Survey of Consumer Expectations on Monday. It found that Americans believe inflation will rise in the coming months but expect it to be a short-term disruption. That’s important because consumer expectations of inflation can often become self-fulfilling as it changes what folks are willing to pay for certain products. Markets were seemingly pleased with Monday’s news, as the Dow, S&amp;P, and Nasdaq saw gains across the board.
<h2>U.S. &#8211; Iran Nuclear Talks</h2>
<div id="attachment_907693" style="width: 951px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-907693" class="size-large wp-image-907693" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/US-Iran-talks-941x576.jpg" alt="" width="941" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/US-Iran-talks-941x576.jpg 941w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/US-Iran-talks-300x184.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/US-Iran-talks-768x470.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/US-Iran-talks-1536x940.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/US-Iran-talks-2048x1254.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 941px) 100vw, 941px" />(Photo by Kagenmi via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: The Trump administration had its first direct contact with Iran last weekend, the first step in an attempt to hammer out a new nuclear deal. President Trump is pushing for a full dismantling of Iran&#8217;s nuclear program. A follow-up meeting is set for this Saturday.
The meeting was the start of the first direct talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran in years. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/04/12/us-iran-begin-nucearl-talks-begin-oman">Axios</a> is reporting that there was a 45-minute face-to-face conversation in Oman between U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“I think [a face-to-face meeting] helps to make sure that there is less room to cause confusion and also to drag out negotiations, which is what the Iranians are famous for doing,” <a href="https://www.iwf.org/people/ellie-cohanim/">Ellie Cohanim</a>, Independent Women’s Forum Senior Fellow and former Deputy Envoy to Combat Antisemitism under President Trump, told Morning Wire. “The very fact that the Iranians came to the table is considered an embarrassment in the Iranian culture because this is the regime that from 1979, from its very inception of coming into power, is born of the original sin of taking our American Embassy staff hostage …&#8217;Supreme Leader&#8217; Ali Khamenei apparently had to be convinced to even participate in talks with the United States. His advisors apparently let him know that they were advising him to participate in these talks because otherwise, it looked like there was a very high likelihood that Israel and the United States would strike Iran.”
Iran’s influence in the region has been steadily declining after a series of military and economic setbacks. Historically, Iran has used foreign proxy groups like Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and even the Assad regime of Syria to exert pressure on foreign enemies like Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States – arming and funding militants to create a thin veneer of separation between itself and open warfare. However, Hamas has taken tens of thousands of casualties in the ongoing war in Gaza, and Hezbollah’s command structure has been decimated by surgical Israeli strikes. Hezbollah fighters played a crucial role in propping up the Assad regime in the Syrian Civil War, and their collapse precipitated the ousting of the Assad government by Turkish-backed rebels – longtime Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/syrian-dictator-bashar-al-assad-deposed-as-terrorist-rebels-claim-damascus">fled to Moscow</a> last December. Houthi militants have also taken heavy losses in the wake of an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-launches-large-scale-attack-on-iran-backed-houthi-terrorists">American counterassault</a> to reopen shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, Iran’s economy has suffered under Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” of sanctions. The effort seems to have paid off. Cohanim told Morning Wire that the Iranian economy is “teetering … nearly on the verge of collapse. Their currency is just <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/irans-middle-class-bears-brunt-of-economic-crisis/a-72085209">practically valueless</a> right now.”
President Trump has made it clear that Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons program in order to reach a deal with the United States – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/explainer-how-close-is-iran-having-nuclear-weapons-2024-04-18/">recent intelligence</a> suggests Iran has enough stockpiled fissile material to build two nuclear bombs, although progress on a delivery system for a hypothetical weapon is less certain. Iran and the United States previously negotiated a nuclear deal in 2015, but President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-trump-just-shredded-iran-deal-here-are-5-ben-shapiro">withdrew</a> from it in 2018, arguing that the terms and enforcement mechanisms were too lax.
<h2>Tax Day!!!</h2>
<div id="attachment_907695" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-907695" class="size-large wp-image-907695" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tax-Day-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tax-Day-864x576.jpg 864w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tax-Day-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tax-Day-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tax-Day-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tax-Day-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Richard Stephen via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Today is one of Americans’ least favorite days – tax day. And this year, the eternal debate raging around taxes goes all the way to the top.
Friendly reminder – today is your last chance to file your taxes on time.
This tax season, Congress is furiously negotiating a “big, beautiful bill” to set the country’s fiscal priorities – the draft legislation put forward by Congressional Republicans would, among other things, make the tax cuts from President Trump’s first term permanent. Pete Sepp, President of the National Taxpayers Union, told Morning Wire that “virtually every American family would benefit” if the budget bill were passed.
“Any family with children under the age of 17 is likely to benefit,” Sepp told Morning Wire. “Any wage earner is likely to benefit by the lower rates that would remain locked in place. Any worker for a corporation is likely to benefit because they would see their wages at a stable level or even increasing because the boss would have the money to be able to provide that.&#8221;
Anyone who might want to pass along something to their heirs could.
If the bill isn’t passed, Americans will face around a $4 trillion tax hike. Opponents claim that the bill would benefit the rich without helping the poor – that’s been the mantra from Democrats – and part of their rationale for voting against the budget reconciliation last week. Of course, there could also be a predictable political angle to this – Democrats may want to jam up the vote to make the other side look incompetent.

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President Donald Trump said on Monday that he believed Iran was trying to slow-walk any potential nuclear deal with the United States because they were &#8220;used to dealing with stupid people in this country.&#8221;
Trump made the comments during an Oval Office meeting with Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele — whose cooperation has been an essential part of the Trump administration&#8217;s efforts to deport alleged dangerous illegal alien gang members affiliated with Tren de Aragua and MS-13.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon. They cannot have a nuclear weapon&#8230; I think they&#39;re tapping us along because they were so used to dealing with stupid people in this country.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/tfMQXo1GGu">pic.twitter.com/tfMQXo1GGu</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1911817403622695111?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Iran wants to deal with us but they don&#8217;t know how,&#8221; Trump explained. &#8220;They really don&#8217;t know how. We had a meeting with them on Saturday. We have another meeting scheduled next Saturday — I said that&#8217;s a long time. You know, that&#8217;s a long time, so I think they might be tapping us along.&#8221;
&#8220;Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon. They cannot have a nuclear weapon,&#8221; Trump added, turning to Bukele, who was next to him, continuing,  &#8220;He can&#8217;t have a nuclear weapon. We can&#8217;t have anybody having nuclear weapons, you know? We can&#8217;t have nuclear weapons. And I think they&#8217;re tapping us along because they were so used to dealing with stupid people in this country.&#8221;
Trump went on to say that Iran had been more or less under control — largely because he had restricted their cash flow — during his first administration.
&#8220;I had Iran perfect, you had no attacks, you would have never had October 7th in Israel, the attack by Hamas,&#8221; Trump said then, adding, &#8220;Because Iran was broke, they were stone-cold broke when I was president, and I don&#8217;t want to do — I want them to be a rich, great nation! The only thing is, one thing — simple, it&#8217;s really simple — they can&#8217;t have a nuclear weapon. And they got to go fast, because they&#8217;re fairly close to having one, and they&#8217;re not going to have one — and if we have to do something very harsh, we&#8217;ll do it. And I&#8217;m not doing it for us, I&#8217;m doing it for the world. These are radicalized people.&#8221;

President Trump Meets With El Salvador President Nayib Bukele At The White House

Trump: Iran Is Slow-Walking Nuclear Deal Because They’re ‘Used To Dealing With Stupid People’

Trump: Iran Is Slow-Walking Nuclear Deal Because They're 'Used To Dealing With Stupid People'

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President Donald Trump is “dead serious” about Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and is willing to use military force if necessary, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth appeared on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” to discuss nuclear talks between the United States and Iran that kicked off on Saturday. Hegseth said that while the administration is committed to finding a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear program, the president would not rule out using military force.
“President Trump is dead serious on this issue. He&#8217;s dead serious that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. He&#8217;s said that for 20 years. He&#8217;s been consistent. That is clear,” said Hegseth. “He&#8217;s dead serious that he wants it done at the negotiating table. He wants it done peacefully, and that&#8217;s why he&#8217;s going straight to these talks.”
The talks began on Saturday with delegations from the United States and Iran meeting in Oman. The teams were led respectively by U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“These were productive talks yesterday. I don&#8217;t want to get ahead of our skis — Steve Witkoff does a fantastic job — but it was a good step, and they&#8217;re going to go at it again on Saturday,” Hegseth said.
“But [Trump] is also dead serious that if we can&#8217;t figure this out at the negotiating table, then there are other options — to include my department — to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb.”
“We hope we never get there … but what we&#8217;re doing with the Houthis and what we&#8217;re doing in the region, we&#8217;ve shown a capability to go far, to go deep, and to go big,” he continued. “And, again, we don&#8217;t want to do that, but if we have to, we will to prevent the nuclear bomb in Iran&#8217;s hands.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecDef?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDef</a>: &quot;[<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> is] dead serious that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon &#8230; He&#39;s also dead serious that if we can&#39;t figure this out at the negotiating table, then there are other options.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/oVwUw16AcC">pic.twitter.com/oVwUw16AcC</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1911424740796825761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Iranian state-owned media <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-says-nuclear-talks-with-trump-team-were-constructive-agrees-to-meet-again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Saturday that the two sides met in Oman “in a constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect.” The White House said in a statement that the delegations would meet again in a week.
“Special Envoy Witkoff underscored to Dr. Araghchi that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations’ differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible,” the White House said in a statement. “These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome. The sides agreed to meet again next Saturday.”
The talks come as Trump has leaned on Iran publicly to curb the violence of its terror proxies across the Middle East, including the Houthis in Yemen. The president warned that Iran would be “in great danger” if the talks failed.
Araghchi wrote an op-ed published in The Washington Post last week that said Iran wants to make a deal and that the regime has been in contact with the Trump administration for weeks. Araghchi also claimed that Iran had upheld the conditions under the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under former President Barack Obama. Trump had been highly critical of the deal, calling it “one-sided.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency found in February that Iran had blown past the 3.67% enrichment level for uranium set in the nuclear deal. Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to around 60%. Weapons-grade uranium is 90%. Iran’s stockpile is also many times larger than the limits set in the deal: approximately 8,294 kilograms to the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.

Peter Hegseth

Hegseth: Trump ‘Dead Serious’ About Stopping Iran From Getting A Nuclear Bomb

Pete Hegseth

United States

U.S. officials met with Iranian diplomats in Oman on Saturday in an effort to begin talks to reach a new nuclear deal, the Iranian state-owned news outlet IRIB reported.
IRIB reported that the U.S. and Iranian officials met “in a constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect,” according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/11/politics/us-iran-nuclear-talks/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. The talks were the first direct contact between a member of the Trump administration and the Iranian regime. Officials plan to meet again next week.
“After more than two and a half hours of indirect negotiations, the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes in the presence of the Omani foreign minister as they left the talks,” IRIB reported.
The White House confirmed the talks and meeting between Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“Special Envoy Witkoff underscored to Dr. Araghchi that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations&#8217; differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible,” the White House said in a statement. “These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy Witkoff&#8217;s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome. The sides agreed to meet again next Saturday.”
The talks follow President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for a new nuclear deal and for Iran and its proxies, including the Houthis, to cease causing mayhem in the region.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-iran-will-be-in-great-danger-if-saturdays-nuclear-talks-fail?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+Iran+Will+Be+In+%E2%80%98Great+Danger%E2%80%99+If+Saturday%E2%80%99s+Nuclear+Talks+Fail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the talks on Monday, warning that if they are not successful, Iran would be “in great danger.”
“I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger.” Trump said. “It’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, that’s all there is.”
“I think everybody agrees that doing a deal will be preferable to doing the obvious, and obvious is not something I want to be involved with or frankly that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it,” Trump added. “So we’re going to see if we can avoid it, but it’s getting to be very dangerous territory.”
On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the talks will determine if Iran is serious about a deal.
“What happens on Saturday would, I suppose, determine whether there&#8217;s more,&#8221; Bruce said during a press conference. “Right now, this is a meeting that is arranged. It is not part of some larger scheme or framework. It is a meeting to determine whether or not the Iranians are serious.”
In a Washington Post op-ed earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/in-wapo-op-ed-irans-foreign-minister-says-theyre-ready-to-make-a-deal-with-the-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the Iranian regime is ready to make a deal with the United States. He wrote that the Iranian regime has been exchanging messages and letters with the Trump administration for weeks and that the communication represents “a genuine attempt to clarify positions and open a window toward diplomacy.”
Responding to Trump’s threat of taking military action if a deal cannot be made, Araghchi said that in order to move forward, there needs to be an agreement that there is no “military option” or “military solution.”
“The proud Iranian nation, whose strength my government relies on for real deterrence, will never accept coercion or imposition,” the foreign minister wrote.
Araghchi, acknowledging Trump’s strong opposition to Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal, made the claim that the Iranian regime has upheld the condition to not seek nuclear weapons.
A February <a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/03/iran-non-proliferation-private-meeting.php#:~:text=In%20its%20most%20recent%20quarterly,significantly%20during%20the%20reporting%20period%2C" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to 60 percent purity — close to the 90 percent level considered weapons-grade and far above the 3.67 percent limit set by the Iran deal. The total enriched uranium stockpile now stands at approximately 8,294 kilograms, vastly exceeding the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.
Trump <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-ending-united-states-participation-unacceptable-iran-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrew</a> from the deal during his first term in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
Kassy Akiva contributed to this report.

Iran Says Nuclear Talks With Trump Team Were ‘Constructive,’ Agrees To Meet Again

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