Tuesday, June 16, 2026
CIA director doubts Iran's intentions on deal
https://www.axios.com/2026/06/15/us-iran-deal-cia-director-ratcliffe
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told President Trump and other senior officials that evidence gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies raises serious doubts about Iran's willingness to make the nuclear concessions the U.S. is seeking in any final deal, according to three sources familiar with those discussions.
Friction point: Ratcliffe isn't the only skeptic in Trump's top team. In internal discussions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both expressed concerns and raised questions about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) announced Sunday, while Vice President Vance and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner advocated for it, according to two of the sources.
Trump’s Iran deal greeted with skepticism and scrutiny on Capitol Hill
The agreement announced Sunday to end the war in Iran, set for a ceremonial signing Friday in Geneva, is centered around reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the United States’ naval blockade in the region, along with financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks. But Senate Republicans and Democrats who returned to Washington on Monday said there were still many unanswered questions about the deal and they need thorough briefings before it is finalized.
“I just don’t know enough about it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters in the Capitol. “Even the people who follow this stuff closely up here don’t know that much about it.”
“I think that my understanding of what it entails — and, again, not having seen anything — it would require, I think the issues are going to be compliance, and how are you going to enforce that,” Thune said.
Thune’s concerns were echoed by several other GOP senators.
Unity of G-d
Rambam (Techiyas Hameisim) Hear 0 Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. The Christians cite this Biblical phrase as proof to their contention that God is three in that they assert: it is stated the Lord, and it is stated our God, and it is stated the Lord, there are thus three names; then it is stated One, proving that they are three and that the three are one. Heaven forbid!
Was it all worth it?
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/06/15/was-it-all-worth-it/
Pakistan has published what it claims are the details of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and the regime in Iran. If those details are accurate, Trump's Iran deal is a betrayal of every American, every Iranian, every Israeli, and every victim of the regime's terror and repression.
Trump Stages an Iran Retreat
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/iran-deal-donald-trump-cease-fire-nuclear-weapons-e2ce72ef?mod=hp_opin_pos_1Most of the press has been hostile from the start, but we’ve supported the President’s Iran policy. We’ve done so because a nuclear Iran would be an existential threat, and because we want Presidents to succeed when they go to war.
The regime gets financial relief to reopen Hormuz and hold more nuclear talks.
Trump’s Iran Deal: Billions Up Front for Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism
Not surprisingly, the Trump administration is still not publicizing its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the jihadist Iranian regime.
It is laughable, of course, to speak of an agreement (or “understanding”) with Iran, which has a long, undeniable history of breaking agreements, in particular about its nuclear weapons ambitions. And while President Trump either doesn’t grasp or can’t be bothered to address the regime’s ideology, a core principle of sharia supremacism, including Iran’s Shiite version, is that lying to the enemy is a key part of warfare (“War is deception,” said Islam’s prophet in an oft-quoted hadith). This, for example, is why — even as the overwhelming evidence shows it was advancing its nuclear weapons program — the regime insisted that its leader, the now-departed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had issued a fatwa (a sharia law edict) against nuclear weapons. This would have been hilarious had not the Obama administration adopted it as part of its rationalization for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Since the administration is trying to dizzy us with spin about the MOU rather than just showing us the MOU, it’s important to understand: There is not an agreement. The MOU is an agreement to talk about an eventual agreement (and talk, and talk, and talk, as the Iranians have mastered doing) rather than to make binding commitments on matters of vital American interest.
‘Trump has surrendered to Iran’: Some prominent GOP hawks fear Trump just caved
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/15/politics/trump-republicans-iran
The editors of the conservative National Review were also curious why the details hadn’t been forthcoming.
They called it “discouraging” that Trump had indicated Iran would still be allowed to enrich uranium for non-military uses. And they criticized early indicators that the agreement would not rein in Iran’s ballistic missile program.
“All told, there is the possibility that Trump would return the U.S. to Obama’s failed Iran deal that Trump rightfully tore up in his first term,” the editors wrote, “which would have all the makings of a humiliation after all of the president’s tough talk.”
Israel cannot applaud an Iran deal that leaves key threats intact - editorial
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-899520
For Israel, the success of any US-Iran deal will be measured not by headlines or market reactions, but by whether Tehran’s ability to threaten its neighbors is reduced.
The reported US-Iran deal may be good for oil markets, for a White House that wants the war over, and for a president eager to say he forced Tehran to the table and reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
For Israel, that is not the test.
The test is whether Iran is weaker today than it was before the deal. Has its nuclear program been dismantled? Has its enriched uranium been removed? Have its missiles and drones been addressed? Has Hezbollah been pushed back? Has Israel’s freedom to act been preserved?
So far, the answers are unclear. That should worry us.
The warning is coming from President Donald Trump’s own side: Iran hawks, pro-Israel conservatives, and lawmakers who backed pressure on Tehran, supported the airstrikes, and believed this campaign could finally change the balance against the Islamic Republic.
Monday, June 15, 2026
Is Trump Pitching the Art of a Bad Deal
https://collive.com/is-trump-pitching-the-art-of-a-bad-deal/
Israel has greeted the news with deep skepticism and more than a touch of fear. The reported memorandum makes zero mention of ballistic missile restrictions. What began largely as a defensive shield for Iran’s nuclear ambitions has mutated into a formidable threat in its own right. Even without the ultimate deterrent of a nuclear warhead, an Iranian ballistic arsenal numbering in the tens of thousands is more than sufficient to paralyze any military action against the Islamic Republic. According to Channel 12, this critical issue—whether through an immediate American concession or a simple lack of interest—never even made it to the negotiating table.
This is precisely where the $25 billion in unfrozen assets reported by The New York Times becomes the deal’s most critical variable. It acts as a vital liquidity bridge, allowing the Islamic Republic to safely span the economic chasm it is currently teetering over. That massive cash injection provides exactly what Tehran needs: a way to keep its domestic security apparatus paid and loyal while illicit oil flows to China stabilize. In a very literal sense, that $25 billion could spell the difference between collapse and survival.
The most concerning element, however, pertains to the war in Lebanon. Leaks regarding the current agreement point to a halt in fighting across all fronts, including with Hezbollah. Since April 8, Israel’s primary goal has been to decouple Lebanon from the broader Iranian conflict. They temporarily achieved a separation in the immediate aftermath of the ceasefire, until Iranian pressure successfully convinced the United States that larger geopolitical considerations were at stake.
ZOA: Trump’s Iran deal gives Tehran time to rearm
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428678
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) on Monday expressed concern over the emerging deal between the US and Iran.
In a statement, ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said the organization remains "extremely grateful to President Trump for all he did, far more than any other US president, to degrade Iran’s nuclear facilities and military capabilities in Operations Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury."
However, Klein warned that the reported agreement "appears to be an 'agreement to negotiate,'" which he said would allow the Iranian regime to obtain "massive oil revenue and time to build up its military and terror arsenals," while leaving its nuclear and missile stockpiles intact.
Referring to President Trump's statement on Truth Social that he was "authoriz[ing] the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade," Klein argued that it "makes no sense" to remove economic pressure on Iran without first securing "immediate removal of Iran’s nuclear stockpile, decommissioning of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and destruction of Iran’s deadly missile stockpile."
"President Trump’s demands on Israel to stand down in Lebanon and in Iran, to facilitate this troubling deal... plays right into the Iranian regime’s hands, undermines necessary deterrence and endangers Israel’s safety," Klein stated
Political commentator: 'Trump dumped Israel'
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428661
Political commentator Zvi Yehezkeli published a stark warning on the US-Iran agreement, criticizing US President Donald Trump, and claiming that he is rushing an agreement that could harm Israel’s security interests.
IDF, Mossad largely oppose Iran nuclear deal, favor continued sanctions against Tehran
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-899503
The vast majority of the IDF and the Mossad oppose the current Iran nuclear deal as insufficient in light of the power dynamics between the parties, the "blood and treasure" invested, and the threats confronting Israel, the Jerusalem Post has learned.
While that view is not unanimous and top Israeli officials understand the need to defer to Israel's political echelon and to the Trump administration on certain matters, it is nearly unanimous, and officials are making their views heard in private forums.
While the Trump administration has been almost entirely focused on opening the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear issue, the Post understands that IDF and Mossad officials had hoped for progress on the ballistic missiles and proxy threats, which they are stuck dealing with on a day-to-day and year-to-year basis.
Trump Gives Iran a Lifeline and Calls It Peace
https://www.thefp.com/p/trump-gives-iran-a-lifeline-and-calls
President Donald Trump gave himself a birthday present on Sunday and declared that peace has been achieved after his second Iran war. “This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region. Many presidents have tried to make Peace with Iran, and all have failed before me,” he posted on Truth Social Sunday evening. “With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the Deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!”
Don’t break out the ticker tape just yet. This is not a treaty, not a deal, and not a peace agreement. It’s a memorandum of understanding to negotiate the terms of a broader peace over the next 60 days. Put another way, it is yet another ceasefire. In this respect, the agreement does not achieve any of the aims that Trump laid out on February 28 when he launched the second Iran war with Israel.
The only tangible benefit of this memorandum of understanding for the U.S. and the global economy is that Iran will agree to open the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days. Trump believed he had achieved that more than two months ago in April. That turned out to be a ceasefire in name only. In other words, Trump is celebrating an agreement that temporarily solves a problem his war helped create.
Because Iran has not agreed to anything with regard to its nuclear material, ballistic missiles, or support for terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East. As for Trump’s statements early on in the war encouraging the Iranian people to seize their institutions and rise up against their oppressors, that objective has been placed inside a memory hole.
The details of sanctions relief, cash payments, and the unfreezing of assets are still unknown. But a senior U.S. official on Friday told reporters that Iran will see no sanctions relief or unfrozen assets, or receive any cash until it delivers on its other obligations. It’s possible that the U.S. won’t pay Iran’s regime, but America’s allies will. Over the weekend, the United Arab Emirates denied an earlier report that it had already unfrozen some $20 billion in Iranian assets. One U.S. military official working closely on the negotiations, however, said that Iran would see some economic gains before the substantive negotiations began, but the details were still being haggled over. Iran’s state-directed Mehrs News Agency reported Sunday that the U.S. has agreed to unfreeze $12 billion in Iranian assets this week before negotiations begin, with another $12 million to be released during the 60 days of talks.