Is the Iran war really over?

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/18/is-iran-war-really-over/

Iran won an immediate end to the fighting and the lifting of the American naval blockade of its ports. Washington agreed to issue waivers letting Iran resume selling its crude, to unfreeze some $24 billion of its assets and to help develop a reconstruction fund of at least $300 billion.

Iran conceded remarkably little. It will open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping while the final terms of the peace deal are being negotiated. The six remaining U.S. hostages being held by the regime never featured in negotiations. Iran’s lead negotiator, the speaker of the parliament Mohammad Ghalibaf, boasted that the regime had won at the table “several times over” what it could not win on the battlefield.

The Iranians may be tempted to push their advantage, with American deterrence obviously weakened. They can activate Hezbollah to attack Israel at will and then point the finger at the U.S. for not stopping Israel from reacting. Worse, Trump unwisely laid out his concerns about the economy in public, and Iran’s ability to shut down shipping and terrorize its neighbors has not been removed.

Israel stunned by Vance attack and implied US weapons warning

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkzqvtbfgx#autoplay

Israel was stunned by U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s attack on cabinet ministers but chose not to fire back or respond emotionally, in an effort to avoid widening the rift with President Donald Trump. The decision came after Trump repeatedly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days and on Thursday evening published a post spelling out his expectations at this stage, including from Israel.

In Israel, officials were surprised by the force of Vance’s criticism and by what was seen as an implied threat of a weapons embargo.

Ben-Gvir responded to Vance in a post on X.

“This is my proposal, JD Vance: deal with the Nazis of the 21st century exactly as the United States dealt with the Nazis of the 20th century,” he wrote.

You could have been the greatest president of all, but you failed

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/06/18/you-could-have-been-the-greatest-president-of-all-but-you-failed/

Mr. President, you have gravely harmed the human interests of the enlightened world, and you may be remembered forever as the president who brought about America's humiliation. You betrayed us, the Israelis. And in a single moment, the contempt you once faced suddenly seems so justified and logical. Danny Zaken writes to the US president.

And from where I sit, near Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the people of Israel since the days of the kingdoms of David and Solomon, I say to you: You made a colossal mistake. You failed by signing a surrender agreement with a murderous and cruel terror regime. You severely harmed American interests and the democratic and human values of the enlightened world, and you turned over the hourglass toward the next war, which your successors will have to deal with in the years to come.

In doing so, you sealed the fate of many thousands of people: civilians, women, children and the elderly, whom the regime in Iran will torture and murder, just as it murdered more than 40,000 of them at the beginning of the year; citizens of neighboring countries whom Iran and its terrorist proxies will murder; fighters who will be killed in the war against Iran and the terrorism it operates. And yes, many Americans too, just as Iran and its emissaries have murdered throughout the years of the mullahs' regime. You did all this in violation of every promise you made, in contradiction to the path you had followed until now, and against the values of America, which was supposed to return to greatness and has now been humiliated into the dust.

You could have been that president, as you claim to be, but you failed. You missed the opportunity. Instead, unless you change course against the advice of your vice president and envoy, you will be remembered forever as the president who brought about the humiliation of great America and gravely damaged its strategic power and its leading status in the world. And the contempt for you suddenly seems so justified and logical. The broad smile on former President Barack Obama's face contained so much mockery toward the man who had described his agreement as the worst ever. Would you believe that many of Iran's enemies, your friends, now miss that agreement?

And I am trying, and failing, to understand what caused this absurd change of direction, so contrary to everything you have said and done until now. The midterm elections are a flimsy excuse. You are in your second term, and the surrender memorandum of understanding will hurt the Republicans more than it will help them. Economically too, the excuse you are leaning on does not work. Perhaps oil prices will fall now and the stock market will rise temporarily, but what will happen when Iran uses, and it will use, the power you so rashly granted it and restricts movement through Hormuz? You weakened America. It will no longer be great during your term, and others will have to repair the damage after you. Yes, yes, your vice president as well, who pushed for the agreement, if he is elected after you, will run into the same troubles and crises and wars and murdered people that you brought about with your own signatures.

'Wake Up and Smell the Reality': JD Vance Warns Israel to Abide by Trump’s Iran Deal

 https://time.com/article/2026/06/18/JD-Vance-Israel-Iran-Deal-Donald-Trump-Lebanon/

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday issued a stark warning for the Israeli government to get on board with President Donald Trump’s controversial agreement with Iran, suggesting Israel had alienated much of the globe in recent years and that the U.S. was its last remaining major ally. 

“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance said near the end of an hourlong White House briefing with reporters.

Israeli officials have expressed “deep concern” about the deal, according to Axios,. A Netanyahu adviser said Israel doesn't consider itself bound by the Lebanon part of the memorandum .  

‘Everyone just needs to copy what I say’: Trump vented anger with Vance over Iran messaging

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/18/donald-trump-jd-vance-iran-haberman-swan-book-excerpt-00967874?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

“Trump vented to others that Vance hadn’t repeated his own new phrase that Iran’s nuclear program had been ‘totally obliterated,’” Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan write in their upcoming book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump” obtained by POLITICO.

Early intelligence that leaked to the media indicated the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities didn’t line up with what Trump had touted and Vance had used more cautious language when he appeared on ABC News. The vice president also said in that same ABC interview that the Trump administration’s intention was to not embark on regime change, only to have Trump say the opposite hours later.

Vance hits back at Iran deal critics in GOP, Israe

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5930853-vance-defends-trump-iran-deal/

The preliminary agreement faced criticism even before it was signed Wednesday evening, with a growing number of Republicans and conservative figures arguing it was too weak on Iran.

Vance pushed back on a reporter saying that Netanyahu was “fuming” over the MOU, and he warned Israeli officials critical of Trump’s deal with Iran from personally attacking the president and isolating Israel’s best friend in the world. 

Israeli officials across the political spectrum have come out against the MOU, with Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir saying that “Trump’s agreement does not bind us” and urging for stronger attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. A ceasefire in Lebanon is the first pillar of the MOU.

Trump’s Iran agreement may be a dud, but he’s getting what he wants

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/18/politics/trump-iran-deal

Donald Trump insisted last month that he didn’t think about Americans’ finances when negotiating with Iran.

“I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened,” Trump said Wednesday, in seeking to explain what critics see as a deeply flawed agreement to end the war.

Trump’s comment, in France, was a revealing moment. It shows how, under political pressure, he often grasps for short-term advantage over the long-term strategic grind. And it underscores his reverence for the wisdom of the markets, which he said were “more brilliant” than any of his advisers “other than me, of course.”

Trump’s unfiltered commentary on Lebanon is leaving Israel with an impossible choice

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/trumps-unfiltered-commentary-on-lebanon-is-leaving-israel-with-an-impossible-choice/

Clearly tired of what Israel sees as an urgent fight, the US president is making the contradictory claims that the war on Hezbollah is both not speedy enough and not careful enough

“Israel is fighting Hezbollah too long, and too many people are being killed,” Trump said at the G7 conference of global leaders in France. “And you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody. Because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses. And they’re not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you.”

Then, minutes later: “I’m not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah. They should have been able to do the job faster. It just goes on forever.”

Soon, Israel may be forced to choose: Either keep up the military pressure and lose Trump’s diplomatic support, or stay on his good side — but only by ending, or scaling back, the conflict that many see as the country’s most urgent fight.

Trump made bad Iran deal because of relentless Democratic Persecutions

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428787

 Where does Trump come into the picture?

No doubt, he had turned soft. No doubt, as I had said, the mullahs, and the media, had feasted on him, so there was nothing left but the shell of a man.

They knew how to play his vanity, so that he’d be willing to sign any paper placed in front of him.

So it goes when you break a man. Have we forgotten when Trump was their dish and Adam Schiff was his appetizer?

Trump’s first four years as president were a sorry sight for himself and the nation. Four years of Russia…Russia…Russia.

For every day of four years the Democrats gave him no rest from accusations that he was a spy for Russia…all false.

From Hemingway…"The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong at the broken places."

'HUMILIATION': Trump's Iran deal ignites backlash from Dems AND MAGA over 'surrender'

Garnel where are You?

 The world has become overwhelmed with a Pandemic 0f Trump Derangement Syndrome. Obviously you would claim caused by Obama and Biden. Even Fox News, NYPost,Yated and MAGA have caught it. The average Israeli  views him with contempt. Trump is being portrayed not as the defender of Israel but as the strongest champion of Iran. Garnel you have attacked me for months for being critical of Trump. Where are you now when the whole world has turned against him this self proclaimed Defender of the World?

The 5 passages of the US-Iran peace deal that worry critics the most: ‘Always tries to get more’

 https://nypost.com/2026/06/17/world-news/the-5-passages-of-the-us-iran-peace-deal-that-worry-critics-the-most/

“The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and other provisions of this paragraph.”

The language about Lebanon has raised concerns in Israel, which is not a party to the agreement and has repeatedly carried out military operations against Iranian-backed Hezbollah in the country.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf or [Gulf] states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.”

The mention of “administration and maritime services” leaves open the possibility that Iran and Oman could charge service fees to ships that want to access the strait.

“United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least USD $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Upon the implementation of this MOU, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will mutually agree on the procedures related to the release of these funds during the negotiations.”

‘SO BAD!’: MAGA sycophants OPENLY REVOLT against Trump for caving to Iran

Israel Worried About Trump’s Bad Deal With Iran

 https://yated.com/israel-worried-about-trumps-bad-deal-with-iran/

Even before the details were released of the Memorandum of Understanding that President Trump negotiated with Iran and that was announced on Sunday, the verdict in Israel and among Israel’s supporters across the political spectrum was immediate, unanimous, and deeply disturbing: It is a very bad deal, and clearly endangers Israel’s national security.

Rather than bringing a new era of peace to the Middle East as President Trump had promised to do, the reported concessions to their demands in the new deal are likely to further embolden the new hardline leaders of Iran and make them even more recklessly aggressive. After a period of recovery from the damage that it suffered during the 40-days of bombardment by the U.S. and Israel, Iran will pose a renewed threat not only to Israel but also to Iran’s Persian Gulf neighbors and the other states across the Middle East, which are now well within the range of its drones and ballistic missiles, and which Iran has already attacked.

By agreeing to a deal that achieved none of the four original aims for which the U.S. and Israel jointly went to war against Iran, President Trump sold out both Israel and his partner in the original attack on Iran, Prime Minister Netanyahu. By failing to require Iran to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and end its support and protection of Hezbollah and its other terrorist proxies, Trump’s ignominious surrender to Iran’s demands endangers Israel’s long-term survival, and has made yet another war with Iran in the years ahead inevitable.