President Trump flew off to the G7 Summit in the French Alps Sunday night right after the United Fighting Champtionship Freedom 250/Trump 80th birthday party/ Flag Day event held on the South Lawn of the White House [UFC image].
Flow, Oil, Flow – Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed Sunday that the Islamic Republic has finalized a 60-day ceasefire after “months of long and difficult negotiations” that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with both Iran and the US removing their blockades. The US and Iran are to sign the deal in Geneva on Friday and then begin negotiating limiting nuclear arms and lifting sanctions on Iran.
“The deal with the Islamic Republic is now complete,” President Trump posted on Social Media Sunday, according to The New York Times.
“Ships of the World, start your engines,” Trump wrote. “Let the oil flow!”
In a 28-minute phone interview with the NYT, Trump said the agreement, when reached, will assure a “permanently toll free” Strait of Hormuz.
“Following intense talks, we are pleased to announce that the peace deal between the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted in social media, according to The Wall Street Journal. “Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
Beside the two-month ceasefire, the agreement ends military operations on all fronts, including fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Earlier on Sunday, the NYT reports, Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs in retaliation for rocket fire by Hezbollah.
Trump posted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed “no judgment” and demanded all sides “stand down.”
The president called both the NYT and WSJ later Sunday, before his UFC Freedom 250/birthday party/Flag Day event Sunday night.
He told the WSJ the deal includes Iran’s agreement not to obtain nuclear weapons, though he didn’t mention this in any of his myriad social media posts. He’s not in a hurry to extract Iran’s nuclear material, apparently.
“We’ll get the nuclear dust later on when we’re ready to go in and do it,” he told the WSJ. “I’d say over the next month or two, there’s no rush.”
Sen. James Langford (R-OK) told NBC News’ Meet the Press Sunday that unlike the Obama administration’s Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, or JCPOA, Trump’s deal will prevent Iran from ever reaching nuclear weapon capability.
But there is no indication the agreement to be worked out in Geneva will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capability in perpetuity.
Before the breakthrough was announced, the NYT citing sources reported that the US was seeking a 20-year moratorium on Iranian nukes, while Iran wanted 10 years – and, The Art of the Deal ahoy, they’re likely to settle on 15 years.
But if the Islamic Republic fails to reach a final deal with the US on nukes, Trump told the NYT he would restart military operations against Tehran and make the US “the guardian of the Middle East in return for 20% of the Mid East region’s revenues.”
Front page of the New York Post pictured a stern President Trump with the headline “Locked and Loaded” while The Atlanticcalled the peace deal with Tehran “an Iranian victory.”
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Gas Relief – Oil prices continue to fall with the AAA’s national average for a gallon of unleaded regular dropping to $4.065 Monday, down 6.4 cents from last Thursday and up $1.09 from February 28. Average price of diesel is $5.197, down 10 cents from last Thursday and up $1.391 from the end of February.
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Trump Down – Following a federal court order, the letters spelling out “Donald Trump And” have been removed from the side of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts building in Washington, D.C. Crowds cheered the removal even as workers hid their de-lettering under a tarp, according to NPR.
Matthew Floca, chief operating officer and executive director confirmed to Politico that work crews had removed “all physical signage” from the building and grounds “that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump or any individual beside President Kennedy.” – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa