STUDY: COVID-19 Vaccination During Early Pregnancy Linked to Major Birth Defects

Babies born to mothers vaccinated during the first trimester suffered higher rates of atrioventricular septal defects (holes in the heart) and cleft palate.

A newly published registry-based cohort study has reported higher rates of certain congenital anomalies among babies born to mothers who received a COVID-19 vaccine during the first trimester of pregnancy.

They analyzed 1,352 pregnancies and compared women vaccinated during the critical organogenesis period (conception through 11 weeks and 6 days) with women who were either unvaccinated or vaccinated later in pregnancy.

The study found that atrioventricular septal defects (AVSD)—a serious congenital heart defect involving holes between the heart’s chambers—were observed in 2.3% of babies whose mothers were vaccinated during the first trimester, compared with 0% among babies of unvaccinated mothers.

They also found cleft palate in 0.8% of babies exposed during the first trimester, compared with 0% among babies of unvaccinated mothers.

The vaccines used in this study consisted of inactivated whole-virus and viral-vector platforms. Had the mRNA platform been analyzed here, we probably would have seen even worse birth defect rates.

These findings arrive as major public health organizations—including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), the World Health Organization (WHO), and many national health agencies—continue to recommend COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.

These organizations must be held accountable for their reckless actions that have resulted in grave harm to unborn children.

[…]

Via https://www.globalresearch.ca/covid-19-vaccination-early-pregnancy-linked-major-birth-defects/5930554

 

Tulsi Gabbard Releases Evidence Fauci Directed Funding for ‘Risky’ Coronavirus Research Linked to Big Pharma and Pursuit of ‘Universal Vaccines’

Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National I

Breitbart

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard used her last day in office to release a trove of evidence that Dr. Anthony Fauci – former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) – lied to Congress and directed U.S. funding for gain-of-function research linked to Big Pharma’s pursuit of “universal vaccines,” all while influencing and manipulating the intelligence community to cover up his role in the coronavirus pandemic.

Gabbard, who is leaving her post to help her husband as he battles an “extremely rare” form of cancer, released a trove of documents on her last day in office showcasing what many have said for years: Fauci lied to cover up his own alleged wrongdoing.

The Trump administration is blowing the lid off the coverup completely, showcasing Fauci’s role in providing millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology – where that specific coronavirus is suspected to originate.

Gabbard said:

Today, on my final day as Director of National Intelligence, I’m releasing never before seen communications and documents that expose exactly how Fauci worked with politicized career leadership in the intelligence community to suppress the truth about his actions, the virus’s lab leak origins, and his role in directing U.S. funding for this dangerous research that caused immeasurable harm and countless lost lives.

Gabbard alleged that those documents clearly “expose Fauci’s direct role in influencing and manipulating IC assessments on COVID-19, and how Fauci lied to Congress in 2024 when, under oath, he denied knowledge of or participation in discussions with intelligence officials about viral research.”

Gabbard also revealed they have testimony from intelligence community whistleblowers “who reported retaliation for challenging the intelligence community’s manipulation of intelligence on the virus’s origins.”

Ultimately, Gabbard said Fauci was able to use his “close relationships” with the intelligence community to “shield him from scrutiny.” During that time, Fauci funded gain-of-function coronavirus research “linked to big pharma and their pursuit of universal vaccines worth trillions of dollars,” Gabbard explained.

She also said Fauci pressed the intelligence community to push the “natural” animal origin narrative of the virus to cover for himself, and he became “the nation’s pandemic pundit” where he was able to freely push his alleged lies and censorship of critics.

Gabbard said the documents show Fauci pushed a “fraudulent” paper and “blatantly lied to Congress during his 2024 testimony to the House Select Subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic, denying that he ever spoke to any intelligence agency about COVID.”

“The correspondence I’m releasing today directly contradicts his sworn testimony,” she said, “and we received statements from multiple whistleblowers revealing that the intelligence analysts who dared to challenge Dr. Fauci’s COVID origin conclusions faced threats of retaliation, marginalization, and many suffered career setbacks.”

“The COVID pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and countless people around the world. Now, after years of lies and censorship and cover-ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability,” Gabbard continued.

“The tactics that were used to hide the truth are straight from the deep state playbook,” she said, declaring that it is now time for the American people to have the truth. “Politicized, self-serving leaders like Dr. Fauci covered up their own wrongdoing and abuses of power, manipulated intelligence, lied to Congress, and undermined a duly elected president by restricting his access to the vital facts he needed to keep the country safe.

Via https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/06/19/he-lied-tulsi-gabbard-releases-evidence-fauci-directed-funding-risky-coronavirus-research-linked-big-pharma-pursuit-universal-vaccines/

US Govt Plans to Crush Anti-AI ‘Extremism’

Google Data Center in The Dalles, Oregon, in 2011. (Visitor7 /Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Alan MacLeod
MintPress News

New documents from U.S. government agencies such as the F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security show that Washington is preparing for widespread anti-A.I. riots, as the technology destroys communities and industries across the country.

Ironically, the Trump administration is already using invasive A.I. technology to identify and suppress what it calls anti-A.I. “extremists,” and in the process, sweeping the entire nation into its massive surveillance dragnet.

More than 1,000 pages of leaked documents reviewed by WIRED Magazine show that government agencies are anticipating a huge wave of domestic unrest in the coming years, as artificial intelligence upends American society. Automation-related job losses could shatter entire industries, while the building of gigantic data centers will remove water and electricity from public use, ramping up the price of what little remains.

As one report from the New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau, [a division of the New York City Police Department], notes:

“The chaotic atmosphere that may result from emergent A.I. technology in the next five years may fuel large-scale protests that devolve into civil unrest and anti-tech violent extremist activity, especially in large urban areas such as New York City.”

An Environmental & Health Catastrophe 

Last year, the tech industry collectively spent around half a trillion dollars on the construction of new data centers. These buildings consume near insatiable amounts of energy and water. By 2030, they are expected to represent around 12 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption. One large data center consumes up to 5 million gallons of water per day — as much as a small city. It has been calculated that a single 100-word A.I. prompt to a chatbot like Claude or ChatGPT uses over half a liter of water, equivalent to one bottle.

When a data center moves into town, utility prices skyrocket. In this situation, wholesale electricity, for example, jumps by up to 267 percent. Ordinary Americans cannot compete with the likes of Amazon or Microsoft, and can be priced out of even the most basic necessities of life, causing widespread resentment.

Living near a data center can also be hazardous to human health. Thanks to the low-frequency noises they produce, residents often report chronic symptoms such as insomnia, vertigo and nausea. Worse still, to meet their enormous energy demands, data centers often rely on gas or diesel generators, which emit high levels of nitrogen oxides, fine particular matter and so-called “forever chemicals” into the air, further complicating the situation.

A.I. will also have a profound effect on employment. Goldman Sachs predicts that, over the next decade, 300 million jobs could be lost to A.I.-based automation. Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI, has suggested that whole industries may be replaced by his product. “Entire classes of jobs will go away and not come back,” he confidently stated in 2019. Facing growing public anger, last month, he walked those statements back, assuring the public that there would be no “jobs apocalypse.”

But if these predictions are anything close to correct, it will cause massive economic disruption across America, and send towns and entire cities dependent on certain types of work into potentially permanent depressions. The latest news that Washington is preparing to treat this unrest as akin to terrorism should be of great concern to all Americans.

The Dark Side of AI

The public, as a whole, is highly skeptical of artificial intelligence. A recent poll found that only 5 percent trust AI a great deal, while 77 percent think it could pose a fundamental threat to humanity.

The U.S. national security state, however, has fully committed to AI, and is using it to mass surveil the public and to identify those not sufficiently supportive of the new technology.

In March, F.B.I. Director Kash Patel confirmed that the bureau is buying Americans’ personal online user data from brokers in order to track the public. The Department of Homeland Security has spent millions purchasing AI software that detects the sentiment and emotions of Americans’ online posts, and is using it to identify activists and other potential “threats.”

It has also sent subpoenas to Google, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Discord and other large social media apps demanding they share the personal information and identities of anonymous users who have criticized the actions of the Trump administration. Government officials confirmed to The New York Times that platforms have often complied with their requests.

AI giant Anthropic publicly pulled out of a deal with the U.S. Department of War to develop AI systems in “classified environments,” stating that they feared the technology would immediately be used to carry out mass domestic surveillance in the United States. “We cannot in good conscience accede to their request,” they said, explaining their decision. The company was immediately labeled a national security “supply chain risk” by the Trump administration, and the contract was fulfilled by OpenAI.

OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman is one of Trump’s most generous donors, having channeled $25 million to the president’s super PAC, MAGA Inc. He has also poured $50 million into Leading the Future, a bipartisan super PAC aimed at promoting pro-AI legislation in Washington, D.C., and defeating and silencing lawmakers who wish to curb the influence and power of the new industry.

It remains to be seen to what extent AI will actually become a revolutionary technology, but what is clear is that the U.S. government is preparing for major economic and social disruption in its wake. Instead of creating economic bailout plans and social welfare programs to help those negatively affected, however, it is preparing an authoritarian response, looking to crush dissent. What makes this future even more ironically dystopian is that, to do so, it is using the very AI that is triggering the problem in the first place.

[…]

Via https://consortiumnews.com/2026/06/18/us-govt-plans-to-crush-anti-ai-extremism/

Iran closes Strait of Hormuz after US/Israeli MOU violations

Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz again. (File photo)

Press TV

Iran’s central military command has officially declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all maritime traffic, citing US and Israeli violations of a memorandum of understating between Tehran and Washington.

In a formal statement on Saturday, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the closure comes in response to “the explicit breach of the first clause of the post-war memorandum of understanding by the United States” and “the Zionist regime’s continuous and ongoing violations of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon.”

The statement began with a Quranic verse explaining the need to fight anti-religion forces who break their promises.

It said the closure of Hormuz is also a response to the Israeli regime’s continuous and ongoing violation of a ceasefire it has agreed to with the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The statement added that the Israeli attacks have led to “brutal killings and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of oppressed people” in southern Lebanon, adding that the Israeli regime has also failed to withdraw its forces from those territories.

The military command said that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the first step in response to the breach of commitments under the MoU by the US and its allies, adding that Iran will adopt further measures to compel the enemy to fulfill its obligations.

The Iran-US MoU, signed by presidents of the two countries early on Wednesday, was aimed at permanently ending the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, which began in late February and was halted by a ceasefire in early April.

The 14-article MoU requires Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows, provided that the US and its allies completely end their aggression against Iran and its regional allies.

IRGC warns all ships to stay away from Hormyz 

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy also issued a stern warning to all ships transiting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, saying the Strait of Hormuz is closed and cautioning that approaching vessels will face consequences.

The statement warned all vessels to refrain from entering the strategic waterway, stating that the security of vessels that defy the order would be in danger.

“Absolutely refrain from any movement in the Strait of Hormuz until further notice,” the statement said.

It said the measure was being taken due to the Israeli regime’s aggression in Lebanon and the United States violations of its commitments in upholding the ceasefire.

[…]

Via https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/20/770800/Iran-closes-Strait-of-Hormuz-after-US-Israeli-violations-of-MoU-

Talk of Los Angeles False Flag Attack Increases

LA burning photo by Jose Carlos Fajardo. Source.

by Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News

The news has picked up speed this week, from the Iran war as well as the Ukraine – Russia war, and there are various commentaries and theories being published every day as the news seems to be changing by the hour.

Israel appears to have no intention of leaving Lebanon or stopping the war there, and public meetings to sign the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) to start a ceasefire and end the war with Iran have been canceled.

There continues to be speculation that Israel could be closer to implementing the “Sampson Option.” See: Is Israel Preparing Nuclear Bombs for Iran According to “The Samson Option”?

Yesterday, Pepe Escobar, Zulfiqar Ali, and Larry Johnson published a video stating that Israel was planning to assassinate members of the Iran negotiators when they arrived to sign the MoU, which prompted them to sign it digitally (source), and Vance canceled his trip to Switzerland earlier today.

There are also now renewed rumors circulating that there could be a false flag attack with massive casualities in the U.S. that would eclipse the number of Americans who died with the World Trade Towers destruction, and much of this is being fueled by an X post from Laura Loomer, a Trump supporter and hardcore MAGA propagandist. (See featured image of this article for screenshot.)

The target of this false flag event has been frequently discussed lately as the second tallest building in downtown Los Angeles, the U.S. Bank tower, owned by the Jewish Billionaire Larry Silverstein.

Silverstein is most known for his purchase of the World Trade Center twin towers in New York city in 2001, just months before they blew up in what was the largest false flag event on U.S. soil through today.

Silverstein and his wife were conveniently not present in the towers that morning, as well as other famous Zionists who should have been in the towers that day, such as Howard Lutnik, who has been utterly disgraced this year due to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and his lies about their relationship, including under oath before Congress, that he did not know Epstein very well and never visited his island.

[…]

Via https://healthimpactnews.com/2026/is-world-war-iii-about-to-break-out-talk-of-los-angeles-false-flag-attack-increases/

 

Ivermectin Cancer Revolution Makes Mainstream Media

Mel Gibson’s wild claim ivermectin curbs cancer leads to significant spike in prescriptions

Mel Gibson‘s endorsement of ivermectin as a medication that curbs cancer has coincided with a significant spike in use.

The Oscar winner, 70, appearing on The Joe Rogan Experience on January 9, 2025, said that the medication saved the lives of three friends diagnosed with stage four cancer.

Gibson, whose credits include Lethal Weapon, Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ, explained the situation to Rogan: ‘There’s got to be something that cures things and I’ll tell you a good story.’

‘I have three friends, all three of them at stage four cancer. All three of them don’t have cancer right now at all and they had some serious stuff going on.’

Rogan asked Gibson, ‘What did they take?’ to which Gibson said ‘they took some – what you’ve heard they’ve taken.’

Gibson then confirmed Rogan’s speculation he was talking about ivermectin.

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Gibson for further comment on the story.

The American Medical Association reported in JAMA that cancer patients among a sample of 68 million-plus people had used ivermectin and benzimidazole at a growth rate of 160 percent between 2024 and 2025.

The spike in use comes as medical professionals have said that there is no evidence to suggest that ivermectin – marketed as a treatment to fight parasites – is an effective remedy against cancer.

‘It has not been proven in any kind of confirmatory clinical trial, which is the gold standard of evidence we need to know whether treatment works,’ Dr. John Mafi, with UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, said in an interview with ABC News Wednesday.

Researchers continue to study how effective ivermectin is in the treatment of cancer.

It comes years after a number of people took ivermectin amid the COVID-19 pandemic as an alternative to vaccinations.

The demographics most impacted in JAMA’s report were ‘male patients, White patients, residents of the US South, and individuals with cancer.’

 

The report stated that the aforementioned groups had ‘disproportionate increases’ in prescriptions being filled for ivermectin.

Mafi previously said of the trend: ‘As a primary care doctor, I want my patients and people across the country to have the chance to get treatments we know can help them live longer, healthier lives.

‘When prescribing for an unproven cancer treatment more than doubles after a single podcast, especially among men and people in the South, it raises a concern that patients may be skipping or delaying treatments we know work in favor of something that hasn’t been proven to help them.’

NHL alum Ron Duguay, 68, told the network that he was consuming ivermectin as a supplement to his treatment amid a battle with stage 4 cancer.

‘In certain circumstances, I will fight until I drop,’ Duguay said. ‘And when I drop, I’m getting up. As an athlete, I’m going for it – I will take a chance.’

The JAMA report stated that ‘the elevated prescribing observed among patients with cancer is particularly concerning; individuals facing life-threatening illness may delay or forgo conventional treatments in favor of unproven therapies, potentially allowing their disease to progress.’

[…]

Via https://makisw.substack.com/p/breaking-news-we-are-winning-the

Netanyahu faces new threat: Collapse of Western support

Netanyahu begins testifying in his defense against charges of corruption

ByPaul Rogers

June 17

[…]

As domestic support for the war is ebbing away in the US, the mood in Washington is changing. Opposition to the war is growing, while support for Israel and its prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is dwindling.

A week ago, this was all reasonably obvious, but the past few days have given a sharp indication of how difficult it will be to move to negotiated settlements in the double conflicts involving Israel and Lebanon, and the US and Iran.

The recent sequence of events started with a warning from the IRGC leadership in Tehran: Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanese towns and cities, including the widespread targeting of health facilities, violated the temporary ceasefire and must stop. Instead, Netanyahu ordered more attacks, including on the Lebanese port city of Tyre, which has been subject to around 30 direct air raids by the IDF in the past three months.

As well as healthcare facilities, the IDF attacks have also been aimed at critical urban infrastructure, such as power and communications lines, water treatment plants and sewage treatment systems. The New York Times even reports the probable use by the Israelis of white phosphorus, an incendiary substance that spontaneously ignites on contact with air and is exceptionally difficult to extinguish.

The IDF is also continuing its practice of ordering mass evacuations of both urban populations and rural communities.

Yet despite the extent of the force it is using, the IDF has failed to destroy Hezbollah. There is little sign of that changing; consider that the IDF is still unable to control Hamas in Gaza despite having destroyed so many urban areas.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has made it abundantly clear that Israel is stepping up its plans to annex the great majority of Gaza. Over 50% of the land, including most of the area previously used for intensive horticulture, has been taken over by Israel. That is now increasing to 70% of Gaza, with yet more Palestinians being forced into overcrowded camps.

Taken alongside the increasing number of illegal settlements as well as Jewish settler violence in the Occupied West Bank, and the move to control substantial parts of southern Lebanon, the immediate prospects for a peaceful outcome are minimal.

A remarkable indicator of this is that, as settler violence against Palestinians continues, Amnesty International reports on a “Great Israeli Real Estate Event” scheduled to take place in London this weekend, in which land in illegal settlements will be marketed to the Israeli diaspora in the UK.

Two substantial issues remain. The first has been glaringly obvious for over 30 months: Israel is radicalising many thousands of young Palestinians to resist the IDF, even to the extent of sacrificing their lives. That alone means Netanyahu and his government are engaged in an unwinnable war.

Then there is the second issue: overseas opposition to Israel is growing in some unexpected quarters. Germany is historically reluctant to criticise Israel in public, yet a pro-Palestinian wave of support has been seen in universities across the country.

In Britain, Labour MP Melanie Ward has brought attention to UK charities that she says have given at least £28m illegal Jewish settlements across the occupied West Bank. Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has responded by announcing that the Charity Commission will investigate the organisations’ links to the settlements and whether they can retain their charity status.

This comes in the week that the Foreign Office announced plans for the UK to bring “together Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Norway to deliver coordinated sanctions against networks financing and enabling settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, and firmly advises British businesses against activity in illegal Israeli settlements.”

Despite the Labour government’s antagonism to pro-Palestinian activists, The Guardian reports that some activists believe there is a “sea-change” underway in government circles, aided by the strongly pro-Palestinian stance of leading Green Party politicians, including leader Zac Polanski.

Successive Israeli governments have spent decades cultivating support through well-funded lobbies in these two key European states. That support is fraying, but what is far more significant is the shift in attitudes in the US. A trenchant piece in the influential Wall Street Journal, entitled ‘Netanyahu has lost Middle America’, concludes that whatever happens in the Gaza conflict, the loss of public US support “has been catastrophic and won’t be reversed quickly.”

[…]

Via https://www.opendemocracy.net/netanyahu-new-threat-collapse-support-united-states-israel-iran-gaza/

How Multipolarity Forced Trump to Capitulate – For Now

Eric Striker

When describing Donald Trump’s new Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, Foreign Policy magazine summarized the seeming end to the war as a “bigger defeat than Vietnam.”

This negation of American militarism has been felt strongest in Israel, where the Jewish state’s executors in Jerusalem and Washington/New York are throwing a fit. JD Vance, thrown in front of the cameras to own the administration’s retreat before their masters, is now openly telling the furious Jewish-American press “Trump is your [Israel] only ally left in the world.”

Has the White House had enough of Jewish domination of its policies? Is the pause in fighting Iran, which through Persian and Shia tenacity has significantly risen the bar for any continuation of hostilities, permanent?

Not so fast.

Passengers pulling the emergency break on the runaway train should not be seen as a change of guard, but rather a hard check placed on the Jewish domination of Washington DC by the combined forces of several major regional actors the American empire relies on to project power on behalf of Israel.

Forcing America to halt a war it was clearly losing and go to the negotiating table took Turkey (NATO’s second largest army), Pakistan (a nuclear power), the Gulf States (hosts of US CENTCOM with $2 trillion dollars parked in American foreign direct investment) and Egypt to pool their immense lobbying and diplomatic resources together. They offered an ultimatum: America must pause to reconsider its pursuit of Israel’s maximalist objective of conquering Iran and breaking it up into multiple rump states or they will form a new power bloc of their own to deal with this problem. As the American empire declines, multipolarity — which is bringing about the genesis of regional power blocs beyond the familiar Chinese, Iranian and Russian alliance — flexed its bicep.

Even as the administration realized it had no choice but to cave under the pressure exerted by the united front of its growing list of disgruntled associates, Trump audaciously demanded they first sign the Abraham Accords embracing Israel before any Iran negotiations began. The exasperated Muslim states responded with a resounding “No!”

This reaction, equal parts panicked and assertive, is a consequence of Iran’s unorthodox decision to focus its strategy on taxing the collaborationist Gulf regimes. The war has so far cost Gulf Cooperation Council states $200 billion dollars worth of economic damage, prompting public threats from Arab monarchs being pummeled to pull their trillions of dollars currently helping keep American tech, real estate, and bonds afloat.

In other words, the Saudis, Qataris and Emiratis pay the American empire to protect them, in addition to offering their soil for US bases and playing nice with Israel.

Yet at the height of the conflict, Iran and its allies quickly destroyed the expensive and difficult to replace THAAD network integral to the air defenses of both the Gulf and Israel. During the commotion, America’s Middle East protectorates endured blow after blow from Iranian missiles and drones, and Washington’s response was to anger another one of its client states — South Korea — by hastily moving its THAAD defense systems from East Asia to Jordan in order to better protect Israel, an act of brazen Jewish favoritism.

Working with America used to make one untouchable, but today it paints a bullseye on your country. The United Arab Emirates thought it could hedge against potential Iranian retaliation by allowing Russian billionaires to use Dubai to skirt sanctions, only to be taken aback by the revelation that Putin doesn’t care what the oligarchs think, preferring to help the IRGC in acquiring Gulf targets, including hotels in its fragile and decadent cities where US soldiers thought they were hiding.

The US’ catastrophic failure to keep up its end of the bargain is forcing Gulf planners to begin considering concessions to Iran, such as paying Tehran not to spare them. The GCC has hitched itself to the US-Israeli wagon as a realist acknowledgement that neither Israel or America can be militarily or economically defeated. The Iranians, who have limitless ability to sustain damage and are constantly innovating in the realm of warfare, have now demonstrated that this assumption is false, which will inevitably force a change in calculation from cowardly and cynical regional actors down the road.

With now a year and a half worth of Barak Ravid’s fairy tales alleging that Trump has had enough of Israel and Netanyahu indexed at Axios, nobody believes it anymore. For this reason, the administration is now forced to make a public spectacle of condemning Israel. This is geared at making America’s Muslim friends and foes — who currently have all the leverage — think Washington has the whip hand, when the reality is that Israel and the Jewish-American elite do. This was proven for the umpteenth time when Trump’s recent command for Netanyahu to “stop!” was immediately met by Israeli strikes on Iran and Lebanon.

As expected, Iran has already made good on its side of the bargain. The Strait of Hormuz has been reopened and a global economic depression has been averted. On the other hand, the major concessions from America to Iran highlighted by commentators in the MOU have stipulations deferring them pending further negotiations, like a hundred-dollar bill being pulled by a fishing line. One of the MOU’s major promises, that Israel’s war in South Lebanon is to immediately cease, continues to be flagrantly violated even at the expense of enormous IDF casualties in recent days.

As for planned talks in Switzerland to actualize the terms of the agreement, they are already failing.

It is unclear whether Benjamin Netanyahu, whose post October 7th wars have largely failed to achieve any strategic objectives, will survive electorally, but favorites to replace him like former IDF chief Eisenkot are just as bloodthirsty.

As for Trump, Witkoff and Kushner’s latest “time out” on Iran, they have so far been lulls to recalibrate with the intent of continuing. There’s no reason to believe this time is any different.

[…]

Via https://www.unz.com/estriker/how-multipolarity-forced-trump-to-capitulate-for-now/

Iran delays Swiss meeting, links US talks to MoU implementation amid Israel’s Lebanon strikes

A woman walks past a billboard displaying Iran’s national flag at Enqelab Square in Tehran on 14 June 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Press TV

Talks between Iran and the United States in Switzerland on a recently inked memorandum of understanding (MoU) have been postponed, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says, as Israel keeps up its attacks on Lebanon in violation of the MoU.

The talks were set to take place in Switzerland on Friday under the ‘Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding’ signed between the US and Iran a day ago, after the two sides agreed on a 14-point accord on Monday. Under the deal, Washington and Tehran have agreed on a framework to end the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and negotiate on key issues within 60 days.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Baghaei outlined the procedural roadmap for the next phase of Iran-US talks, emphasizing that “necessary consultations” are already underway through intermediaries.

“Necessary consultations are being conducted through mediators for this purpose. If the required conditions for the start of negotiations are met, an announcement will be made,” he said.

The spokesperson underscored that the MoU sets clear prerequisites for moving toward a comprehensive agreement.

“According to the text of the memorandum of understanding, the commencement of final agreement negotiations is contingent upon the initiation of the implementation of provisions outlined in clauses 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 of the MoU and its continuation,” Baghaei emphasized.

He noted that the scheduled Iran-US talks have been delayed as its original purpose had been largely fulfilled through alternative means.

“One of the main objectives of the Switzerland meeting on Friday was the signing of the text of the memorandum on ending the imposed war,” he said.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, he added, it was also planned that discussions would be held regarding the arrangements for final agreement negotiations.

“Given that the signing of the memorandum of understanding was carried out digitally in the early hours of June 18, holding the meeting in Switzerland is not urgent,” Baghaei explained.

“However, we are planning to hold a meeting in the coming days,” the Iranian spokesperson said.

The 14-point “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” was formally signed by the presidents of both countries early on Thursday, with the text finalized and the agreement officially in effect. It was finalized on Sunday, following months of intensive negotiations mediated by Pakistan, with support from other regional countries.

Under the MoU, the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, should immediately end. Also US needs to lift its illegal naval blockade against Iran. It also provides for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

However, Israel, left out of the peace talks, has distanced itself from the US-Iran MoU and continues attacking residential areas in southern and eastern Lebanon.

Despite a reported ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, which comes into effect at 4:00 pm local time on Friday, new Israeli airstrikes were reported in southern Lebanon at the moment the truce was said to begin.

Israeli strikes targeted vast areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Friday, killing more than 30 people, including women and children. Defending the aggression, Hezbollah forces launched attacks on invading Israeli troops earlier in the day, killing 4 and wounding more than a dozen other Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

[…]

Via https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/19/770749/Iran-US-Switzerland-Baghaei

Israel violently bombs Lebanon minutes after US officials declare ‘new ceasefire’

(Photo credit: X)

The Crade

Israel continued to brutally bombard south Lebanon on the afternoon of 19 June, following the announcement of a ceasefire which was supposed to begin at 4:00 pm.

Strikes continued on Nabatieh and several other areas after the so-called truce was meant to have started.

At least 11 towns and villages were hit, with some being struck by Israeli aerial attacks multiple times.

Earlier, a Gulf diplomat told AFP that Hezbollah and Israel agreed to a ceasefire.

“Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to halt hostilities in a deal mediated by Qatar, the US, and Iran,” the diplomat said. US officials cited by Reuters and other outlets said the same thing.

Hezbollah has yet to officially comment on the truce.

According to Lebanese media outlet Al Jadeed, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has insisted on the need for a clear US statement that includes an Israeli commitment to a ceasefire before Hezbollah announces its position.

Israel’s Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported, citing an Israeli official, that Israel is “currently committed” to the ceasefire.

However, it said the army will maintain its occupation of south Lebanon. It added that Tel Aviv will respond if its occupation forces are targeted by Hezbollah.

“Any Israeli move outside the framework of a comprehensive ceasefire will be met with a response,” a Hezbollah leadership source was cited as saying by Al Jazeera.

As south Lebanon remained under heavy bombardment past 4:00 pm, drone sirens sounded in Zarit, in the Upper Galilee.

A US official cited by Reuters had said Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire starting at 4:00 pm local time.

Lebanon has been under intensified Israeli bombardment over the last 24 hours.

Tel Aviv has expressed major concerns over the new US–Iran agreement and its clause on Lebanon. It is demanding continued freedom of action to strike at will and maintain a presence of occupation forces in the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war minister have vowed that troops will remain in Lebanon.

The intensification of strikes in recent hours follows a Hezbollah resistance operation which killed four Israeli troops in south Lebanon overnight.

At least 47 people in Lebanon have been killed since Thursday evening. Nearly 100 others have been injured.

At least 3,980 people have been killed and 12,011 injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 2 March, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Due to the latest brutal strikes on Lebanon, Iran–US technical negotiations scheduled for Friday in Geneva were postponed.

Iran has repeatedly warned that continued Israeli violations in Lebanon will be met with harsh retaliation.

Earlier this month, Tehran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel in response to a strike on Beirut.

[…]

Via https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-violently-bombs-lebanon-minutes-after-us-officials-declare-new-ceasefire