Publication day for "Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life"! Thanks to all who have helped it come together. It's available everywhere for purchase or download.

A disgrace.

The deal taking shape with Iran is significantly worse than the JCPOA. I don't say that lightly. Here is why: 1) The JCPOA was one comprehensive, binding agreement. This is a two-stage interim framework. End the war now, then 60 days of nuclear talks. We are trading hard limits for a promise to keep talking. 2) Missiles and proxies are gone. The leaked 14-point MOU (Mehr, IRNA) keeps Iran's missile program and its support for Hezbollah off the agenda entirely. The standing critique of the JCPOA was that it left those out. This deal does the same and calls it progress. 3) No handover of enriched uranium. Under the JCPOA Iran shipped almost its entire stockpile out of the country. Here Iran keeps roughly 400 kg of 60% material. Its fate is punted into the 60-day window. That is a moratorium, not a rollback. 4) The enrichment pause is unsettled. Trump wants 20 years. Iran floated 5 (CNN). The JCPOA locked in 15 years of caps with IAEA cameras and 24-day inspection access. We have none of that on paper yet. 5) We pay up front. Oil sanctions lifted. Around $24 to $25 billion in frozen assets released, part of it immediately. Reconstruction figures up to $300 billion floated in Iranian press. In return Iran gives an interim ceasefire and a promise. 6) Hormuz reopens on Iran's terms. Araghchi says the strait will not return to how it ran before the war. Service fees, Iranian arrangements. This war handed Iran more leverage over the strait, not less. We went to war and may walk away with less than Obama got in 2015. Caveat: these terms come from leaks and Iranian media. Nothing is signed. But if it signs as described, it is the weaker deal.

True. But reflecting back, none of that would have been possible without Israel for years *directly* facilitating tens of millions of $ in monthly protection payments to Hamas and the not-so-tacit policy that Smotrich articulated so well - “Hamas is an asset.” @afalkhatib

Trump told Iran’s repressed democracy activists that “help is on the way.” Then he started a war that fortified the IRGC and hardliners. Now he is prepared to release billions in Iranian assets to strengthen the regime further — and he deports a female Iranian rights activist to a war-ravaged African country.

I have fought the neocons and warmongers in Washington for more than 25 years. Throughout, they have tried to silence, discredit, slander, and cancel me. Only recently, however, have they tried to deport me. At least, that appears to have been the aim of a hit piece in Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, which claimed that Marco Rubio’s State Department was “investigating” me for allegedly seeking to “undermine the U.S.”—presumably because of my opposition to war with Iran. Yet just hours later, the State Department issued a statement to reporters clarifying that “the State Department has no plans to revoke the green card of Mr. Parsi at this time.” Nor did it provide any confirmation for the central premise of the Free Press story—that an investigation of me existed in the first place. So here’s what I think happened. Read the full piece on my Substack: tritaparsi.substack.com/p/so…

The difference in production costs between a dozen cage-free eggs and a dozen normal eggs is 19 cents. But the cage-free eggs can cost nearly $2 more. Big supermarkets use cage-free as a price discrimination tool - targeting them to richer customers who are willing to pay more. Poorer customers, even if they care a lot about animal welfare, end up buying the normal eggs. But when states pass laws banning caged eggs, the markup disappears.

A damning chart: The US cuts off food aid to majority Muslim countries.

With Trump distracted by his war of choice with Iran, his peace plan for Gaza is going nowhere. Israel keeps seizing more land and now controls 64% of the territory, packing Palestinians into a smaller area with abysmal conditions. trib.al/chXSzkE

RT @Rob_Malley: From @tparsi Substack: « After decades of failed wars, trillions of dollars squandered, hundreds of thousands of lives los…

The US, Israel and Iran have all bumbled through this war and missed opportunities, but Pakistan deserves great credit for consistently working very hard as an intermediary for peace between capricious and obdurate enemies. Bravo, @CMShehbaz and COAS Munir.

Very interesting look at the rise of The Bulwark since its founding in 2018 for Never Trumpers, and its continued growth through newsletters and podcasts and live events. We in MSM can learn plenty from the rise of these online sites.

Horrifying story of how Jeffrey Epstein obtained "work-release" from his Florida jail to go to his office each day and sexually exploited women there, while he was nominally incarcerated. Another reminder that we don't take sex trafficking seriously. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/eps…

This is a stark failure of the U.S.-led war. To reopen the strait that was open before the war, Iran gets a huge payout — clearly with U.S. approval. And Gulf states’ confidence in U.S. guarantees has declined to the point they feel the need to repair their relations with Iran - after it attacked them.

The flight has taken off now. These women, as well as Afghans and others who can't be deported to their home country (in some cases because they proved they would be persecuted if deported) are on their way to be dumped in the Central African Republic. x.com/ICEFlightM/status/2065…

"The UN is a cautious institution." Its listing of Israel for its systematic use of sexual violence "was not made on a whim." Now the task is to hold Israeli officials accountable. International justice is needed to end the domestic impunity. trib.al/4KpJOpB

“Dear migrants, before I say any other word to you, I want to bow before your dignity. “You are not numbers or case files. “You are people — with a family and a home left behind, with dreams that no one has the right to scorn.” — Pope Leo XIV

This year’s farm bill reflects something of a revolution—so many voices, on left and right alike, saying we shouldn’t torture pigs. Good to see faith leaders stepping up in a big way to join this effort.

A deeply disturbing development — #China govt’s use of #arbitrarydetention is so widespread some @UN bodies have alleged it constitutes #crimesagainsthumanity. And on a #nationalsecurity charge…

Obviously have to wait and see actual details of any deal but if it's anything close to this it is no wonder Trump has been so reluctant to agree to it. -Iran has made pledge not to acquire nuclear weapons many times, including in the JCPOA. -The Strait was already open without tolls before the war. -Iran was already negotiating over HEU and centrifuges before the war. -Unfrozen assets and licenses to sell oil, even if initially limited, will provide regime revenue it didn't have before the war. --The only way to get agreement on the nuclear issues will be to provide (significantly) more economic relief. -The deal does not address ballistic missiles or proxies--for which the JCPOA was heavily criticized. -In fact it depends on Israel *not* attacking Hezbollah. -Nor does it free American detainees (which was at least a meaningful tradeoff for the "pallets of cash" that were in any case a fraction of the economic relief Trump will give Iran.) -Far from helping Iranian protestors, as Trump pledged, the deal leaves them in an impoverished country and in the hands of a vengeful and repressive regime. These are not reasons to oppose a deal that would provide a chance to end the war and open the Strait but they underscore how badly the war has backfired and explain why Trump has been so hesitant to end it on these terms.

Iran’s Mehr news agency publishes the purported text of the draft agreement with Trump. It will keep the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian control, will promise Iran $300 billion in reconstruction money in addition to an immediate cash transfer of $24 billion, a suspension of sanctions and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Middle East. Also, a commitment not to bother Iran again about its missiles and proxies, and restraining Israel in Lebanon. The U.S. gets in exchange a pinky promise to respect the NPT. Let’s see what happens in coming days. Link: mehrnews.com/news/6857718 Full text: A permanent and immediate cessation of war on all fronts, including Lebanon. A U.S. commitment not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs and to respect the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Full lifting of the naval blockade within 30 days. A U.S. commitment to withdraw its forces from areas surrounding Iran. Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days under arrangements determined by Iran. Suspension of sanctions on the sale of oil, petrochemical products, and related derivatives, along with full Iranian access to the resulting financial revenues. The United States and its allies would be required to present reconstruction plans for Iran worth at least $300 billion. A 60-day negotiation period aimed at reaching a final agreement covering nuclear issues and the complete removal of U.S. primary and secondary sanctions, as well as the repeal of relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors. Reaffirmation by Iran of its commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) not to produce nuclear weapons. During the negotiation period, the United States would commit not to deploy additional forces to the region and not to impose any new sanctions. The release of $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets during the 60-day final negotiation period. Half of this amount must be made available to Iran before negotiations begin. Establishment of a monitoring mechanism to oversee implementation of the agreement. The final agreement would be approved through a UN Security Council resolution. Final negotiations would not begin before the release of half of Iran’s frozen assets, the suspension of oil sanctions, and the lifting of the naval blockade. The final agreement would focus exclusively on the future of enriched nuclear material and uranium enrichment, sanctions relief, and a program for rebuilding Iran’s economy. Discussion of Iran’s missile program and its support for resistance groups would be definitively excluded from the agenda. As stated by the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, this text still requires review and final approval by the relevant authorities in Iran.