Emissary Steve Witkoff Discusses Next Steps with Iran and Expansion of the Abraham Accords

June 25, 2025 | Sundance |

Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff deserves a great deal of credit for what followed in the aftermath of President Trump’s final elimination of the Iranian nuclear threat. Throughout the 12-day war,Witkoff maintained a diplomatic connection to the Iranian delegation in order to position a ceasefire upon conclusion.

The Trump administration is now taking a morefirm stance toward who in Iran they will accept negotiations with. As noted by Secretary Rubio, the use of intermediaries has exhausted its usefulness. While Qatar may play a role as an interlocutor to bridge the two sides,the time has come for direct face-to-face discussions with Iranian officials.

With the potential of a peace agreement and increased stability throughout the region,there is an opportunity for an expanded investment and economic zone throughout the middle east, not just in Iran.

As CTH noted regarding the threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, technically it is not the Iranian government who closes the strait, but rather the maritime insurance companies who refuse to underwrite an enlarged risk. The same concept applies when the absence of conflict becomes the norm.Steve Witkoff draws attention to this background context within his remarks.

An ancillary benefit in the Russia-Ukraine conflict comes from a very public display of FAFO outcomes.None of the principle characterswithin NATO, the EU, the U.K nor Ukraine or Russiawant to face the Godzilla FAFO strategy that President Trump is willing to deploy.

The reason why the NATO partners responded with great deference to President Trump in the Netherlands isno global observer wants to face Godzilla in FAFO mode, militarily or economically. Even before the dust settled from 70 tons of massive ordnance detonation deep underground in Iran the leaders of the world knew things would be different now.

How different?We saw the outcome at the Hague.

He flew eight B-2 stealth bombers halfway around the world, undetected into Iran in the middle of the night and dropped 70 tons of high explosive deep underground into hardened nuclear sites, with another ten tons on another upstream site just for good measure…. Then turned them around, brought them home safely and brokered a ceasefire before bed.

Who’s your Daddy?…

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/06/25/emissary-steve-witkoff-discusses-next-steps-with-iran-and-expansion-of-the-abraham-accords/

Watch CNBC's full interview with Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff

10:39

6/26/25

https://youtu.be/NQwaDLmOCq4

26 Jun, 2025 11:14

EU nation to veto new Russia sanctions – PM

Slovakia wants its concerns about Russian energy resolved before voting on the new package of restrictions, Robert Fico has said

Slovakia will block the EU’s 18th sanctions package against Russia unless Brussels resolves its concerns over the planned phase-out of Russian energy, Prime Minister Robert Fico has announced. Although the energy measures are set to be presented as trade legislation – thus needing only a qualified majority for approval – Fico argues that they relate to sanctions and should be treated as such.

The issue stems from the European Commission’s RePowerEU plan, which aims toeliminate all Russian energy imports by 2028. The initiative is due to be discussed at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, alongside the new sanctions package, which mostly targets Russia’s energy and financial sectors. Fico has insisted the measures against Russian energy actually fall under the bloc’s sanctions regime and should be unanimously approved. Fico said Slovakia will request a postponement of the vote and, if denied, will vote against it.

“As for tomorrow’s vote, Slovakia will not vote on the 18th sanctions package,” he stated at a parliamentary committee meeting on Thursday. “We consider it to be one package that includes RePowerEU, and we believe that unless the fundamental issues are resolved, we cannot adopt any further sanctions.”

He warned that the regulation would endanger Slovakia’s energy security and cause price hikes. He also noted thatBrussels has yet to provide answers on how it would compensate for rising gas pricesor handle potential arbitration with Gazprom. Fico warned that if Slovakia breaks its long-term supply contract with the Russian energy giant, it could face up to €20 billion ($23 billion) in penalties.

“Let’s take this seriously. Slovakia has gone from being a country at the beginning of the pipe to a country at the end of the pipe…There may be shortages, prices will go up… RePowerEU is harmful,” he said, calling the initiative “ideological nonsense.”

Hungary has also voiced opposition to the plan. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest and Bratislava had jointly blocked the package when it was discussed at the foreign ministers’ meeting earlier this week,warningthat the proposed phase-out would “destroy Hungary’s energy security” and sharply raise utility costs. He signaled that Hungary also planned to vote against the new sanctions package.

Moscow has repeatedly condemned sanctions as illegal and self-defeating, particularly those targeting energy, noting how energy prices in the EU surged after the initial measures against Russia were imposed in 2022. Commenting on the sanctions debates, Kremlin investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev praised Slovakia and Hungary on X for “doing what Brussels won’t: fighting to keep the EU globally competitive.”

https://www.rt.com/news/620557-slovakia-eu-sanctions-russia-veto/

26 Jun, 2025 08:21

EU must prepare to talk to Russia – Macron

The bloc has no wish to arm itself “endlessly” and should negotiate a new security framework with Moscow, the French president has said

EU member states should consider resuming contact with Moscow, which was severed after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron has told reporters.

According to Macron, despite being fully committed to boosting military capabilities within NATO, the bloc’sEuropean members have no wish to “endlessly” arm themselves and should in the near future negotiate a new security framework with Moscow.

“We are not going to go towards an endless escalation, towards more armament. We must arm ourselves because today there is a gap between our level of armament and that of Russia. And that poses a threat,” Macron stated on Wednesday.

“At the same time, we must think about the security framework in which we want to live tomorrow,” he said. “That’s why we need to rethink [the security architecture] in the territories from the Black Sea to the Arctic, to determine how far we are willing to go to defend ourselves and what would be the terms of the discussion with Russia to make it possible to limit military capabilities and restore trust.”

Macron advised member states to “think about”restoring dialogue with Russia “right now” in order to be able to negotiate broader European security as part of a potential Ukraine peace deal.

Macron made the remarks at the NATO summit in The Hague, where members committed to hiking defense spending to 5% of their GDP annually by 2035 in order to address the alleged “long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security.” US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged European NATO members to take more responsibility for their security and increase defense spending. Commenting on the hike, which one reporter called a “one-man whim,”Macron said it is both Washington’s wish and a “European necessity” to become more independent militarily.

Moscow has stressed that it has no intention of attacking any NATO member states, dismissing the claims as “nonsense” and scare tactics used by Western officials to justify increased defense spending.Asked to disclose what NATO’s warnings of a Russian threatwere based on at the NATO summit, Secretary-GeneralMark Rutte did not provide any specific intelligence assessments, instead citing general fears.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused NATO of “fueling global militarization and an arms race” by fabricating “horror stories” to extract money from citizens of member states.

(Interesting that this occurs just after Trump left Brussels, and it’s coming from Macron that started this whole war and fiasco, that ultimately only harmed the EU. Macron and Boris engineered this war. I think Trump gave him the order to make nice with Russia, because that pushed Zelensky to war.I’m sure Zelensky is not happy, the group picture says it all.)

(https://www.rt.com/news/620552-macron-eu-prepare-talks-russia/

26 Jun, 2025 09:57

Russian region bans Musk’s Starlink

The governor of the Lugansk People’s Republic has branded the satellite system a security threat

The head of Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic has banned all products from Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, including equipment for the Starlink satellite internet system, citing security concerns.

“Starlink technology can be used by the enemy to coordinate its actions, transfer data and deliver strikes on our territory. We cannot afford to ignore this threat,” Leonid Pasechnik said Thursday on social media.

The border region, formerly part of Ukraine, declared independence following the Western-backed 2014 coup in Kiev and later voted to join Russia.

Russian officials have voiced concerns thatStarlink is not a purely civilian technology and could be used for military purposessince before the ongoing crisis.

Musk began supplying Starlink terminals to Ukraine after the conflict escalated in 2022.He claimed the service was resistant to Russian jamming efforts.

Satellite communications via Starlink have enabled Ukrainian forces to weaponizeindustrial-gradedrones that can carry the terminals and be piloted remotely from a large distance.

Musk said back in 2023 that he had rejected a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink over Crimea, which he interpreted as preparation for strikes on the Russian naval base in Sevastopol.

“If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation,” he said at the time.

During the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, Musk faced calls to“put the final nail in the coffin of the Iranian regime”by providing Starlink services “to the Iranian people” – a scenario apparently intended to instigate an uprising.

Musk replied with “the beams are on.” Reza Pahlavi, the son of the pro-Western monarch of Iran ousted by the 1979 revolution who advocates for regime change in Tehran, responded, “Thank you, Elon.”

Subsequently, the US joined Israel in conducting airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. President Donald Trump subsequently urged both nations to agree to a truce.

https://www.rt.com/russia/620558-russian-region-bans-starlink/

26 Jun, 2025 04:45

Mossad thanks CIA for help with Operation Rising Lion

The Israeli spy agency promised to “keep a watchful eye” on Iran

Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency has thanked the CIA for its close cooperation during attacks on Iran, days after a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect.

“I also wish to express my gratitude and appreciation to our key partner – the CIA – for the joint action and the operations that were successfully carried out, as well as to its director, who supported the Mossadin making the right decisions,” Mossad Director David Barnea said in a statement on Wednesday, as quoted by AFP.

Israeli agents reportedly smuggled drones into Iran, which were used to assassinate senior commanders and nuclear scientists as part of Operation Rising Lion, launched on June 13. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks, accompanied by airstrikes across Iran, were aimed at preventing the country from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The US joined the strikes on June 22, targeting three nuclear sites, including an underground uranium enrichment center in Fordow.

“The Iranian threat, which has endangered our security for decades, has been significantly neutralized,” Barnea said. “We will continue to keep a watchful eye on all known Iranian projects – we are intimately familiar with them – and we will be there, just as we have been until now.”

In a separate statement on Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the strikes “severely damaged” Iran’s nuclear program. US media outlets, however, cited an assessment by the Pentagon’s intelligence agency that the attack only managed to delay Iranian nuclear activities by months.

Iran, which denies that it has a military nuclear program, has condemned the attacks as unprovoked and responded by firing missiles at Israeli cities and launching a barrage at the US airbase in Qatar. Tehran also vowed to continue uranium enrichment.

The ceasefire brokered by Washington came into effect on Tuesday and has so far been upheld.

(Sundance and many others have said the CIA works for Israel and are brothers with Mossad, and this article confirms it. If the CIA doesn’t work for the U.S. Ratcliffe will get undermined always. This notice from Israel proves it. It was said Ratcliffe was pissed Mossad was interfering with the CIA and Trumps plans. I’m sure Trump if not happy is saying they own and run the down line CIA.)

(https://www.rt.com/news/620551-mossads-thanks-cia-for-iran/