Trump signs deal that Iran labels ‘a record of US failure’ | First Thing
President hails ‘major win’ for US as he attempts to exit war having failed to achieve regime change in Tehran. Plus: an investigation into the murky world of OnlyFans ‘managers’
Good morning.
Donald Trump has signed a 14-point agreement with Iran, claiming it delivered a “major win” for the US – even as it made significant political and financial concessions to Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and prevent a “worldwide depression”.
In extraordinary remarks, Trump went from threatening Iran with a new wave of attacks to suggesting the country had basic rights to enrich uranium for civilian use, that he would not pressure Tehran to abandon its ballistic missiles program and the US was “going to have to give back” billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets.
In this analysis piece, Andrew Roth notes how the US entered the war with maximalist goals but exits it with a pragmatic decision to end conflict despite the political cost. Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said: “The agreement is a record of US failure. People will see it and judge.”
How have US Republicans reacted to the deal? Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Trump ally, appeared to soften his view of the deal after a “very lengthy and productive” conversation with the US special envoy Steve Witkoff. But his fellow senator Ted Cruz, who has backed the war, said: “History teaches that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is not a good idea. I think the president is receiving some very poor advice on this deal.” And Senator Bill Cassidy declared: “Reagan is rolling over in his grave.”
Russian oil refinery on fire after barrage of Ukrainian drones strike Moscow
Ukrainian drones have hit several locations across Moscow, including setting an oil refinery on fire, sending out towering plumes of smoke and forcing the capital’s airports to suspend flights.
The scale of the long-range attack, apparently designed to shut down operations at the key oil refinery in the Kapotno area, caught most Muscovites by surprise in a city that does not typically warn residents with air raid alarms, and prompted panicked messages on social media.
Why is Ukraine newly concerned about Belarus? Russian spy drones flying into Ukraine from Belarusian airspace have sharply increased since the beginning of the year, leading to Kyiv reinforcing fortifications on its northern border. What concerns Ukrainian and European officials is that Moscow appears to be attempting to integrate Minsk ever more closely into its war efforts, including through joint nuclear exercises earlier this year.
Trump administration seeks to halt first US reparations program for Black people
The Trump administration has joined a lawsuit attempting to stop a first-of-its-kind reparations plan that would compensate Black residents of a Chicago suburb, arguing that its race-based criteria are unconstitutional.
The program, in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, offers Black residents and their descendants up to $25,000 for past raced-based housing discrimination. When the city’s program was approved in 2021, it was hailed as a model for reparations movements across the US.
How has the program responded? Robin Rue Simmons, who spearheaded Evanston’s reparations program, said: “This lawsuit is designed to intimidate and discourage other communities that are beginning their process of reparations. [It is an] attack on the revived hope that Black communities have felt having a path, through a hyperlocal process, to reparations.”
In other news …
A blaze engulfed the roof of a 500,000 sq ft warehouse in LA, sending clouds of dark smoke and ammonia into the sky above Boyle Heights.
Harvard University and Bard College are facing new questions about their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein amid allegations he leveraged his ties to the universities and their faculty to traffic women.
The Federal Trade Commission is suing the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in the latest Trump administration push to limit gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
LA’s political leaders are backing an investigation into the police killing of a two-year-old dog after being called to a celebration of the Knicks’ NBA victory.
The Taliban has ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials, with video showing devices being destroyed.
Stat of the day: a digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific knowledge is in peril
The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is under threat after Trump administration budget cuts affected the Smithsonian Institution.
The Filter Recommends: are Caraway’s trendy nontoxic cookware tools actually worth it – or are there better options?
Caraway’s nonstick ceramic-coated pots and pans are undoubtedly popular, but Emily Farris discovers there’s a better, more durable and cheaper version of nearly everything they make.
Don’t miss this: ‘It’s exploiting. It’s grooming. It’s predatory’ – the malignant rise of OnlyFans managers
“The lonelier men get, the more money I make. And men have never been lonelier than right now” is one of the striking quotes in this Amelia Gentleman investigation into the middlemen who encourage young women into making OnlyFans content, then take a large cut of their earnings.
… or this: The unproven autism treatment taking off under RFK Jr
Parents of children with autism are turning to a controversial stem cell treatment that is backed by the US health secretary. In this podcast, the Guardian US chief reporter, Ed Pilkington, talks about his months-long investigation into the providers of these treatments.
Climate check: We are told the natural world is ‘breaking down’. But can ecosystems ‘malfunction’?
In a fascinating essay, John Drake explores the way we think about the natural world, and concludes there is a problem with our way of thinking: ecosystems don’t exist to perform goals, so why do we keep thinking they have functions they could fail to perform?
Last Thing: Solstice-aligned 5,000-year-old monument ‘once in a lifetime find’, say archaeologists
A 5,000-year-old monument that was aligned with the summer and winter solstices and may have served as a prototype for the later solar alignment at Stonehenge in England has been discovered close to the famous neolithic site, in what archaeologists have described as a “once in a lifetime” find.
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