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A
You are listening to an art media podcast.
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It's Thursday, june 18th. This episode was recorded at 6:00pm new york time on Wednesday. I'm deborah pardes and this is arc news daily. The full text of the Iran Memorandum of Understanding was found finally released yesterday and after weeks of speculation, we now know exactly what the United States and Iran have agreed to and what they've left for later. The MoU covers 14 points. It spells out provisions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, easing financial restrictions on Iran, and sets expectations for what the two sides will negotiate over the next 60 days. It confirms what many feared Iran gets most of what it wanted right away. The MOU commits both sides to restoring shipping in the Strait to pre war levels within 30 days. The US will lift its naval blockade immediately and allow Iran to sell oil again. Iran will clear mines. The White House framed this as a win, but critics call it a win for Iran. They get immediate relief from their economic crisis and the US loses a key piece of leverage over them. The MoU says the US will release Iran's frozen funds upon signing. That would give him access to about $24 billion almost immediately. Full sanctions relief are supposed to come later on is scheduled to be negotiated in the final deal on the nuclear question, the MoU says that Iran, quote, reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. Iran has been saying that for decades. The MOU doesn't add anything new to that commitment. Iran currently holds about 1,000 pounds of enriched uranium purified to 60%, which is most of the way to weapons grade. If finished, that's enough for about 10 bombs. The deal says that stockpile will be diluted inside Iran, but the details of how, when and under what verification, all of that is left to the next round of talks. And that's the pattern throughout the document. The harder questions are all Deferred to the 60 day negotiating window, including dismantling, killing Iran's nuclear sites, limiting its missiles and ending its support for groups like Hezbollah. The 60 day window also includes what will happen in Lebanon. Article 1 of the MoU declares an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. But what that means in practice is already contested. Netanyahu told Trump that Israel does not consider itself bound by the Lebanon clause and that the IDF will stay in its current positions on Tuesday, Hezbollah also that Iran privately promised it won't sign any final nuclear deal until Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon, effectively turning the 60 day talks into leverage for a demand that has nothing to do with nuclear weapons. Trump said yesterday that the MOU is a great deal. But he also said it's not a final agreement, it's a memorandum of understanding.
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And if I don't like it, if they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head.
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The 60 day window is supposed to start immediately after the official signing. That's a short timeline, especially when compared to the previous drawn out negotiations with Iran. Yesterday we covered Israel's concerns about this agreement, but many of Trump's own supporters can't bring themselves to defend it either. Before the actual text even came out, pro Israel conservatives have been demanding to see what the MOU actually said. They'd been frustrated as much by what had been reported as the secrecy around it. And now that it's out, many are officially calling it a bad deal. Conservative commentator and former Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy told Fox News he couldn't believe it.
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I thought somebody was spoofing me when I saw it because I see what we're giving up. Do you really think Iran has abandoned its nuclear ambition? Do you believe them? What are they going to do with the oil revenue? You think they're going to build schools?
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One person close to the White House told NBC News they see the whole thing as a, quote, low grade humiliation for the President. Another predicted that the hawks who pushed hardest for the war will now turn on Vance because they don't want to turn on Trump directly. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who has been a strong Trump supporter, also said he wasn't happy with the agreement.
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This MOU appears to be, just from the text, a disaster that does not achieve any of the actual signal goals that were set by the administration at the beginning.
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Among the main concerns are the economic concessions to Iran, which many fear will allow it to rebuild its missile systems and proxy networks, and also how little trust there is that Iran will stick to its agreements on the nuclear program. CIA Director John Radcliffe reportedly warned Trump about that directly. He said that US Intelligence has serious doubts about Iran's willingness to make nuclear concessions. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing for congressional approval of the MOU. A 2015 law called the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review act requires any nuclear deal with Iran to be submitted to Congress within five days. The Jewish Institute for National Security of America published an analysis on this issue yesterday. It said that even if Congress votes down the mou, it's probably unstoppable. The President can veto their vote, and it's unlikely that we'd see a 2/3 supermarket majority in both chambers to override that. But it also said that a review itself would be valuable as it would force a public debate and put members on record. This Sunday, the Jewish Food Society is bringing back the Great Nosh. It'll happen on Governor's island in New York. Organizers describe it as an epic picnic. It's a five hour outdoor festival celebrating Jewish food and culture and also the creativity in the New York culinary world. The festival is centered around a series of chef collaborations between Jewish restaurants and non Jewish ones to create new dishes. Katz's Deli partnered with Santo Taco to create a pastrami Taco. Russ and Daughters partnered with Bonnie's, a Chinese restaurant in Williamsburg, for a daikon radish cake with lox. There are 15 collaborations in total, along with a demo tent showcasing Jewish Diaspora food where guests can see how family recipes are made. There's a live podcast taping art activities from the Jewish Museum and a dance party to close out the day. Amanda Dell is the program director of the Jewish Food Society. She says the Great Nash is a celebration of Jewish culture and heritage and also a rebrand of what a Jewish event can be.
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It's fresh, it's seasonal, it's outside, it's joyous, it's the entire city showing up. Of course we want to celebrate Jewish pride, but we invite the entire city to come and enjoy. We roll out the red carpet for everyone, she said.
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Last year's inaugural event was so popular they've doubled capacity this year to 5,000 guests. Tickets are almost sold out, but for the ARK community, use the code ARK for a special gift. When you arrive, a link is in the show Notes. I'm Deborah Pardes and this is Ark News Daily. See you tomorrow.
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Hi, I'm Dan Senor, host of the Call Me Back podcast. These past few years have asked a lot of the Jewish world. We've been wrestling with pain, disagreement and dilemmas. The war in Gaza, the war with Iran, the pressure on Jewish communities in diaspora societies, and the upcoming Israeli elections, which may bring many of these tensions to a head. These are not simple stories, and in a moment filled with bad information and overly simplistic answers, it can be hard to know who to trust. At Call Me Back, we know that trust has to be earned and we know your time is valuable, so when you spend it with us, we take that seriously. We don't claim to have all the answers, but we do try to ask better questions with honesty and humility. It may be that is where hope begins, not in pretending this moment is simple but in believing, at a minimum, we must face it together. You can find Call me back on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. See you there.