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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 7th, 2025: Will Trump Strike Iran's Nuclear Program? & Biden Frees Gitmo Prisoners For Resettlement In Oman
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It's Tuesday, 7th January. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First, we'll look at Donald Trump's plans for the Iranian regime, as Israeli officials say that they're confident that the president elect will back an IDF strike on Iran's nuclear facilities or even mount his own preemptive strike when he returns to office. Then the Biden administration has announced the transfer of 11 Yemeni detainees from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to Oman for resettlement, including two prisoners who served as bodyguards for Osama bin Laden. But first, our afternoon spotlight. With just two weeks to go until Donald Trump assumes office, the president elect is setting his sights on Iran, particularly what the US can do to undermine the regime's atomic ambitions. According to an exclusive report from Axios, Israeli officials believe Trump will either support an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities or direct the US Military to launch its own preemptive strike on the sites. The report cites two sources close to Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who met with the President elect at Mar a Lago back in November. Dermer, a close adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu, reportedly came away from the meeting confident that Israel will have a strong strategic partner in Trump when it comes to dealing with the increasing nuclear threat posed by Iran. The revelation comes as leaders in Jerusalem are increasingly considering a strike of their own on Iran's nuclear sites due to ongoing ballistic missile attacks on their cities by the Iranian backed Houthi militants in Yemen. They also feel that the regime in Iran has been significantly weakened due to their proxy war against Israel, and that now may offer an historic opportunity to end the mullah's dreams of a bomb. In an interesting wrinkle, Axios reported that in recent weeks, senior advisers to President Biden had also privately encouraged him to strike Iran's nuclear program before Trump takes office, though others inside the administration reportedly pushed back. With only two weeks now remaining in his term, those discussions have reportedly stopped regarding Trump. It remains unclear what his preferred path forward will be. Despite the speculation regarding a potential strike on Iran, other unnamed sources close to Trump told Axios that that he'll likely attempt to strike a new nuclear agreement with Tehran before turning to possible military options. Trump, the dealmaker, is keen on avoiding further regional escalation in the Middle east, particularly a scenario that could pull in U.S. forces. Just last week, Iran's foreign minister said his country is eager to restart nuclear talks with the US once Trump returns to office as a reminder. In 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the nuclear deal, was reached between Iran, the US and five other world powers. The deal restricted Iran's nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief and extensive UN Oversight. Though Iran was quickly accused of flouting the terms of the deal, not to mention that there were several sites that the Iranian regime insisted be off limits from any monitoring efforts. The US withdrawal from the deal under Trump in 2018 marked a turning point. Sanctions were reimposed as part of a maximum pressure strategy by the then Trump administration, to which Iran responded by stepping back from its commitments, notably increasing uranium enrichment to 60% purity. That's near weapons grade levels, and restricting access to certain nuclear sites, which, frankly, they had already done during the course of the agreement. Now, with their network of proxies crippled by Israel and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, Iran is in a significantly weakened position due to this isolation. Fears are growing among US And Israeli intelligence officials that Iran may pivot to further accelerating their development of a nuclear weapon. French President Emmanuel Macron was the latest to warn about Iran's renewed pursuit of a bomb, saying on Monday that the regime's nuclear program was nearing, quote, the point of no return. Given the stakes, we expect this issue to be front and center when Trump returns to the oval office on January 20. Whether Trump will opt for a military option is, well, frankly, at this point, anyone's guess. But despite his reported desire to avoid escalation, he did warn last month that there's a chance the US could go to war against the mullahs, saying, quote, anything can happen. Coming up, the Biden administration has announced the transfer of 11 Yemeni detainees from the Guantanamo Bay military prison Gitmo to Oman for resettlement, including two prisoners who served as bodyguards for Osama bin Laden. We'll discuss that story when we return. I'll be right back.
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Hey, it's Tucker Carlson. We are proud to provide a venue for Oliver Stone's son Sean, who's a friend of ours and also a filmmaker, his latest documentary series called all the President's Men. It's a multi part series in which he explains in vivid detail how the First Trump administration, 2016-2020, was subverted from the very first day by the deep state who picked off one by one members of the then president's inner circle. And some of them are still on the scene. You will see in depth interviews with, for example, Cash Patel, who was the incoming president's new FBI director, with Mike Flynn and many other people, you know, whose whole stories you may not have heard before. It's an amazing series. All the President's Men by Sean Stone playing right now ontucker carlson.com we're proud to have it. We think you'll like it.
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Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. The Pentagon announced on Monday the transfer of 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay, including former bodyguards of Osama bin Laden, to Oman as part of the Biden administration's effort to reduce the detainee population to eventually close the detention facility. The detainees were captured in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks and have been held for over two decades without charges, according to the New York Post. Among them is Ahmed Alwi, an alleged al Qaeda fighter who served as part of bin Laden's security detail in Afghanistan. A 2016 declassified document described him as maintaining a, quote, extremist mindset. Another detainee also linked to al Qaeda and reportedly bin Laden's bodyguard may have been associated with the aborted 911 style hijacking in Southwest Asia led by Al Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Now, notably, all 11 detainees had been cleared for transfer by federal National Security Review panels. The transfer was shrouded in secrecy, executed in the pre dawn hours and comes days before Muhammad or KSM, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 attacks. And of course, Guantanamo's most notorious prisoner, is expected to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, thus avoiding a death penalty trial. The plea deal, which also includes two co conspirators, has been met with fierce criticism from Republican lawmakers And the families of 911 victims who see it as a miscarriage of justice. Well, they're possibly not wrong. It's important to note that efforts to execute this transfer began three years ago with an initial transfer set for October of 2023. But that plan was aborted due to congressional opposition. The Defense Department expressed gratitude to Oman for agreeing to resettle the detainees, stating quote, the United States appreciates the willingness of the government of Oman to and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility. Authorities have not disclosed why Oman was chosen or what the US gave the host country, but the nation is recognized as a stable US ally in the Middle East. According to the New York Times, the US typically provides host countries with financial support for housing, education, rehabilitation and monitoring of the activities of former detainees. This transfer leaves Guantanamo bay with just 15 detainees, six who have never been charged, two convicted prisoners and seven others facing charges in high profile terrorism cases including the 911 attacks, the USS Cole bombing and the 2002 Bali bombings. In its final two weeks, the Biden administration's push declare Guantanamo Bay of uncharged detainees has now resulted in the lowest prisoner count since the detention center was opened in 2002. Of course, the center Gitmo, as it's commonly called, has faced widespread criticism over the years for holding individuals indefinitely without trial. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday 7th January. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@thefirst tv.com of course to listen to the show ad free. Well, it is simple. Become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay co.