The truth is not to be found on Truth Social. Today Trump’s response to the Iranian proposal is not truly reflecting historical fact about monies refunded to Tehran by Obama. Trump merely repeats a Republican lie regularly promoted since his first term as President.
US payment of $1.7 billion to Iran made entirely in cash
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration acknowledged late Tuesday that its transfer of $1.7 billion to Iran earlier this year was made entirely in cash, using non-U.S. currency, as Republican critics of the transaction continued to denounce the payments.
Treasury Department spokeswoman Dawn Selak said in a statement the cash payments were necessary because of the “effectiveness of U.S. and international sanctions,” which isolated Iran from the international finance system.
The $1.7 billion was the settlement of a decades-old arbitration claim between the U.S. and Iran. An initial $400 million of euros, Swiss francs and other foreign currency was delivered on pallets Jan. 17, the same day Tehran agreed to release four American prisoners.
The Obama administration had claimed the events were separate, but recently acknowledged the cash was used as leverage until the Americans were allowed to leave Iran. The remaining $1.3 billion represented estimated interest on the Iranian cash the U.S. had held since the 1970s. The administration had previously declined to say if the interest was delivered to Iran in physical cash, as with the principal, or via a more regular banking mechanism.
Earlier Tuesday, officials from the State, Justice and Treasury departments held a closed-door briefing for congressional staff on the payments, according to a Capitol Hill aide familiar with the session. The officials said the $1.3 billion was paid in cash on Jan. 22 and Feb. 5. The aide was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The money came from a little-known fund administered by the Treasury Department for settling litigation claims. The so-called Judgment Fund is taxpayer money Congress has permanently approved in the event it’s needed, allowing the president to bypass direct congressional approval to make a settlement. The U.S. previously paid out $278 million in Iran-related claims by using the fund in 1991.
The Brookings Institute gives an in depth historical account, here is an extract:
Why did the United States pay Iran?
In the 1960s and 1970s, Iran was the largest partner of the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program. As an Obama administration official explained earlier this year, “As part of the FMS Program, a Trust Fund was established with Iranian funds to pay U.S. contractors as work progressed on the various contracts.” In February 1979, days before the culmination of Iran’s revolution, the United States and Iran agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that halted these payments and voided many of the remaining purchases. The MoU also called for Iran’s unexpended FMS funds to be placed in an interest-bearing account.
Later that year, after Iran’s seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the detention of the American diplomats, the Carter administration froze all Iranian assets in the United States. The standoff was resolved nearly 15 months later, with an agreement that freed the hostages and established the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal to resolve the labyrinth of financial and commercial disputes that had emerged.
In 1982, Iran filed a claim with the Tribunal pertaining to the FMS Trust Fund, which Lisa Grosh, Assistant Legal Advisor at the Department of State, has described as “a multi-billion dollar breach-of-contract dispute covering 1,126 huge military sales contracts.”
Grosh stated that the two sides engaged in some 40 rounds of negotiations “at this level” over several decades. Iran ramped up efforts to adjudicate the claim in 2015, asking the Tribunal to schedule comprehensive hearings on the outstanding FMS claims and requesting a preliminary ruling. The FMS Trust Fund amounted to $600 million until the George H. W. Bush administration returned $200 million to Iran in a partial settlement in 1990.
Who paid who? And how?
The settlement announced in January involved two parts: return of the $400 million principal and payment of $1.3 billion in interest.
To return the principal, the Treasury, working with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, made a $400 million wire transfer from DFAS to the Swiss National Bank. The $400 million was then converted into Swiss francs and withdrawn in franc banknotes, which were transferred to Geneva. On January 17, the banknotes were disbursed to an official from the Central Bank of Iran.
The interest was paid from the Judgment Fund, which pays “court judgments and Justice Department compromise settlements of actual or imminent lawsuits against the government.” For a payment to be made by the Judgment Fund, Treasury must receive confirmation from the Attorney General that the settlement is in the United States’ best interests. According to Mary McCord, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division at the Department of Justice, “[a]ssessment of a settlement payment from the Judgment Fund includes consideration of the exposure that the United States faces from the claim proposed for settlement, … likelihood of an adverse ruling against the United States, the likely size of such an award, the background of the litigation, the tribunal, relevant legal arguments, relevant facts and governing legal doctrines.”
Since the Judgment Fund does not allow the processing of individual claims of amounts over ten digits, the agreed upon interest—$1.3 billion—was split into 13 claims of $99,999,999.99 and one claim of the remaining $10,390,236.28. These amounts were transferred from the Judgment Fund to the Dutch National Bank, where they were converted into euros and withdrawn in euro banknotes. The Dutch bank then disbursed the notes to a representative from the Central Bank of Iran.
Why was interest paid?
The 1979 MoU stipulated that the unexpended funds would be placed in an interest-bearing account. As it turns out, these funds were not based in such an account—no U.S. administration implemented that requirement. The reasons for this are not clear. Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman, who testified on this issue before the Senate, noted that the United States “does not let [FMS accounts] accrue interest.”
Still, most if not all other claims before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal have incorporated compensation for accrued interest. This is consistent with the position adopted by the Treasury Department at the outset of the 1979 assets freeze, although in nearly every case the amount of the interest to be paid has been subject to some haggling between Washington and Tehran.
Obama administration officials maintain that a Tribunal decision may have resulted in a much larger judgment on the issue of accrued interest.
Simultaneously, the cyber domain has become a primary vector for Iranian strategic retaliation. State-aligned threat actors, notably the “Handala Hack” collective and “MuddyWater,” have executed destructive data-wiping attacks against commercial entities and critical infrastructure.
In a direct psychological operation dubbed “Operation Premature Death,” Handala Hack doxxed 400 United States Navy officers. Concurrently, other Iranian intelligence-linked actors exfiltrated and published highly sensitive personal data on over 2,300 American service members stationed in the Persian Gulf. This massive force protection failure included the public release of home addresses, family details, and daily activity logs.
Iranian cyber doctrine has clearly shifted from simple website disruption (DDoS attacks) toward advanced persistent threat (APT) behavior. Attackers are now utilizing “living-off-the-land” techniques—leveraging legitimate administrative tools already present within a network’s cloud environments and operational technology to bypass traditional, signature-based security detections. They have also deployed ransomware, such as the Brain Cipher variant which utilizes military-grade AES-256 encryption. However, these deployments are not for financial extortion, but for systemic data destruction.
Handala hacker group leaks names of 400 US Navy officers in what it calls ‘Operation Premature Death’ —— The cyber resistance group Handala announced the successful breach and exposure of 400 senior US Navy officers currently deployed in the Persian Gulf as part of “Operation Premature Death.” The group published a detailed list including ranks and operational units, claiming their “shadows” are monitoring every movement within the US fleet. Handala stated that a direct alert was sent to the secure phones of these officers, warning them that “the sea is no longer safe” for those choosing the path of aggression in West Asia. The statement emphasized a complete breakdown of US operational security, quoting, “This is proof that our eyes remain wide open and ever vigilant in the heart of your fleet.” Handala framed the leak as a final warning to the US and its regional allies, asserting that no base or alliance can shield them from retribution. The group concluded the message with a promise of “death and destruction,” declaring that the “executioner of justice and vengeance is closer than ever.”
Stryker devices wiped, the email of the FBI boss Kash Patel breached, and now, personal details of thousands of US Marines leaked. The Iranian hacking group Handala clearly doesn’t care about any ceasefire between the US and Iran, as fragile as the agreement is.
Last week, US Marines stationed around the Persian Gulf began receiving WhatsApp messages from strangers suggesting they call home and make their final goodbyes.
One of the messages, for instance, reads: “Your identities are fully known to our missile units, and every move you make is under our surveillance. Very soon, you will be targeted by our Shahed drones and Kheibar and Ghadeer missiles. We suggest you call your families now and say your final goodbyes.”
This flurry of threats came from Handala, the Iranian hacking group that calls them “rapid signal alerts.”
Firing of 130 CISA staff worries cybersecurity industry
News
Feb 21, 2025
‘It’s like you can see the iceberg and you decide to speed the Titanic up,’ said one cybersecurity professional.
The firing of upwards of 130 cybersecurity professionals at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a disaster for the US, but also for many of its allies that count on close collaboration, a security expert said Thursday.
David Shipley, CEO of Beauceron Security, said he “struggles to think of another government agency that has built so much credibility and goodwill and respect across the private sector as what CISA has done. [The dismissals] are wholly undeserved, foolhardy and it’s like you can see the iceberg and you decide to speed the Titanic up. That seems like a bad thing to me.”
He added that the cuts orchestrated by Elon Musk’s US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) “will raise questions of and put further strains on alliances. How much trusted information sharing will allies be willing to do with CISA going forward?”
Shipley said, “everything that I’ve heard from the national security and intelligence community has thus far been mostly that the trusted relationships at the staffing level endure despite the political noise. As a Canadian, I am seeing an unprecedented level of political noise, and leaning on that reassurance that ‘don’t worry, the people that keep the lights on still keep the lights on.’ [Now] I am watching those people lose their jobs.”
The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2015 expired on September 30, 2025, which means the legal protections for sharing cybersecurity information between the private sector and the government are no longer in effect. This lapse creates uncertainty around cybersecurity information sharing practices. mayerbrown.com Wikipedia
White Supremacy should be dead, yet those who would try to revive it symbolise the wild writhing of the concept in its death throes. White Supremacy will not persist as dehumanisation and disrespect of our fellow humans is no longer acceptable to evolved humans.
Musk, Thiel and the shadow of apartheid South Africa
The parallels between South Africa then and the US today are striking
Justin Jamal Pearson is an American activist and politician. He is a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing the 86th district, covering parts of the city of Memphis.
Brother of Rep. Justin Pearson among protesters reportedly detained during special session at TN Capitol
Pearson posted videos on Facebook saying his brother was removed from the House chamber before being taken into a law enforcement van to be booked by officers in Nashville.
‘Political lynching’: TN Rep. Justin J. Pearson responds as congressional maps passes
Vivian Nguyen
Thu, May 7, 2026 at 11:20 PM GMT+1
0
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — State Representative Justin J. Pearson said the passing of the map of redrawn congressional districts is a “political lynching” that has set Tennessee back over 150 years.
State Rep. Justin J. Pearson said the following in a response:
“Today’s vote to redraw the congressional districts in Tennessee set our state back over 150 years. It was a political lynching that violated the rights of every Tennesseean. This racist and reckless action was also an attack on Black political power that should appall everyone in the state, whether you are Black or not, a voter or not, live in Memphis or not, or are a Democrat or not. This injurious legislation has made it harder to tackle the urgent challenges that impact working families who are grappling with skyrocketing gas, food, housing and health care costs while their wages and job prospects remain stagnant.
“The authoritarianism that has taken over Tennessee and other state houses across our country not only is a threat to democracy, it drains resources that are better used to improve the quality of life for marginalized communities and increase civic education and engagement. Instead, Tennessee has become the model for abuse of power in the name of racism and political ideology. But we are not powerless.
“We will organize, mobilize and activate People Power across Tennessee, the South and the country to include more voices rather than shut people out as republicans do. We will out-organize despair and out-mobilize racist maps to overcome political malpractice. I am proud of and grateful to everyone who traveled to Nashville and the capitol building to show what People Power and democracy look like. These angelic dissenters are the conscience of America. They are the guardians of America’s soul and the backbone of what truly makes her great. This is not over. We will fight and will not stop until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
This comes after Gov. Bill Lee, the State Senate, and the House passed the new proposed congressional map, redrawing district lines on Wednesday.
Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images and Supreme Court of the United States.
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There is something deeply incongruous about the formal letterhead Chief Justice John Roberts used to lobby his colleagues against President Barack Obama’s signature climate policy. On Saturday, the New York Times published this document as part of a report on a stunning set of leaked internal memos from 2016 that effectively launched the Supreme Court’s modern shadow docket. At first glance, the documents look like a legitimate judicial product. A “Memorandum to the Conference” from the “Chambers of the Chief Justice” certainly appears as if it might have been penned by a judge doing law. But these trappings of formality cannot elevate Roberts’ partisan efforts into a principled judging. The substance of his arguments, as Georgetown Law professor Steve Vladeck has carefully explained, is riddled with errors and oversights, and it appears to be cheap ornamentation gilding a petty vendetta against the Obama administration. And yet, in a time before the current conservative supermajority took hold, the chief’s views carried the day, leading SCOTUS to issue an unprecedented 5–4 stay against the climate plan. And the shadow docket, as we know it today, was born.
They will put medals on television. They will speak about sacrifice, history, glory, memory, the defeat of Nazism, the greatness of their country.
And here in Ukraine, we listen for air alerts.
That is the whole obscenity of it.
A country that came to destroy us will stand in public and pretend to honor the defeat of evil.
The dictator who bombs Ukrainian cities will speak about liberation.
The same madness that sends missiles into homes, hospitals, schools, railway stations, power plants, and sleeping neighborhoods will tell the world it understands what victory means.
This project of evil called Russia does not understand victory.
It only knows the sadistic pleasure of seeing someone kneel and calling that peace.
For so many years they have tried to make this date look sacred by making real grief serve a project of power.
They turned the dead of the Second World War into permission for new graves.
Russians are celebrating victory from eighty years ago because they have nothing left to celebrate from this one.
They know that.
And I need to say this from Ukraine, because my life has been interrupted by the country that dares to call itself victorious.
For four years now, I do not have a life. I have a hope of a life. I have a plan of survival.
I have one ordinary morning waiting somewhere in the future when my first thought is not war.
Russia took that morning from millions of people and still walks into the calendar to celebrate itself.
This is not history. It is happening now.
It is happening while Ukrainian families are still burying people.
While soldiers are dying in trenches at this very hour. While children in this country know the sound of drones before they know the sound of peaceful childhood.
I have spent more than four years choosing love over hate in everything I write, but today I will not choose it.
I want to tell this clearly, because I have earned the right to say it:
I hate the country that did this to mine.
Completely.
I hate what it has shown me about what a people can become.
I hate that it took so many in the world years of war to understand how rotten a nation can be while still calling itself great.
How a country can lose its soul before it loses a war.
Russia did.
Every missile they launch proves it. Every stolen child, every ruined village.
Russian mothers are told to be proud of sons sent to kill people who never attacked them.
They were swallowing this lie for so long that they no longer remember what victory is supposed to mean.
And now even their parade carries the smell of fear.
No tanks on Red Square this year. Security everywhere. Signals blocked.
The man who promised to take Kyiv in three days is afraid of its own holiday, in its own capital.
Good.
Let them be afraid.
Fear is the only honest thing left in that celebration.
They can call May 9 whatever they want.
But here in Ukraine, we know what victory is.
Victory is the life they failed to erase.
Victory is a woman in Kharkiv sweeping glass from her kitchen and still making tea.
It is a soldier who has not seen his child in months and still holds the line.
It is a city repairing power after another strike.
It is a country waking up after another night and choosing to exist.
The ones who need to destroy another nation to feel great have already lost.
Anyone who turns memory into permission for murder has already lost.
It’s already May 9 in Kyiv.
In Moscow too.
Moscow will perform today.
But somewhere beyond the performance, Ukraine will still be here.
Alive.
And that is the victory Russia could never understand.
—Viktor
🇺🇦
Russia spends today telling the world what it wants the past to mean. This journal spends every day telling the truth of what is happening now. The readers who decided this record was worth protecting are the reason it can keep doing that.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has claimed that its forces inflicted significant damage on US naval assets during a large-scale combined operation on Thursday evening, forcing three American destroyers to withdraw from the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, the commander of the IRGC Navy said the operation was launched in response to what he described as two provocative actions by the US military, News.Az reports, citing Iran’s English-language Press TV.
According to the statement, the first incident involved an alleged violation of the ceasefire through an attack on an Iranian oil tanker near the port of Jask. The second was the approach of US Navy destroyers towards the strategic Strait of Hormuz despite what the commander described as clear warnings from Iran.
The US and Iran exchanged fire late on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire.
Iran accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, as the US insisted it struck in retaliation.
Screengrab from video footage of the Iranian navy firing a missile at an unknown location. Photograph: WANA/Reuters
The US military said it targeted sites responsible for attacking three US destroyers transiting the strait, in what it called “unprovoked” hostilities by Tehran. Iran’s Press TV reported that after several hours of fire “the situation on Iranian islands and coastal cities by the strait of Hormuz is back to normal now”.
The United Arab Emirates said it had intercepted Iranian missile and drone attacks hours after the US said it thwarted attacks on the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason.
The fresh skirmishes threw into question the viability of a shaky ceasefire that had largely held for the previous month. But Donald Trump, the US president, insisted it remained intact despite the strikes, which he described in an interview with ABC News as a “love tap”.
UAE attacked again: Missile, drone strike injures 3 in latest escalation in US-Iran war
Story by Sudeep Rawat
• 1h
UAE attacked again: Missile, drone strike injures 3 in latest escalation in US-Iran war
India, May 8 — On Friday, May 8, the UAE activated its air defence systems to respond to Iran’s attack. The UAE Defence Ministry issued a statement saying that the air defence system engaged two ballistic missiles and three Unidentified Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Israel sent laser system to UAE to help intercept Iranian missiles and drones — report
Sources say Jerusalem also sent a surveillance system and other weapons to the Gulf state, marking a major development in security cooperation with the Abraham Accords ally
The IDF’s first operational Iron Beam high-power laser air defense system, displayed during a handover ceremony at a Rafael Advanced Defense Systems facility, December 28, 2025. (Defense Minister’s Office)
Israel dispatched a version of the Iron Beam laser-based air defense system to the United Arab Emirates during the recent fighting with Iran to help protect the Gulf nation from missile and drone attacks, according to a report on Thursday, in a significant step for the defense ties between the two countries.
According to The Financial Times, Jerusalem also sent over an advanced surveillance system known as Spectro to help the UAE detect Iranian drones from up to 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) away.
The report comes on the heels of a piece by Axios earlier in the week, which asserted that Israel deployed an Iron Dome Battery to the Gulf nation and sent several dozen troops to operate it.
Citing a source familiar with the matter, The Financial Times reported that Israel also sent additional, unspecified weapons systems to the UAE.
“It’s not a small number of boots on the ground,” the source said.
The newspaper reported that in addition to the equipment, Jerusalem also provided the UAE with real-time intelligence on missile launches from Iran heading toward the Gulf state.
More than half of the world’s petroleum derived from Permian times has come from the Permian Basin. Although some older strata are also productive, the majority of the oil and gas obtained from the Permian Basin has been recovered from Permian rocks. Though oil and gas were already being extracted from the Permian Basin by the mid-1920s, most of the petroleum production activity has taken place since the 1950s. As a result, for a large part of the 20th century the Permian Basin played a significant role in the economic development of the state of Texas, including such towns as Midland, Odessa, and Marathon. Petroleum geologists often use the Permian reef system as a model for the exploration of other petroleum source and reservoir rocks.
The contribution to the US economy is vast:
The Permian Basin is projected to contribute $350 billion and create 1.2 million jobs for the U.S. economy by 2050, making it a significant driver of economic activity in the country. It supports various infrastructure developments and plays a crucial role in energy security. Yahoo dallasfed.org
Outcompeting Saudi:
Permian shale output closes gap with Saudi Arabia as rig count doubles, confirming US’ powerhouse status
Exxon’s 1.6 million acres in the Permian means it can approach the field as a “megaproject”
The majors’ Permian investments position the field to compete with Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil-producing region
The World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Tracker is the only global and independent indicator of gas flaring. The estimates allow us to monitor global flaring levels and assist in tracking progress towardZero Routine Flaring by 2030. You can view the lastest Global Gas Flaring Tracker (July, 2025) here and each of GFMR’s interactive visualizations below:
CloseIsraeli Prime Minister Served Birthday Cake With Gold Noose
Israel’s national security minister celebrated his 50th birthday with a golden noose on his cake just over a month after he successfully campaigned for the death penalty for Palestinian terrorist convicts.
Footage on social media showed Itamar Ben-Gvir receiving a cake from his wife with a golden noose which wished the minister a Happy Birthday and added: ‘Sometimes dreams come true’, per translation.
The politician could be seen wearing a golden noose pin as his wife Ayala handed him the cake to mark the milestone. The event, attended by senior Israeli officials and police figures, reportedly took place at a villa in southern Israel.
The golden noose became a core symbol for Ben-Gvir’s far-right party Otzma Yehudit as they campaigned for the death penalty exclusively for Palestinian terrorism convicts. Many politicians wore a golden noose pin as they attended Knesset amid the campaign.
Trump dismisses China friction over Iran war, touts Xi ties before Beijing summit
US halts Hormuz escort mission, says Beijing is not pushing back as Xi talks loom
ublished: 3:45am, 6 May 2026Updated: 7:21am, 6 May 2026
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday rejected suggestions that China has challenged his administration over the Iran war, highlighting his “very good relationship” with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping ahead of their planned summit next week.
China’s foreign minister holds talks with Iranian counterpart
Abbas Araghchi’s trip to Beijing comes ahead of Trump’s visit to China
Diyar Güldoğan
06 May 2026•Update: 06 May 2026
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks Wednesday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Araghchi’s visit came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s scheduled summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping from May 14-15 amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, which remains blocked.
[1/2] BEIJING, CHINA – MAY 6: (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY – MANDATORY CREDIT – ‘IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi in Beijing, China on May 6, 2026.
This marks Araghchi’s first in-person meeting with his Chinese counterpart since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28. The two have held several phone calls during the conflict.
A separate Washington Post investigation found that, even after the U.S. imposed its blockade, Iranian oil continued moving through covert ship-to-ship transfers near Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago. According to the Post, at least 13 tankers transferred roughly 22 million barrels of Iranian oil, worth more than $2 billion, after the blockade began.
Global Hunger Crisis: Facing Escalating Threats in 2026
The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises highlights worsening global food insecurity due to conflict, drought, and reduced aid. Acute hunger has doubled in the last decade, with millions in Africa and the Middle East facing severe conditions. Global instability is exacerbated by conflicts and financial constraints impacting food markets.
The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises warns of a worsening hunger crisis due to conflict, drought, and reduced aid.
An estimated 266 million people faced acute food insecurity in 2025, with severe conditions expected in fragile regions like Gaza, Sudan, and Yemen.
Geopolitical tensions, particularly the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, threaten to disrupt energy and fertilizer trade, exacerbating food market instability.
Declining funding for humanitarian efforts further complicates the response to rising hunger levels, especially in West and East Africa.
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