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Iran to Unveil Nuclear Counteroffer to US as IAEA Warns It ‘Can’t Ignore’ Tehran’s Uranium Enrichment

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iran said on Monday that it would soon submit a new proposal for a nuclear deal with the United States via Oman, as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog raised concerns over Tehran’s ongoing violations of and lack of compliance with international nuclear standards.

Speaking at a press conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced that the Islamist regime will soon present its own nuclear proposal after rejecting a previous offer from Washington.

“We strongly recommend the American side not to waste this opportunity — it’s in their own interest to take it seriously,” the Iranian diplomat said.

With a sixth round of nuclear talks still uncertain, Baghaei stressed that uranium enrichment remains a “strategic necessity” for Iran’s nuclear industry and is crucial to the country’s national interests.

Commenting on the White House’s demand that Tehran reduce uranium enrichment down to zero, he said Iran’s stance serves as a deterrent “against excessive foreign demands” and “pressures that go beyond legal and international norms.”

“It cannot be said in any way that every country that engages in enrichment necessarily has a weapons program,” the Iranian diplomat said. “Currently, many countries, including some US allies, are engaged in enrichment but do not have any military or weapons programs.”

Last week, Iranian officials condemned Washington’s latest nuclear proposal as “unprofessional and untechnical,” criticizing it for its alleged failure to address sanctions relief — a key demand for Tehran under any deal with the US.

“Iran will never relinquish its natural rights,” Ali Shamkhnai, political adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Washington’s draft proposal for a new nuclear deal was delivered by Omani officials — who have been mediating negotiations between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff — during last month’s talks in Rome.

After five rounds of talks, diplomatic efforts have yet to yield results as both adversaries clash over Iran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition that US President Donald Trump has publicly rejected.

Meanwhile, in its latest report on Iranian nuclear violations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, warned that the country’s continued accumulation of highly enriched uranium nearing weapons-grade levels poses a serious concern that cannot be ignored.

“Uranium enrichment per se is not a forbidden activity, which is something my Iranian counterparts always tell me,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said at a press conference following the agency’s Board of Governors opening meeting in Vienna on Monday.

“At the same time, when you accumulate and continue to accumulate, and you are the only country in the world doing this at a level very, very close to what is needed for a nuclear explosive device, then we cannot ignore it,” Grossi continued.

“There is no medical or civilian use for it. That is why it is important for us.”

The IAEA’s latest report reveals that, alongside numerous other violations, Iran has previously conducted multiple implosion tests — a crucial military capability for developing an atomic bomb.

At Monday’s press conference, Grossi also discussed a draft resolution from Western powers condemning Iran’s nuclear non-compliance.

He stressed that the resolution — put forward by the US, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — represents the agency’s technical oversight responsibilities, not a political move to pressure Tehran.

However, Iran has strongly rejected the measure, accusing the agency of political bias and of advancing American interests.

Grossi also referenced the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which temporarily limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, explaining that even if the agreement were reinstated, it would no longer be sufficient to address the expanded scope and complexity of the country’s current nuclear activities.

“The JCPOA was designed to be applied to a very specific type of Iran program, which is completely different now,” he said. “Even if you wanted to revive it, it would not be enough because now they have new technologies.”

“We cannot wait for negotiations. We are an independent technical body. But if diplomacy succeeds, it will help reinforce cooperation,” Grossi continued.

The post Iran to Unveil Nuclear Counteroffer to US as IAEA Warns It ‘Can’t Ignore’ Tehran’s Uranium Enrichment first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Rep. Thomas Massie, Vocal Israel Critic, Trailing By Huge Margin in Latest GOP Primary Poll

US Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) leaves meeting of the House Republican Conference in the US Capitol, June 4, 2025. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is facing an uphill battle to secure reelection, as new polling shows the Republican congressman trailing a Trump-backed challenger in a primary race that’s quickly becoming a referendum on his break with GOP orthodoxy. 

A recent Kaplan Strategies poll of likely Republican voters in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District found Massie pulling in just 19% support. That’s well behind his opponent, nurse and political newcomer Niki Lee Ethington, who led the poll with 31%. Half of those surveyed remained undecided. 

Another poll, conducted by Trump-aligned firm McLaughlin & Associates, showed an even larger gap: Ethington at 52%, Massie at just 23%.

The dramatic shift in voter sentiment comes as Massie has drawn criticism from conservatives over his increasingly vocal opposition to US military aid to Israel and his refusal to back several congressional resolutions expressing support for the country.

Massie was the lone Republican to vote against a bipartisan resolution condemning antisemitism on college campuses earlier this year. He has also opposed funding packages for Israel during its war against Hamas in Gaza and has used social media to cast doubt on Israel’s military tactics, actions that have put him at odds with most of his party.

During an appearance on the podcast of controversial political commentator Tucker Carlson, Massie criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US — accusing the organization of employing “AIPAC babysitters” to steer congressional votes.

In a recent post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Massie said, “Blind support for foreign governments, including Israel, has cost this country dearly. Congress must put America first.”

Massie has also suggested that Israel deliberately targets civilian infrastructure during its military campaigns, an unfounded accusation which enraged many supporters of the Jewish state.  

The congressman’s conduct has fueled attacks from pro-Israel conservatives and from former President Donald Trump, who has made Massie one of his top primary targets this cycle. Trump has labeled him a “disaster” and a “phony libertarian” and has publicly pledged to unseat him.

“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA … Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him,” Trump said in a June 22 Truth Social post.

“Massie is weak, ineffective, and votes ‘NO’ on virtually everything … He is disrespectful to our great military — not even acknowledging their brilliance and bravery in yesterday’s attack, which was a total and complete WIN,” Trump wrote.

Massie, who has long positioned himself as a libertarian-leaning outlier in the Republican caucus, has previously endured primary challenges with little difficulty. But this year, the stakes appear different.

The White House has launched a super PAC, Kentucky MAGA, with plans to spend millions to boost Ethington or another Trump-endorsed alternative. Party insiders are also reportedly urging state lawmakers, including State Sen. Aaron Reed and Rep. Kimberly Moser, to consider entering the race.

Massie has dismissed the effort as a “D.C.-funded hit job” and vowed not to abandon his principles. He raised more than $120,000 in the 24 hours after Trump’s first attack, according to his campaign.

The Kentucky primary is scheduled for May 2026.

The post Rep. Thomas Massie, Vocal Israel Critic, Trailing By Huge Margin in Latest GOP Primary Poll first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Live from New York: It’s Antisemitism, with Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Contrary to what some may believe, we’re not here to critique New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for his grating stint as a rapper.

What’s more troubling is the New York Democratic mayoral primary results last week. There are currently massive efforts to unearth just who Mamdani is behind the cool millennial-politician facade. Here’s what you need to know:

Who’s the Real Zohran Mamdani?

Mamdani, an antisemitic and anti-Israel progressive, is gaslighting the Jews of New York by lying to their faces when evidence of his true stances are plentiful, public, and loud. This clip tells you all you need to know:

 

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Now, even though we aren’t going to make fun of Mamdani for trying his hand at an illustrious F-list rap career, we may as well criticize some antisemitic elements present in his songs.

One example is Salaam, released in 2017. In it, Mamdani praises the Holy Land 5, who were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas through their organization. Here is what Canary Mission revealed:

Although his political platform seemed to focus on economic policies, The Times of Israel reported that Mamdani declared that the Palestinian cause is “central to his identity and the reason he got into politics” during his victory rally this week. It’s food for thought, to say the least.

Mamdani’s Antisemitic Beliefs Run Deep

While Mamdani is a classic progressive who aligns with the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), his Israel stances are more extreme and deeply ingrained than both her and the typical Qatari-funded university club members he went to school with.

Both of his parents are staunch and well-known anti-Israel activists.

His father, Professor Mahmood Mamdani of Columbia University, is known, according to Canary Mission, to be anti-Israel and consumed with the topic of “colonialism.” Their report also revealed his backing of violent resistance movements, and unsurprisingly, his participation in the 2024 encampment protests.

He was also a featured speaker at one of Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies (CPS) BDS events — equating South African Apartheid to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calling to dismantle Israel as a Jewish state.

His mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, also has a history of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) support, including rejecting an invitation to be a guest of honor at the Haifa International Film Festival in 2013. Canary Mission revealed she is a signatory on an open letter that demanded that Israeli actress Gal Gadot be banned from the Oscars this year.

With roots so deep, it isn’t surprising that Mamdani has such hateful views.

Redefining Antisemitism to Please Jew Haters

Media outlets have taken a special interest in Mamdani — plastering heroic profiles of him everywhere. The New York Times, in particular, has taken quite the delusional approach in “The Attacks on Zohran Mamdani Show That We Need a New Understanding of Antisemitism.”

For one, Masha Gessen attempted to redefine what an antisemitic attack is:

Another excerpt describes the unfortunate xenophobia Mamdani has had to deal with, and how broken up he is about being called an antisemite:

When I spoke to Mamdani on the phone a couple of days after that press conference, it became clear to me that there is another reason he chokes up: It’s hard to keep defending yourself against a false accusation.

While there are undoubtedly extremists who went too far in their criticism of him, it is legitimate to say that Mamdani is antisemitic. The mere fact that he praises Hamas terror funders, marched with Hamas supporters, won’t denounce the chant “globalize the intifada” (because he says it is simply a coin of the Palestinian struggle), and decided (though he has no right to) that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, proves that.

Perhaps Mamdani himself as a non-Jew does not truly understand the significance of all this like a Jew would, but it is ignorant and appalling for a mayoral hopeful of the US city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel to ignore why antisemitism is at an all time high, and more importantly, how anti-Israel rhetoric creates that environment. He’s part of the problem.

Op-Eds are meant for opinions, but facts are facts, and those do not change, no matter how you try to twist them or ignore vital context.

All in all, Mamdani attempts to cover for his past and his current ties by saying that he will fight antisemitism, but uses contradictory language out of the other side of his mouth.

Suffice it to say, what he believes is antisemitism is irrelevant, because he has no right to redefine it. Jews of New York know better, and hopefully, the majority of non-Jewish New Yorkers will wake up before it’s too late.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post Live from New York: It’s Antisemitism, with Zohran Mamdani first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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The ‘Both-Sidism’ of Trey Yingst’s Fox News Coverage

An image showing some of the damages sustained by Colel Chabad’s daycare center in Be’er Sheva as a result of an Iranian missile strike on June 20, 2025. Photo: Colel Chabad/Chabad.org.

Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst claims to be a journalist who reports fairly and accurately. But amidst the fog of war, Yingst’s desire to be “fair” to all sides over the last 21 months has, instead, allowed his bias to seep through.

Yingst often does a professional job and gets it right. In an interview with Vanity Fair in October 2023, he even explains how he prides himself on patience over “being first,” as well as the understanding that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lots of nuance and there is a deep responsibility to get the story right.

But a scroll down his X (formerly Twitter) feed exposes him not sticking to his own words — all the way back to 2023 and perhaps beyond. And, of course, his appalling report in real time of an Iranian missile strike last week may have made for compelling TV, but it showed blatant disregard for Israelis’ safety.

The IDF issued a warning not to reveal locations of hits, and he chose one of the most sensitive ones to expose.

He may have gotten the footage he needed for a powerful field report, but it came at the expense of his reputation. Yingst may now be regretting that, as the hit, which may be considered “journalism gold,” can no longer be found on his constantly updated, media-filled X feed, and efforts to obscure exact locations when needed have since been honored.

Even so, there are indications of some troubling views and allegiances behind the scenes.

We can gloss over his contacts in Gaza, which include senior officials of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Not only does he make this publicly known, but it’s common practice for journalists to maintain connections with some very questionable characters.

His time at News2Share earlier in his career highlights questionable ties to Hamas-linked Palestinian Ain Media, as well as terrorists who were exposed to be posing as journalists. Though more recently, his tweets and the apparent blocking of pro-Israel accounts are raising eyebrows.

It’s not easy to verify that firsthand, of course, but a number of X accounts have claimed this fact.

One recent tweet that stands out is this attempt at virtue-signaling, and reflects how he suddenly forgot that he knows Israeli hospitals are different from Palestinian ones in Gaza.

Yingst has personally reported on the Hamas weapons inside hospitals and terror tunnels underneath civilian infrastructure, including hospitals. He has seen it with his own eyes. He must know that means these buildings are no longer just hospitals and are not considered off limits under international law.

Here is just one of his reports:

The following tweet could well be indicative of a particular political stance:

Whether Yingst meant it or not, it wasn’t just how he identified this doctor, which in itself is an assumption, as the doctor, working in a Beersheba hospital and living in or near the city, means that he is most likely an Israeli citizen and thus considered Arab-Israeli. It is a passive suggestion that a Palestinian doctor was treating both Jewish and Muslim patients without prejudice, despite Israel’s “deadly war against” the Palestinians.

One more example, which has a pattern of turning up both in Yingst’s reports and on his feed going back to late 2023, is that of Gaza “journalists” allegedly killed by Israel.

Yingst has every right to advocate for the protection of journalists’ lives in a war zone. He knows the region, however, and says he is very familiar with Hamas. So why does Yingst never acknowledge the proof that many of these dead “journalists” are actually Hamas or Islamic Jihad members, among others, and that several were known to be involved in the October 7 massacre?

Maybe Yingst believes that he is attempting to provide perspectives from both sides of the story. But, sometimes “both-sidism” means ignoring the vital context that his audience crucially needs. Having been in the region for several years, he should know better by now.

HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post The ‘Both-Sidism’ of Trey Yingst’s Fox News Coverage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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