Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad met with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow on April 24, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

“We’ll have something without having to start dropping bombs all over the place,” President Donald Trump declared on Monday.

The United States and Iran are set to meet for a fourth round of nuclear talks on Saturday, where the Trump administration aims to reach a deal to dismantle Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. The Islamic Republic will surely try tempting Washington to reach a so-called “interim” agreement, which could see Tehran cap its nuclear threat — albeit temporarily and superficially. The president should reject such a proposal.

Tehran might offer to limit its enriched uranium stockpile and reduce the purity level of this stock, while accepting some additional international monitoring. This would fundamentally leave intact the regime’s nuclear weapons capabilities — including advanced centrifuge-powered nuclear fuel production assets, covert efforts to construct nuclear devices, and intercontinental, nuclear-tipped ballistic missile delivery efforts.

Thus, an interim deal would fail to fulfill Trump’s, and his administration’s, repeated demands that Tehran dismantle its nuclear weapons capabilities. Much like the 2015 Obama nuclear accord with Iran — which Trump previously opposed due to its failure to block all the regime’s pathways to atomic weapons — an interim deal would also relieve pressure on Tehran just as President Trump has started rebuilding it.

In February, Trump reimposed maximum US pressure against Iran, which was in place during his first term. In March, he demanded Tehran negotiate restrictions over its nuclear program within 60 days, or face US and Israeli military strikes against its nuclear facilities. Those actions, as well as the president’s credible military build-up in the region and campaign to degrade Iran’s key proxies like the Houthis in Yemen, succeeded in bringing Iran to the negotiating table. In April, after initially refusing, Tehran participated in the first direct talks between the countries in years.

What could an interim deal that derails the president’s goals look like? The 2013 interim nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), preceded the fuller 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and provides insight into what such an accord could entail. 

While the JPOA required Tehran refrained from new advancements at its three uranium enrichment facilities and heavy water nuclear reactor, which provides a plutonium pathway to the bomb, those facilities remained intact. Although the regime permitted the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to enhance its monitoring and inspections, Tehran was not required to explain its past and possibly ongoing atomic weapons work. 

Under the JPOA, Iran halted enrichment of uranium over five percent purity but retained its stockpile of the material, while diluting half its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium. Retaining the ability to enrich uranium to five percent purity meant Tehran was still more than 70 percent of the way to making weapons-grade uranium.

Troublingly, Iran also showed it could succeed in extorting the West for massive sanctions relief. The JPOA provided the regime with the repatriation of $4.2 billion in assets seized abroad for its malign activities, as well as the ability to export precious metals, petrochemicals, and automotive goods. Before the JPOA, Tehran’s economy was reeling under Western economic pressure, but the deal, and then the 2015 JCPOA, provided more relief in return for limited and easily reversible Iranian concessions.

Today, Iran seeks similar relief as breathing room against growing domestic and economic pressure and possible US-Israeli military strikes against its nuclear facilities. The regime’s endgame has not changed: deflect pressure, buy time, and refine and maintain destructive nuclear and military capabilities. 

In addition, an interim deal today would make a mere dent in Tehran’s nuclear weapons capabilities, which advanced precipitously under President Biden’s policy of maximum deference to the regime.

Iran has now enriched uranium to 60 percent — putting it days from 90 percent purity, which is weapons-grade — and can fuel more than 17 nuclear weapons. It has installed more than 13,000 advanced centrifuges and secreted away numerous machines. Only a few hundred of these fast-enriching centrifuges are needed to make weapons-grade uranium at a secret site. The regime also restricted IAEA monitoring and ejected inspectors from key nuclear sites. 

Tehran is reportedly carrying out weaponization-related work and has a team looking to short-cut the regime’s route to nuclear weapons. It has dramatically advanced its nuclear missile-delivery program, nearing the capability to make long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike the United States.

 To be sure, not all is lost — Iran is not yet nuclear weapons-armed — but Washington must bring much more to bear than a temporary fix.

Iran’s aging supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his regime are under severe pressure at home, facing droughts, water shortages, social and political unrest, inflation, and currency devaluation. Trump’s team must seize this opportunity to achieve a maximalist accord that permanently removes Iran’s nuclear threat.

To do so, Washington must insist on nothing less than the full, verifiable, and permanent dismantlement of all three pillars of Iran’s nuclear program — including its nuclear fuel production and assets, weaponization, and missile-delivery work. If Tehran refuses, the president should consider following through on his threat of military strikes, double down on sanctions, and support the Iranian people in their quest for freedom.

Short-term fixes to address Iran’s enduring nuclear threat have failed — it’s time for the president to deliver a lasting solution.

Andrea Stricker is a research fellow and deputy director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Follow her on X @StrickerNonpro. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference at the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, June 17, 2024. Photo: Lukas Coch/Pool via REUTERS

On May 3, 2025, Australians will head to the polls in one of the most pivotal elections in recent memory — especially for Australian Jews.

This vote comes after a harrowing period of unprecedented hostility toward the Jewish community in Australia, triggered by the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel. That day shattered not only lives in Israel but also the illusion of safety that Jews in the Diaspora — including in Australia — once held dear.

Almost overnight, antisemitism, often masquerading as anti-Zionism, became rampant. Empathy for Israel and the Jewish people, reeling from the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, was alarmingly in short supply.

Even more disturbingly, this hatred erupted in Western democracies — nations that should have stood in solidarity with Israel, a fellow democracy under attack by genocidal terrorists.

Nations like Australia.

Long considered a peaceful haven for Jews, Australia proved to be no exception. Far away from the conflicts of the Middle East and even further away from the baggage of thousands of years of ingrained antisemitism in Europe, our country was about as distant and far removed from these ancient hatreds as could be.

But no more.

On October 9, 2023 — as Israelis were still identifying their dead — the Sydney Opera House was lit in blue and white in solidarity. But outside, a different scene played out. Demonstrators, claiming to support Palestinians, flooded the area, chanting “F— the Jews” and “F— Israel.”

Instead of dispersing this hate-filled rally, authorities warned Jews to stay away “for their own safety.” Only one person was arrested that night: a man displaying the Israeli flag.

That moment set the tone for what would become the most dangerous period in the history of Australian Jewry.

Rather than cracking down on the surge in antisemitism, the tepid response from authorities allowed it to flourish.

And flourish it did.

Hatred was no longer whispered in the darkened corners at the fringe of society, but shouted, broadcast, and celebrated in full public view.

Islamic clerics openly praised the Hamas massacre. Jewish institutions were targeted with graffiti, and Jewish schools were vandalized — including one in Melbourne where “Jewdie” was spray-painted on the walls. Worshipers at a synagogue were even forced to leave early after demonstrators descended on their suburb with the threat of violence in the air.

But it got worse.

On December 6, 2024, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed in the early hours of the morning, with some worshippers narrowly escaping with their lives.

A December 2024 Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) report recorded a staggering 316% increase in antisemitic attacks since October 7, 2023 — a level not seen since the Holocaust. Those figures didn’t even include the firebombing attack.

Then, in January, Ice Hockey Australia canceled its hosting of a key international tournament — not to protect Jewish athletes, but, allegedly, to shield the Israeli team from anti-Israel protestors.

The current Labor government is not the cause of this antisemitism. But its failure to confront it robustly has contributed to its escalation. Since its election in May 2022, it has shattered the warm bipartisan relationship that existed between the two countries.  It has voted for biased one-sided resolutions against Israel at the United Nations, while constantly criticizing Israel’s efforts to defend itself.

While it has in recent months appeared to finally take the threat of antisemitism more seriously — including setting up a special federal task force to crack down on antisemitism, as well as appointing a special a Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism — it does beg the question: What took so long? The damage has already been done.

Jews feel less secure now in Australia than they ever had, and the government bears a responsibility for that.

Just days ago, neo-Nazi flyers — adorned with Liberal Party logos — appeared in the mailboxes of Jewish homes in Caulfield, Melbourne, filled with antisemitic tropes about Jews and money. Members of the same hate group were seen outside voting booths dressed as Hasidic Jews, distributing flyers that read: “Giving the Jews everything they want.” Posters of both Jewish and non-Jewish candidates were defaced with red spray-painted Stars of David.

The image of Australia as a tolerant society for Jews has been severely strained, perhaps even shattered. Whether the ineffective Labor government remains in power, as it’s projected to do, or the more pro-Israel Liberal Party takes over, the road ahead for Australia’s Jews remains uncertain and dangerously perilous.

The antisemitic genie has been let out of the bottle — and putting it back in will not be easy.

Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).

The post Australia’s Jewish Community Faces an Election — and an Unprecedented Threat first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

A Torah scroll. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The human body is an amazing organism. And a vehicle for spirituality. But we do tend to take it for granted until something bad happens, either from outside or from within.

What I find interesting is the extent to which the Torah is actually concerned with health and the well-being of the body. Although there are other sources in the Torah to support this contention, what we read this week on Shabbat is particularly relevant.

We start with the dislocation that comes with childbirth and the need for recuperation., which is just one of several examples of dislocation in the Torah. But physical change and recovery are only one aspect of the process. There is also a spiritual dimension. Recuperation whether from childbirth or from any dislocation within the human body requires not just the technical side of healing. It  also requires a spiritual side.

How do we deal with challenges to our bodies when faced with something unusual? It is not just finding a cure in the physical sense — but how we deal mentally and emotionally.

The Gemara says that if something bad happens, we should examine our ways. (Brachot 5a). This does not necessarily mean that we have done anything wrong. But rather that we should look at this as a challenge to do better. Not only should one try to see if they did anything wrong, but also to give the opportunity for reflection — to see what could be improved. It also helps us summon the emotional strength to fight for recovery.

How often have we seen that people have been able to recover from the direst situations because of their personal determination and commitment to heal? We should not simply be thinking in terms of a cure, but also in terms of raising the quality of our lives.

This explains why both with regard to childbirth and physical illness, the priests were engaged in important rituals to  help resolve things. The role of the priesthood was not just to perform ceremonies, but also to be the healers and teachers. Although these roles ultimately were removed from them, at the time of the Torah, their role was crucial. And we can learn a lesson from it.

The Torah then goes into what is called leprosy, which really means any serious disease or infection of the body. The priest would first look at the problem and then advise the sufferer on how to proceed, and if it were necessary to put somebody into quarantine.

In its own way, the Torah is saying that we have to take care of our bodies, homes, and the atmospheres in which we live. Cleanliness and sanitation — and not just waiting for something to go wrong. The role of the priesthood is to remind us of the spiritual dimension. We need doctors and priests metaphorically, to help us overcome the challenges we face. The detail the Torah goes into during these chapters underlines how seriously health, cleanliness, and the spiritual qualities are for us.

The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York. 

The post How the Torah Teaches Us to Deal With — and Overcome — Physical Illness first appeared on Algemeiner.com.