Iran Goes Silent

Iran has vowed to “completely block” the Strait of Hormuz and end all negotiations with the United States. Iran also wants Israel to remove all forces from Lebanon before it will resume ceasefire talks. How will the Trump Administration respond to this latest development?

On Friday President Trump was in the Situation Room to “make a final determination” on his next move with Iran. Trump’s primary demands for a proposed peace deal were that Iran’s nuclear program must cease, the Strait of Hormuz must remain open, and no mines/or bombs remain in the Strait.

After meeting with his advisers, Trump decided that he needed stronger language in the deal – and was in “no hurry” to accept the deal on the table.

Meanwhile, Iran claimed that the United States had violated the ceasefire by shooting down ballistic missiles that were fired at the U.S. base in Kuwait. Also taken out were Iranian radar and drone control sites. So basically, it’s our fault for defending ourselves against Iranian attacks.

Further, Iran has threatened to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which is the strait that Israel uses to the Red Sea. And who else uses that? Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

So they’re not just threatening the United States but also directly threatening the Gulf states as well as Israel. These broad threats, in the long run, could be the glue that holds this coalition together. Because now Israel, the Saudis, the Jordanians, and other countries in Northeast Africa have a reason to come against Iran.

President Trump hinted at this last week, suggesting an expansion of the Abraham Accords with Saudi Arabia and other countries. Right now Iran is only making the case for Trump on that point.

All this tough talk from Iran sounds like its leadership is trying to buy time and wiggle itself out of a very tough agreement. We’ll keep you updated on further developments.

In ACLJ-related news, we filed a major brief today on appeal at the First Circuit Court of Appeals – one step away from the U.S. Supreme Court – in our ongoing fight to stop the taxpayer-sponsored smear campaign against Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) in Massachusetts. The opposition’s brief is due July 1.

The outcome of this pivotal case could set a precedent in every state in America, and if we lose, pro-life centers remain vulnerable.

ACLJ Senior Managing Counsel Christina Compagnone joined the broadcast to give an update:

If we win at the circuit court, that’s great. We’ll go back and actually bring this to trial, but if we lose, there’s still another chance here because this is the First Circuit that we’re in. But the Second Circuit, which includes New York, just held, in December, that a very similar set of facts was indeed chilling the speech of these PRCs. And so this case is NFLA v. James, and Attorney General James had been coming after and bringing enforcement actions against these PRCs for very similar things that our own [client], a doctor, is under investigation for. And so they brought an injunction, and it went up to the Second Circuit . . . [which] said, Yes, we do believe that this is chilling your speech and so we’re going to give you an injunction to stop New York from bringing these kinds of enforcement actions against you.

And so that right there means that in the Second Circuit, we have a different decision from the First Circuit. So if the First Circuit says Nope, there is not a chilling of your speech here, then we can go on to the Supreme Court, . . .[which] hears very often cases when there is a circuit court split, meaning one court is holding one way on a set of facts and a question of law, and another court is holding the other way, and it means the Supreme Court comes in as the final decision maker.

PRCs serve as beacons of light for life in thousands of communities, but they are facing an onslaught of legal and political targeting. Take action with us by signing our petition.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of the latest threats by Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz. ACLJ Senior Counsel for International and Government Affairs Jeff Ballabon also joined to discuss the Judiciary Committee’s “Biden-Harris Administration’s Funding of Anti-Netanyahu Non-Governmental Organizations” report.

Watch the full broadcast below: