Yaffa 1934
CrossFireArabia- June 16, 2026
A house belonging to the Al Afghani family in the Almanshieh neighborhood in Yafa. The house still exists today.
The A, B, C of a Post-Sanctions Iran
- CrossFireArabia
- June 16, 2026
As the Iran-US agreed to a new peace deal on Sunday, questions are being raised on the lifting of sanctions and long-standing restrictions on Tehran.
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that an agreement with Iran had been finalized and that he was authorizing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of a US naval blockade.
The announcement triggered swift diplomatic reactions from European allies, with the UK, Germany, and Italy saying they would continue working closely with Washington, Tehran, and regional partners to maintain momentum toward a longer-term settlement.
They also signaled a willingness to ease relevant sanctions if Iran takes “clear, verifiable steps” regarding its nuclear program, stating in a joint statement that the country must never “acquire a nuclear weapon.”
According to an Iranian draft of the agreement reported by Mehr News Agency, the framework includes the suspension of sanctions on Iranian oil exports, petrochemicals, and related products, along with provisions granting Tehran access to financial proceeds from sales.
The draft also reportedly calls for the release of around $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets during an initial 60-day negotiation period, with half of the funds to be unlocked before formal final talks begin.
The final agreement would include the full lifting of US primary and secondary sanctions, as well as the termination of relevant UN Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors resolutions.
While no details of sanctions relief have been officially released, US sanctions on Iran currently span several areas, including oil exports, banking, shipping, military activities, and nuclear-related programs.
According to the US government, the country has imposed restrictions on activities with Iran since 1979. It blocks Iranian government assets in the country, bans all trade with Iran, and prohibits foreign assistance and arms sales.
The US says that its sanctions are “the most extensive and comprehensive set of sanctions” that it maintains on any country, with thousands of persons, including Iranian and non-Iranian, designated for sanctions.
Apart from the primary sanctions, the US also maintains secondary sanctions, which target non-US companies and individuals that conduct business with Iran.
Oil and energy sanctions
The most economically significant restrictions target Iran’s oil industry, the country’s primary source of foreign currency revenue.
In 2012, then-US President Barack Obama imposed the tightest sanctions against Iran’s oil industry. These included Iranian crude exports, shipping networks, insurance providers, and foreign entities that purchase or transport Iranian oil.
In 2024, the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act, or the SHIP Act, was enacted, leading to sanctions against foreign persons that knowingly transport, process, refine, or otherwise deal in petroleum and petroleum products.
It was enacted to cripple Iran’s energy export revenues by targeting foreign entities and networks that transport, process, or sell Iranian oil.
Since the Iran war started on Feb. 28, the US has imposed a number of restrictions targeting the Iranian energy industry.
Its recent sanctions in May included eight vessels involved in transporting Iranian crude oil and petroleum products to global markets.
Earlier in April, the US Treasury Department said it sanctioned more than two dozen individuals, companies, and vessels connected to the network, as well as an alleged financier involved in exchanging Iranian oil for Venezuelan gold to benefit the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Financial restrictions & frozen assets
In 1995, then-US President Bill Clinton, under an executive order, established a comprehensive ban on all US investment and trade with Iran.
Due to US sanctions, Iran remains largely cut off from the global financial system due to US sanctions on major Iranian banks and financial institutions. In 2012, the US imposed unilateral sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran.
Iranian officials have repeatedly identified access to frozen funds as a key objective in negotiations.
While the exact amount of Iran’s frozen assets is unclear, official Iranian reports and experts have set the total amount of frozen Iranian assets overseas at more than $100 billion.
If the sanctions are relaxed, this could include restoring access to international banking channels, easing restrictions on cross-border transactions, and allowing the release of frozen Iranian assets held abroad.
Shipping and trade
US sanctions are also imposed on additional sectors of Iran’s economy, including shipping, construction, mining, textiles, automotive, and manufacturing.
In 2019, sanctions were imposed against Iran’s minerals and metals sectors.
According to the US government, the property of any person determined by the secretary of the Treasury and the secretary of state to be conducting business operations in the “iron, steel, aluminum, or copper sector of Iran” is blocked.
On Jan. 10, 2020, sanctions were imposed, targeting Iran’s construction, mining, manufacturing, and textile sectors, including asset freezes and denial of entry into the US for those operating in or providing support for these sectors.
Western sanctions also affect Iranian shipping companies, ports, and logistics networks.
Restrictions on maritime transport have complicated Iranian exports and imports, including non-oil trade.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the possible lifting of related maritime restrictions were highlighted by both US and Iranian officials following the announcement of the framework agreement.
Nuclear-related sanctions
Since 2005, the US has designated Iranian individuals, companies, and organizations for involvement in nuclear proliferation and ballistic missile development.
US sanctions on Iran also include arms trade to or from Iran, and many components of Iran’s government, including the former supreme leader and IRGC, as well as entities that conduct transactions with or otherwise support them.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 had temporarily lifted nuclear-related economic restrictions in exchange for limits on enrichment. However, when the Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA, it reimposed the sanctions.
However, significant differences remain between Washington and Tehran over what obligations Iran would undertake.
US officials have suggested the agreement could involve dismantling elements of Iran’s nuclear program, while Iranian officials have insisted that Tehran has not accepted any new nuclear commitments and that nuclear issues would be discussed in a separate phase of negotiations.
Taleb Al-Rifai No Longer a Kuwaiti
- CrossFireArabia
- June 15, 2026
Fakhri Saleh wrote:
The Kuwaiti novelist and short story writer, Taleb Al-Rifai, has been stripped of his citizenship. He and his family are now stateless, despite being one of Kuwait’s most prominent cultural figures, if not the most prominent. This is shocking, shameful, disgraceful, and infuriating. It demonstrates shortsightedness, a lack of understanding of the meaning of citizenship, and a narrow-mindedness on the part of those who revoked Taleb’s citizenship, and that of thousands of other Kuwaitis, driven by petty calculations and a flawed social engineering strategy.
The problem with this afflicted part of the world—I mean our Arab world—is its refusal to understand that citizenship is not the exclusive domain of any one group, and that establishing citizenship and its associated rights is the fundamental solution to many of the political, social, economic, and cultural problems that weigh heavily on the Arab world.
We are saddened by what Kuwait has done to Taleb Al-Rifai, but his problem is Kuwait’s problem as a whole, and this is the dark tunnel it is entering. What is happening is regrettable and shows that superficial appearances do not indicate that we have entered the modern age. This is an illusion we must reconsider, so that we may escape a dark fate.
Ceasefire And Defeat: Iran Won The War
- CrossFireArabia
- June 15, 2026
By Abdel Bari Atwan
Finally, after 100 days of aggression into which Benjamin Netanyahu dragged the US president into, Donald Trump realized he couldn’t not win the war against Iran, and the chances of defeat were far greater than the chances of victory. Therefore, he decided to surrender and raise the white flag, seeking a way out to minimize losses and save face.
He found what he was looking for in the hands of his Pakistani allies, who offered him a lifeline in the form of a “Memorandum of Understanding” leading to a ceasefire, preventing a regional war of attrition, and forcing him to reluctantly acknowledge Iranian-Omani sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump then turned his arrows toward those who had deceived him—the Israeli occupation state—after beginning to awaken from his stupor and the great deception he had suffered.
Trump might sign this “memorandum” with the leaders of the country whose current Islamic regime he waged war to overthrow, replacing it with a puppet regime, stripping Iran of its nuclear ambitions and more than 460 kilograms of highly enriched uranium—enough to produce 10 nuclear bombs—and, most importantly, acknowledging the unity of the battlefields, thus yielding to Iranian demands the ceasefire encompass all fronts, especially the Lebanese front.
Now the decisions on contentious issues are being postponed, particularly the Iranian nuclear file, and referring them to negotiations that will begin immediately after the ceasefire, along with the gradual lifting of sanctions on Iran for a period of two months, and the unfreezing of tens of billions of dollars of its assets.
These are all concessions reflecting the first fruits of the success of the astute Iranian administration, coupled with a swift military deterrent against any American or Israeli strikes in or around the Strait of Hormuz, and ignoring all of Trump’s empty threats to destroy Iran, wipe it off the face of the earth, and unleash hell upon it.
***
For over two years, Iran negotiated with the United States and European countries regarding its nuclear program and the sensitive issue of uranium enrichment in several capitals, from Vienna to Muscat, Oman, and finally Geneva. It made no concessions whatsoever. Ironically, the head of its negotiating team was Abbas Araqchi, who adhered to the leadership’s ‘yes, but’ approach, which is based on another principle: “We welcome and study” any proposals presented at the negotiating table. As a reward, he was promoted to lead Iranian diplomacy as Foreign Minister in both the previous and current governments.
The Iranian regime possessed many cards, which it used intelligently to counter this Israeli-American aggression. These included the nuclear card and military preparedness based on self-sufficiency in the production of missiles and highly advanced drones. However, one of the most important cards was the unity of the battlefields, support for resistance factions, and the expansion of the conflict into a regional war of attrition.
All these cards yielded results, forcing Trump to resort to the current agreement in a humiliating manner to end the war as quickly as possible. Regardless of whether this memorandum of understanding holds or not, the biggest loser is the Israeli occupation state. This isn’t because it wasn’t consulted or involved, even though it is the true architect and instigator of this war.
Netanyahu, who was reprimanded and labeled insane by his former protégé and “rebellious” servant, Trump, was completely oblivious, searching for information in newspaper reports, television broadcasts, and social media. How things change!
The unity of the battlefields, which embodies one of Iran’s most prominent strategic achievements, and the leadership’s insistence on a complete ceasefire in Lebanon, were the most significant blow to the occupation state.
The American recognition of this unity in the proposed memorandum legitimizes Hezbollah’s existence as a resistance movement, just as it criminalizes the Israeli occupation and its destructive raids. Netanyahu’s acceptance, or rather his acquiescence, to this agreement is a major defeat, while his rejection of it means a direct confrontation with America and its president, and the possibility of being left to act alone in aggression, which would signify an even greater existential defeat.
Netanyahu deceived Trump, leading him into this war like a sheep, convincing him that Iran would collapse as soon as it was bombarded with the first salvo of joint American and Israeli missiles. He led him to believe that tens of millions of Iranians would take to the streets, dancing in celebration of this aggression and demanding the overthrow of the regime.
Yet, the war has dragged on for 100 days, and the results are the opposite. The Iranian Islamic regime is growing stronger and more resilient, reinforcing both territorial and popular unity, and embodying both nuclear and regional sovereignty.
***
We say it without hesitation, with complete frankness and clarity: Trump has been defeated, and the Israeli occupation state is rapidly heading towards collapse, becoming increasingly isolated and hated, especially by its strategic American ally—both the American people and government—who have fallen into the trap of its lies, fabricated information, and blackmail.
This serves Israel’s interests and its racist, terrorist schemes at the expense of America’s own interests, its people, its standing as a superpower claiming leadership of the free world, and the values of justice, democracy, human rights, and global security and stability.
Trump has led America to defeat, whether this agreement holds or not, and this defeat will be clearly confirmed in the American midterm elections next November. We do not rule out that he and his deceiver, Benjamin Netanyahu, will end up behind bars, as prominent symbols of stupidity, criminality, and failure… Time will tell.
Abdul Bari Atwan is the Chief Editor of the Arabic Al Rai Al Youm and his latest article has appeared in the English crossfirearabia.com English website.
