LIVE: Iran Civil Clashes Escalate – IRGC Banks Collapse – Explosions Reported

Iran is hurting from the US blockade, but the Iranian government cares more about staying in power than the welfare of its own people. There is limited internal resistance to the regime, but it’s not clear how or if this will escalate to overthrow it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp1eiG11ODk

US sanctions have stopped Russia from rebuilding the Nord Stream pipeline. 

US sanctions have stopped Russia from rebuilding the Nord Stream pipeline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r06_2ooytHk

Trump to unleash ‘Economic D-Day’ on Iran as blockade bites | Iran: the Latest news

Blockading Iran is hurting them economically. This could get them to the negotiating table, but it could take time and is quite costly for the US to maintain, both militarily, and the economic consequences of Iran mostly closing the Strait.

If Trump did not parade around the world like an asshole, threatening and attacking allies, there could have been a chance of a blockading coalition to help convince Iran the world will not tolerate them terrorizing the Strait of Hormuz. Oh well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6KTVkMChG4

The BRICS Prepare the BIGGEST ATTACK on the DOLLAR at its Most FRAGILE Moment: “Brics Pay”

The BRICS Prepare the BIGGEST ATTACK on the DOLLAR at its Most FRAGILE Moment: “Brics Pay”

Brics Pay would allow countries to trade in their own dollars rather than needing the U.S. Dollar. It’s still being set up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOg7aYeV5eM

US sanctions wife of Brazilian judge who oversaw Bolsonaro prosecution

Trump is using U.S. sanction power to punish those who prosecute people Trump likes politically. This isn’t an act of justice, but an act of defending those who try to coup democracies. He did something similar when he pardoned the January 6th attackers who tried to end U.S. democracy.

“The U.S. announced new sanctions on the wife of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Monday, the latest move in the Trump administration’s effort to object to the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

The Trump administration has repeatedly targeted de Moraes for overseeing the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who was convicted of organizing a coup to remain in office following his electoral loss to now-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022. A panel of Supreme Court justices, including de Moraes, voted earlier this month to sentence the far-right populist leader, an ally of Trump’s, to a 27-year prison sentence.

The Brazilian government called the move “a new attempt of undue interference in Brazilian internal affairs,” accusing the U.S. government of pursuing “the politicization and distortion” of the Magnitsky Act.

“This new attack on Brazilian sovereignty will not achieve its goal of benefiting those who led the failed coup attempt, some of whom have already been convicted by the Supreme Federal Court. Brazil will not bow to this latest aggression,” Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/22/bolsonaro-prosecution-us-sanctions-00575122

Trump’s Syrian Outreach Turns an Enemy Into a Friend

“the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a three-page waiver lifting almost all economic sanctions on Syria unconditionally.”

“the Syrian government handed back the old U.S. ambassador’s residence to Thomas Barrack, who serves as both U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria.”

“a waiver isn’t a permanent end to sanctions. The sanctions imposed by Congress have to be lifted by Congress…Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that it should do exactly that.”

https://reason.com/2025/05/30/trumps-syrian-outreach-turns-an-enemy-into-a-friend/

Will Trump’s Order To Lift U.S. Sanctions on Syria Be Followed?

“Sanctions are a complicated bureaucratic knot to untangle. Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, warned on X that “people in [Trump’s] own administration are trying to stop it or slow it down severely.” And a Syrian government minister tells Reason that a U.S. delegation has come with a set of “requests” for Syria to fulfill.

The Caesar Civilian Protection Act, passed after Assad had fought a civil war against rebels to a standstill, punishes foreign investment in reconstructing areas under the Syrian government’s control. There is also a general U.S. trade embargo on Syria passed by executive order. And Sharaa himself is a designated terrorist because of his past fighting for Al Qaeda, which he later violently turned against.”

https://reason.com/2025/05/20/will-trumps-order-to-lift-u-s-sanctions-on-syria-be-followed/