🇮🇷 The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline and the US campaign to pressure Iran: how are they linked?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani have agreed to work to "quickly" restart a major oil pipeline running from Iraqi Kurdistan to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

🔶 Commissioned in 1970, the 970 km Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline can pump up to 1.6 mln barrels of crude oil per day.

🔶 Subject to repeated bomb and drone sabotage in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the pipeline’s use dropped, hitting about 450K b/d before its 2023 shutdown after the ICC ruled that Turkiye violated the export agreement by accepting deliveries without Baghdad’s consent.

🛢 Crude games

Resuming deliveries via the pipeline could serve US interests in multiple ways:

1️⃣ It could help offset Iranian oil exports amid the Trump administration’s latest tough sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s oil trade, and Trump’s renewed calls to drive Iranian exports "to zero."

2️⃣ It may bolster pro-US actors in the Iraqi government, which in recent years has enjoyed a major rapprochement with Iran thanks to Tehran’s provision of security and energy assistance. Pro-Iranian and pro-independence forces recently repeated their demands for the total withdrawal of US forces, including from Kurdistan.

3️⃣ It would facilitate Trump’s strategy of low energy prices to fuel America’s reindustrialization amid the numerous trade wars he’s sparked and/or may be planning to get into.

4️⃣ It could strain the Kurdistan Regional Government’s generally cordial relations with Iran, which have seen strong economic, energy and trade ties despite Iran’s sensitivities over the Kurdish issue.

5️⃣ It could further undermine Iran’s cordial ties with Turkiye, already weakened by the recent crisis in Syria, and be designed to drive Ankara back into Washington’s arms after years of cooling relations.

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⚡️ Pam Bondi announces Epstein list will be released tomorrow

The Attorney General says the delay in releasing the information is to protect the identities of more than 250 victims.

"It's pretty sick what this man did with his co-defendants," she remarked.

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🥴 Jean-Pierre says she fears Trump cabinet's approach to press

The former White House press secretary criticized the new administration's decision to strip the Correspondents Association of its right to admit journalists to presidential events.

Somehow, she was silent on the fact that Biden revoked more than 400 press credentials.

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⚡️ Hamas commits to ceasefire, ready for talks on phase 2

The only way to secure the release of the remaining Israeli prisoners is to honor the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the movement said, urging Israel not to backtrack.

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🇻🇪🛢 Trump ends Biden's Venezuela oil deal

Trump revokes Chevron's license to pump oil in Venezuela, citing Maduro's failure to fulfill migrant repatriation promises.

Biden's 2022 deal allowed 200K barrels/day — now scrapped.

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🇰🇵 FBI accuses North Korea in largest crypto theft

According to the FBI, hackers converted stolen $1.5bln into bitcoin via thousands of blockchain addresses.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou earlier confirmed on his X account that hackers were able to take control of the cold wallet containing Ethereum coins and transferred all crypto assets to an anonymous address.

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🌋 Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts again, spewing fountains of lava as high as 200m!

Footage from social media

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📹Secret Service director reflects on “life-changing” day standing with Donald Trump during Pennsylvania assassination attempt

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💯'You don't want to be at Guantanamo Bay' - Pentagon chief sends a clear message to illegal immigrant criminals

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Trump administration RESISTED mentioning ‘security guarantees’ in Ukraine minerals deal – report

The US “supports Ukraine’s effort to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace,” states a copy of the rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine, cited by The New York Times.

However, this vague phrase, which does not specifically commit the US to safeguarding Ukraine’s security, was reportedly only added after some back-and-forth between the Trump administration and Ukrainian officials.

The US side had “strenuously” pushed to EXCLUDE ALL MENTION OF SECURITY GUARANTEES from earlier versions of the agreement, a Ukrainian official was cited as saying.

Both Washington and Kiev officials confirmed on Tuesday that a final version had been agreed upon. On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced that Volodymyr Zelensky would be in Washington on Friday to sign the deal.

“I’m not going to provide security guarantees beyond very much,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, adding that “We’re going to have Europe do that.”

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💳DOGE deactivates 24,000 unused credit cards with $30B of spend last year

The audit is not finished and the number of deactivated cards "will likely double by the end of the week"

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🟠 Trump admin resisted mentioning ‘security guarantees’ in Ukraine minerals deal

🟠 Trump ends Biden's Venezuela oil deal

🟠 Epstein list to be released tomorrow

🟠 The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline and the US campaign to pressure Iran: how are they linked?

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⚡️The Russian delegation has arrived at the site of today's negotiations with their American counterparts at the US Consulate General in Istanbul.

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ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: Trump administration ELIMINATING over 90% of USAID foreign contracts

Following a 90-day review ordered by President Donald Trump, around 5,800 grants issued by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) valued at roughly $54 BILLION will be terminated, according to a State Department memo cited by the Washington Free Beacon.

That marks a 92% reduction in USAID's multi-year grant spending.

In addition to USAID, the audit also targeted foreign aid from the State Department, identifying $4.4 billion in grants for elimination.

🟠The State Department pledged to “reform the way the United States delivers foreign assistance” and address “decades of institutional drift,” as noted in the memo.

🟠Plans also include slashing USAID’s workforce from 10,000 to under 300, with remaining staff and responsibilities being transferred to the State Department.

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📹Situation in front of the US Consulate General. There are more journalists at the entrance. No press statement is expected after the US-Russia talks.

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💬 USAID used NGOs and paid media to push US agenda in Slovakia – Fico

“We should never intervene in the internal affairs of another country. Everybody has the right to select how they want to run their country,” the Slovak prime minister said in an interview with Mario Nawfal.

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