A Blockade, a Collapsed Campaign, and Irish Unrest

After 21 hours of face-to-face talks in Pakistan—the highest-level meeting between the U.S. and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution—Vice President Vance emerged before dawn Saturday with no deal. By Sunday, President Trump ordered the Navy to blockade Iranian ports. Meanwhile, the frontrunner for California governor, Democrat Eric Swalwell, suspended his campaign amid a cascade of sexual misconduct allegations, and protests over fuel costs and climate policy shut down highways across Ireland.

The Strait of Hormuz Blockade

The negotiations in Pakistan brought together Vice President Vance, special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Iran's Speaker of Parliament Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf—whom some in Washington reportedly view as the most palatable option among Iran's current leaders. After the talks collapsed, administration officials told the Daily Wire that U.S. red lines included freezing uranium enrichment, removing all existing enriched uranium from the country, dismantling enrichment facilities, fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, removing transport fees, and ending funding for terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. The White House indicated some wiggle room on economic sanctions, but President Trump was blunt: "I told my people I want everything. I don't want 90%. I don't want ninety-five percent.