Well, Iran did escalate the face off yesterday and remains as problem number one.
They announced they will “No Longer Honor Limits on Nuclear Research, a Core Principle of the 2015 Accord”: This was Iran’s third retaliatory suspension of compliance with a provision of the accord since President Trump renounced it last year and reimposed severe sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s economy.
Their foreign minister (Mohammad Javad Zarif), conveyed the country’s latest step in a letter to Federica Mogherini, the top foreign policy official of the European Union, who has been trying to save the nuclear deal from unraveling.
So the pressure builds and Iran, despite Europe supporting the agreement and working with them, chooses to escalate and blame the U.S.
IRANIAN LEADERS have said they will not start talks with the United States unless sanctions are dropped. President Trump, for his part, reiterated that “dropping sanctions against Iran is not going to happen at this time.”
It’s a standoff and one that is causing Iran pain. They are so used to getting their way that they are — in my opinion — putting themselves in a corner. I guess they are counting on Europe and Japan to pressure the U.S.. I hope they realize this is President Trump and not Obama and Kerry they are dealing with.
I think the meeting yesterday at the White House between President Trump and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin to discuss a policy response to mass shootings is interesting. Manchin is one of the few Democrats the President can work with and if the two of them craft a policy it would be interesting. I for one, hope they come up with something. We need some action for sure.
Doug Collins, the Republican leader on the judiciary committee, announced yesterday he is going to run for the open senate seat in Georgia. A strong ally of the administration he will be an asset in the senate for them, but missed in congress.
The jobs report this AM should be soothing for the market. The number of new jobs created (130K) was not to the levels expected, but all other aspects were. Unemployment stayed at 3.7%, black unemployment was an all time low at 5.5%, Hispanic unemployment stayed 4.2% and Asian unemployment was 2.8%.
With manufacturing jobs up 3.8%, it doesn’t say “recession”, the word the left and media have been bantering about so much lately.
Have a great weekend.