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Iran could use detained Americans as ‘sweetener’ in nuclear talks, ex-hostage envoy warns

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A former lead hostage negotiator under the first Trump and Biden administrations warned that the Iranians are tougher negotiators than the Russians, Chinese and even the Taliban, noting that several Americans are still wrongfully detained in Iran and should be included in any peace talks. 

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Roger Carstens, the U.S. former Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, said in an interview with Fox News that six American citizens are being held captive in Iranian prisons — each of them previously held in Evin prison in Tehran, known for its harsh conditions. He said the Iranians will likely use the American hostages as a «sweetener» to ensure negotiations go in «the direction of Iran» as the United States seeks a nuclear deal and permanent ceasefire. 

«Strangely, the Russians, the Chinese, the Taliban, the Venezuelans, when you start getting into hostage discussions, they tell the truth and they stick to what they promise. You can do a handshake deal with the Taliban, and they’re going to follow through,» Carstens said. «The Iranians. Absolutely not.»

While Carstens remains confident that U.S. negotiators can secure the return of the six Americans, he stated that Iran is unlike any other foreign government he’s worked with and can’t be trusted.

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MORNING GLORY: THE US-IRAN NEGOTIATIONS IN ISLAMABAD BECAME REYKJAVÍK 2.0

Roger D. Carstens poses in the Getty Images Portrait Studio Presented by IMDb and IMDbPro at SXSW 2025 on March 09, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Robby Klein)

He said the Iranians are the sort of negotiators likely to pull a «fast one» right up until the last moment.  

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«You cannot trust the Iranians up until the last second,» Carstens said. «If you were landing a plane in either Geneva or even Tehran, to get your Americans, you better be out there with a clipboard making sure that the people coming on the plane are the people that you bargained for.»

Only two of the American hostages have been publicly identified: Kamran Hekmati, 61, and Reza Valizadeh, 49.

A motorist riding past a banner with images of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran

A motorist rides past a banner featuring images of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba Khamenei along a street in Tehran on April 15, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)

Hekmati is a Jewish American who also holds Iranian citizenship. He was imprisoned 11 months ago after being charged and convicted of visiting Israel in the past 10 years.

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Like Hekmati, Valizadeh holds dual Iranian and American citizenship. He previously worked for the U.S.-funded Radio Farda, covering corruption and election manipulation in Iran. Valizadeh was arrested in September 2024 during a visit to see family and was sentenced after being convicted of working with a hostile government.

SEN TIM SHEEHY: GOLD STAR FAMILIES DESERVE JUSTICE. THIS $15B FROM IRAN IS A START

Entrance of Evin prison in Tehran, Iran

A view of the entrance of Evin prison in Tehran, Iran Oct. 17, 2022. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA)

Carstens suggested it was unlikely there was any time for the Americans and Iranians to discuss the release of the six Americans during the 21-hour marathon peace talks in Pakistan earlier this month. 

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MEET IRAN’S HARDLINE SPEAKER WHO THREATENED TO BURN US FORCES — REPORTEDLY TEHRAN’S POINT MAN FOR TALKS

«I think the Iranians are going to be smart enough to keep these people healthy and ready to throw on to a negotiating table,» Carstens said. «The question in my mind during these negotiations is not whether they’ll be at risk or pulled off, but rather, what’s it going to take, and how will we, the United States, value them [the hostages]?»

President Donald Trump does not mention the release of American hostages in his four objectives for ending the Iran war. Carstens is calling for the return of the hostages to be a fifth objective.

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President Donald Trump sitting in front of an American flag during a cabinet meeting

President Donald Trump hosted his second Cabinet meeting of 2026 and the 11th of his presidency. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg)

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«Let’s make this an official ask, and when we go in, not only ask for it officially, but hold ourselves accountable to getting the job done,» Carstens said. «The good news is Trump has a great record in bringing Americans home.»

A senior White House official told Fox News Digital that future peace talks with Iran are under discussion, but nothing has yet been scheduled.

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«President Trump is always concerned about Americans detained abroad, which is why he has brought over 100 individuals — a record number — home from around the world,» White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for additional comment.

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war with iran, iran, treaties, donald trump, white house

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Trump demands Thune keep Senate in session until SAVE America Act passes

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President Donald Trump doesn’t want the Senate to leave town with his flagship election security measure still on the line.

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It’s less than two weeks until the upper chamber makes a jailbreak from Washington, D.C., and the schedule is already jam-packed with key items, from blockbuster confirmations to a long-awaited sanctions package targeting Russia.

But only one legislative priority matters to Trump: the SAVE America Act. And despite the political reality in the Senate, the president wants the bill passed by any means necessary.

TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT STALLS AS MCCONNELL’S ABSENCE COMPLICATES SENATE PATH

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Congressional Republicans, President Donald Trump and the GOP base want voter ID turned into law, but one barrier stands in the way: the political reality of the Senate. (Leon Neal/Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

«John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep-throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929,» Trump declared on Truth Social.

«The Dumocrats will do it on day one and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership,» he continued. «Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!»

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GOP RIFT GROWS AS THUNE HITS BRAKES ON TRUMP’S ELECTION BILL TO AVERT SHUTDOWN

While Congress’ annual break during August is often viewed outside the Beltway as vacation time for lawmakers, during a midterm election year, it allows for crucial hours on the road for incumbents to have face time with voters and make their pitch to keep their seat.

Republicans are hungry to campaign and sell their agenda, particularly last year’s tax cut package, Trump’s «one big, beautiful bill,» but are facing headwinds from the war in Iran and affordability issues.

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And there are three races on the 2026 map that are troubling for the Senate GOP in its quest to maintain its majority: Maine, Alaska and Ohio.

Still, Trump has warned that unless the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, they will suffer the consequences at the ballot box, and he has routinely called for the elimination of the filibuster for many of his priorities, but neither has the votes to happen in the upper chamber.

TRUMP’S PATIENCE ‘RUNNING OUT’ AS THUNE FIRES BACK OVER STALLED ELECTION SECURITY BILL

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Sen. Mike Lee speaks at Capitol press conference on election legislation

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, spoke during a news conference about the SAVE America Act at the U.S. Capitol on March 19, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

It comes as tensions between the White House and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., are on the rise.

Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned that Trump’s patience was «running out» with Thune over the legislation, which prompted the top Senate Republican to fire back that the White House should focus its energy on Democrats blocking the SAVE America Act and work the phones to get Republicans to a «yes» vote.

Trump is also not alone in his push for Thune to cancel the upcoming break.

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Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ashley Moody, R-Fla., have all announced their intent online to object to Thune calling for recess toward the end of this work period.

«I hereby object to any effort to put the Senate into recess in August — at least until such time as the Senate has passed the SAVE America Act — and hereby request a roll call vote,» Lee said on X.

«Do not assume you have my consent,» he continued. «You do not.»

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Typically, recess or state work periods are a consent exercise in the Senate, meaning that all lawmakers agree to skip town and head back to their states to do work on the ground. But a single senator can object on the Senate floor and force a vote to decide whether the upper chamber stays or goes.

Trump and the GOP trio’s demands come at an inflection point in the Senate.

Thune has prioritized averting a government shutdown and is encouraging ongoing negotiations between Republicans and Democrats to hammer out a deal before the break begins. He’s threatened to hold the House-passed budget resolution that would, among other things, set up a rough framework to pass the SAVE America Act through budget reconciliation.

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All that comes after he and other Republicans have made clear the political reality that SAVE America Act, as written, does not have the votes to pass in the upper chamber, neither from Democrats nor the GOP.

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And whether the legislation, or a version of it, can survive the reconciliation process remains to be seen, given that, as written, the SAVE America Act is primarily policy and doesn’t have a budgetary impact — a key requirement of the party line process.

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«It’s still likely to be a 60-vote exercise, even if it’s done with a budget resolution,» Thune told Fox News Digital. «Unless it’s done with, you know, structured to allow grants to states that’s incentive-based, and principally budgetary, not policy.»

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¿Fueron nazis tus abuelos? La base de datos que revela el pasado oculto de millones de alemanes

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Millones de alemanes tuvieron un carnet del NSDAP (el partido nazi de Adolf Hitler) desde mediados de los años 30 y hasta 1945. No era obligatorio en la Alemania nazi ser miembro del partido, pero abría puertas, además de que muchos lo fueron por convencimiento.

Décadas después, los alemanes empezaron a interesarse por el pasado de sus padres y abuelos. ¿Fueron nazis? Durante muchos años la única forma de saberlo era acudir a un archivo nacional, hacer una solicitud formal y esperar meses. Muchas veces la respuesta, si llegaba, era incompleta. El proceso era largo y pesado y con los años se fue usando cada vez menos y quedaran básicamente para el acceso de historiadores.

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En febrero, el Archivo Nacional de Estados Unidos completó la digitalización de los microfilmes que el Ejército estadounidense había incautado en 1945 en Múnich tras la ocupación de Alemania.

Aquellos microfilmes fueron al Berlin Document Center, controlado por el ocupante estadounidense. En total, entre el archivo de Berlín y varios archivos regionales, había 10,9 millones de fichas de miembros del partido nazi. El archivo que fue creando la democracia alemana tras la guerra, que heredó todos esos fondos en 1994, suma 12,7 millones de fichas.

Esos 12,7 millones de documentos ya estaban digitalizados, pero no se podía acceder a ellos online debido a las leyes de protección de datos personales. El acceso seguía siendo a través de solicitudes individuales. Los documentos originales fueron devueltos por Estados Unidos a Alemania en la década de los 90 del siglo pasado y forman parte del Archivo Federal Alemán (Bundesarchiv).

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Estados Unidos acabó con esos obstáculos. La publicación en internet del archivo estadounidense hizo que los grandes medios de comunicación alemanes, como Die Zeit, Der Spiegel o Süddeutsche Zeitung, crearan motores de búsqueda propios conectados a esa base de datos. Con ayuda de tecnología de reconocimiento óptico de caracteres e inteligencia artificial, esos motores de búsqueda llegan a las fichas en cuestión de segundos.

En las primeras semanas más de un millón de alemanes se volcó a investigar si sus antepasados habían sido oficialmente miembros del partido de Hitler. Der Spiegel llegó a preguntar directamente a sus lectores si sus abuelos habían sido nazis.

Las fichas que tiene online el archivo estadounidense incluyen fecha y lugar de nacimiento, profesión y, en algunos casos, una fotografía, además del número de carnet del afiliado al partido nazi y la fecha de su afiliación. Los expertos consultados por los medios alemanes aseguran que casi el 90% de los afiliados al partido nazi están en esos archivos.

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Mientras muchos alemanes se van llevando la mala sorpresa de descubrir que sus parientes habían ingresado en el partido nazi, los historiadores recuerdan que hay un dato importante que sirve para contextualizar esa afiliación: la fecha.

En Alemania siempre se ha entendido que cuanto antes sea la afiliación al partido, más convencimiento personal de las bondades del nazismo tenía esa persona. Y que quienes se afiliaron antes de 1933, antes de la toma del poder por Adolf Hitler, tenían en su inmensa mayoría una convicción ideológica real.

Cuando Hitler llega al poder hay una masiva afiliación, que se entiende porque los alemanes empiezan a darse cuenta de que sin estar afiliado al partido todo se hace más difícil social y laboralmente. Los expertos también explican que, para hacer un informe correctamente habría que cruzar las fichas de afiliación al partido nazi con informes posteriores a la derrota alemana sobre desnazificación y con historiales militares.

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La puesta a disposición de cualquier persona de esos millones de fichas llega cuando el partido Alternativa por Alemania (AfD), de los más a la ultraderecha de Europa y con altos cargos conectados con grupúsculos neonazis y el servicio secreto tras sus pasos, aparece en los sondeos electorales como la primera fuerza política alemana de convocarse hoy unas elecciones legislativas.

AfD reclama desde su nacimiento hace más de una década que el país debe abandonar de una vez su culpa histórica por su pasado nazi y dedicarse al orgullo nacional. Ochenta y un años después del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y del nazismo apenas quedan alemanes vivos que recuerden aquellos años. Los protagonistas del nazismo están todos muertos.

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‘Allah commanded me’: Three women stabbed in Paris, crowd subdues suspect

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The suspect subdued after allegedly stabbing three women in Paris on Monday uttered, «it is Allah who commanded me» to a crowd that appeared to be holding him down after the apparent terror attack.

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The incident comes just days after another stabbing attack in England and a vehicular attack on a Pride parade in Berlin, Germany.

A 31-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, was seen on the ground after allegedly stabbing three women, one of whom was reportedly pregnant.

WITNESSES RECOUNT ‘SCARY’ NYC STABBING AFTER SUSPECT ALLEGEDLY YELLED ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’ DURING ATTACKS

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Law enforcement patrol immediately following a stabbing attack in Paris on July 27, 2026. (Kenzo Tribouillard/Getty Images)

French outlet «Le Figaro» reported his utterances translated to «it is Allah who commanded me» as police sources told the outlet the suspect has an «unbalanced» profile.

While many observers, including on X, immediately pointed to Islamic terrorism, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he wanted to be «very careful about the motive for this violent act,» pointing to the suspect’s «incoherent remarks.»

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Another translation of the exchange quotes one man as responding, «there is no Allah, bro,» after the suspect allegedly attributed the stabbing to Allah, while another person says the crowd must «stampede this son of a b—-.»

AMERICAN TOURISTS STABBED OUTSIDE ATHENS’ ACROPOLIS AS POLICE DETAIN SUSPECT IN APPARENT RANDOM ATTACK

«No, seriously, he’s crazy,» a third person is quoted as saying in French.

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«He stabbed my girl here,» a woman says in French.

The suspect reportedly attacked women at the Two Domes brewery in the Porte de Clichy section of the French capital.

AT LEAST 1 DEAD, SEVERAL INJURED AFTER VAN RAMS INTO CROWD AT PRIDE FESTIVAL; SUSPECT ‘KNOWN TO POLICE’

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Two victims were listed in «absolute emergency» condition, while the third was listed in «relative emergency» condition, according to local press.

Reuters reported it had verified imagery of the suspect stabbing one woman while holding a knife in each hand.

The Paris-area attack comes two days after six men were arrested for «suspicion of murder» in connection with the stabbing of a 22-year-old man in Clapham, southwest London, United Kingdom, last week.

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Metropolitan Police told the BBC the victim died after being stabbed at around 4:30 a.m. local time Saturday near Clapham High Street.

In Berlin, one person was pronounced dead and 29 were wounded after a suspect — later killed by German police — allegedly drove a vehicle into the public gathering.

The suspect in that case, Abdul Ballout, had German citizenship but «Lebanese roots,» according to the Associated Press.

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The outlet reported German officials are considering whether it was an act of Islamic extremism.

The cascade of violent incidents comes months after the White House released a National Security Strategy warning of «civilizational erasure» in Europe due to mass migration and demographic shifts, while highlighting a spate of terror attacks carried out by migrants.

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Stabbing attack in Paris

French police work a crime scene in Paris on July 27, 2026 following a stabbing attack. (Kenzo Tribouillard/Getty Images)

The White House pointed to a range of European data to support the administration’s concerns, citing studies showing asylum migration costing the Netherlands €475,000 per migrant, illegal immigration costing France €1.8 billion in 2023 and non-Western migrants committing disproportionate shares of violent crime in Denmark and Germany.

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The immigration status of the suspects in the three most recent attacks was not immediately confirmed.

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Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.



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