INTERNACIONAL
Mike Waltz says Gulf allies back Trump’s Iran pressure campaign after regional trip: ‘Zero daylight’
Dan Hoffman questions Iran’s readiness to negotiate a deal
Former CIA Chief of Station Dan Hoffman discusses the potential Iran deal, expressing doubt about its sincerity. He highlights U.S. military strikes, sanctions and blockades as key leverage points. Hoffman questions whether Iran’s recent ‘maximalist demands’ indicate a genuine desire for a breakthrough after intense pressure.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Gulf allies are backing President Donald Trump’s blockade and economic pressure campaign against Iran, telling Fox News Digital after a trip to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom that regional leaders believe Tehran is feeling the pain.
Waltz spoke to Fox News Digital on Thursday evening shortly after landing back in the United States, as reports of a possible deal with Iran began to emerge. He said the situation was still shifting by the hour, noting that Iran had launched another strike on Bahrain shortly after he left the region.
Waltz, the highest-level U.S. official to visit the region since the war began, said Gulf partners strongly support the administration’s efforts to keep pressure on Iran through both the blockade and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s «Operation Economic Fury.»
SCOTT BESSENT SAYS IRAN UNDERSTANDS ‘BRUTE FORCE’ AS TRUMP WEIGHS OPTIONS AMID NUCLEAR STANDOFF
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz is joined by Ambassador Jamal Fares Alrowaiei of Bahrain (left), Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates Mohamed Issa Abushahab,(right) and other Gulf states ambassadors as he speaks to reporters after the passing of a U.N. Security Council draft resolution on the situation with ships in the Strait of Hormuz on May 7, 2026 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
«They very much support the blockade,» Waltz said, adding that allies shared with him «in a number of ways» how Bessent’s economic campaign is affecting the regime. The pressure campaign, Waltz said, is designed to squeeze Tehran while Trump continues negotiations aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
On Friday, an unnamed U.S. official told reporters in a briefing: «We do expect to be signing this agreement with Iran over the next few days. We assess it at 85%, but not 100%. We feel very good about the deal. We are not quite at the finish line, but we are very close»
Waltz said, «The UAE, in particular, believes that you have to keep that pressure and a very credible pressure,» he told Fox News Digital. «That’s what the Iranians understand and respond to.»
Waltz said leaders in the region validated U.S. assessments that Iran’s economy is deteriorating under the combined weight of sanctions, military pressure and isolation. He said Iran’s currency is «tanking,» foreign currency reserves are running out, inflation is continuing to rise and the regime is struggling to pay the military, government employees and police.
TRUMP’S ‘ECONOMIC FURY’ SQUEEZES IRAN — BUT CAN TEHRAN OUTLAST THE PRESSURE?
An Emirates aircraft flies past plumes of smoke from a fire near Dubai International Airport in Dubai on March 16, 2026, following missile and drone attacks across the UAE. (AFP/Getty Images)
«I think the regime is going to be increasingly desperate,» Waltz said, adding that Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would use that pressure «to their advantage.»
In the UAE, Waltz met with President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and the foreign minister, describing the Emiratis as among the most active regional partners against Iran. «There is zero daylight,» Waltz said.
Waltz added the UAE has «both the capability and the will» to act, and said the Emiratis are prepared to take «short-term pain» to achieve the longer-term goal of blocking Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The UAE has been hit hard during the war. Waltz said the country had taken «by far the most missiles, the most drones, the most hits,» but had moved quickly to repair damage and restore operations.
Aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on a Navy 5th Fleet installation in Bahrain is shown above. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Waltz also pointed to the Abraham Accords as a major factor in the UAE’s posture, saying the country’s growing partnership with Israel has become an «important shift» in the regional alignment against Iran.
Bahrain was another central stop on Waltz’s trip. The country hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and has been directly exposed to Iran’s attacks and threats around the Strait of Hormuz.
MIKE WALTZ PUSHES UN RESOLUTION TO STOP IRAN MINING KEY GLOBAL SHIPPING ROUTE
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz speaks at an emergency Security Council meeting on the situation in Iran at United Nations headquarters on Feb. 28, 2026 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
«Until you go and really sit with them, you can’t appreciate what a strong ally they are,» Waltz said.
He said U.S. and allied teams in Bahrain are working with global shipping companies, local shipping officials, insurance companies and other maritime actors as the U.S. seeks to keep vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.
Waltz accused Iran of making a «phenomenally bad decision» by attacking its neighbors, including hotels, port facilities and energy infrastructure. During one visit to a petroleum site, he said he saw evidence that Iran had targeted fire suppression systems and first responders before striking storage tanks, in an apparent effort to maximize damage.
A billboard depicting Iran’s supreme leaders since 1979: (L to R) Ayatollahs Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026), and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) is displayed above a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026. Iran marked the appointment of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father as its supreme leader on March 9, 2026. (AFP/Via Getty Images)
«The Iranians were deliberately targeting fire suppression systems,» Waltz said. «They were deliberately targeting first responders first.»
Despite the strikes, Waltz said allied air defenses have had «over a 90% success rate» in shooting down Iranian missiles and drones, with U.S. forces working «hand in glove» with Gulf partners.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Waltz ended his trip in the United Kingdom, where he said officials have been strong partners at the U.N. Security Council on Iran. He acknowledged «hiccups» and «speed bumps» over basing and access issues, but said many of those concerns had been «smoothed over.»
«When we’re working to keep the Iranians isolated diplomatically,» Waltz said, «they’ve been very good to work with.»
war with iran, middle east, united nations, iran, sanctions
INTERNACIONAL
«Quedé en la calle, hermano, con mis hijos»: miles de venezolanos se agolpan en campos de desplazados como en un país en guerra
INTERNACIONAL
Sanctuary county refused 615 ICE transfer requests, turned over just 11 illegal immigrants, records show
Angel mom Cheryl Minter demands accountability from Fairfax DA
The House GOP grilled Fairfax DA Steve Descano over his controversial soft-on-crime record, particularly his office’s leniency toward illegal immigrant criminals. During powerful testimony, Angel Mom Cheryl Minter detailed how her daughter’s murder by an alleged illegal alien with over 30 prior arrests highlighted the tragic consequences.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
FIRST ON FOX: Records obtained by a conservative legal group show Fairfax County, Virginia, declined to transfer 615 illegal immigrants to ICE over the past 16 months, while turning over just 11.
Fairfax County, whose board includes one Republican supervisor for what is the most populous jurisdiction in the Old Dominion, formally designated itself a sanctuary jurisdiction in 2021 after passing the Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy or «Trust Policy.»
America First Legal filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the county seeking records from the office of Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid, who testified at a contentious House hearing earlier this spring on Fairfax’s reluctance to cooperate with federal law enforcement.
The data, obtained directly from a Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office document, showed that for the entirety of 2025, Kincaid’s office refused to transfer 448 illegal immigrants to the Department of Homeland Security for processing and instead only turned over a total of nine to ICE. During the first four months of 2026, Fairfax declined to transfer another 167 illegal immigrants, while turning over only two.
WATCH: ANGEL MOM TURNS TABLES ON SANCTUARY POLITICIANS WITH BASIC QUESTION ABOUT THEIR PRIORITIES
Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid (Eva Russo/Getty Images)
Since then, county policy has barred law enforcement from honoring ICE civil detainers or otherwise assisting with federal immigration enforcement.
America First Legal (AFL), which first obtained the data, placed much of the blame on Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephen Descano, who sat beside Kincaid at the recent hearing and faced sharp questioning from Republicans over his prosecutorial discretion in cases involving illegal immigrants arrested in the county.
SOROS-BACKED DA’S LAX ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION POLICIES LED TO ‘PREVENTABLE’ BUS STOP STABBING MURDER: COMPLAINT
AFL said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital that Fairfax’s overall framework encourages recidivism by illegal immigrant offenders and has directly led to several gruesome cases, including the murder of Fredericksburg, Virginia, woman Stephanie Minter, whose alleged killer is an illegal immigrant from West Africa with a lengthy criminal record in Fairfax County.
AFL noted that Descano is under investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division over claims U.S. citizens are effectively discriminated against because of the prosecutor’s stated preferential policies, which appeared on his campaign pages and elsewhere and were highlighted by Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock, R-Calif., and others during the hearing.
The group pointed to fatal stabbings; the alleged assault of a woman on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, a popular rail trail spanning from Washington, D.C., to Purcellville that has long been considered safe; and other crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants who, it said, received light sentences or had charges dropped.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BLUE STATE’S LAW PROHIBITING ICE AGENTS FROM WEARING MASKS ON THE JOB
Descano has long defended his prosecutorial discretion as evidence-based and handled on a case-by-case basis.
A Descano spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday that the DOJ’s probe is politically motivated and has «distort[ed] the office’s policy.» The spokesperson also said the notice appeared to arrive intentionally just before Descano testified before McClintock.
«Our office’s policies are fair, legal and reflect the values of Fairfax County, and we will not be distracted from our mission of keeping this community safe and holding individuals accountable when they commit crimes,» the spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Kincaid’s office for comment.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, left, and Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid, right, testify before Congress. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)
AFL counsel Will Scolinos rejected the county’s defense, telling Fox News Digital that tragic cases such as Minter’s murder are the product of the Trust Policy and the shielding of «hundreds of illegal aliens … from federal law enforcement.»
«This deliberate obstruction by county officials protects illegal alien lawbreakers and endangers every family in Northern Virginia,» Scolinos said. «For too many families, it is already too late. But to protect other Virginians from future crimes at the hands of illegal aliens with prior arrests, Fairfax County must reverse this reckless, anti-American governance immediately.»
In the most recent month recorded, April 2026, 32 illegal immigrants were listed as being in the sheriff’s office’s custody, with none released to ICE. All 32 were subject to an «informed detainer,» and three were listed as convicted.
AFL also noted that Santa Clara County, California — home to the San Francisco 49ers’ new stadium — informed the group that it received 529 ICE detainer requests in 2025 and honored none.
SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER
«If each detainer represents a unique illegal alien, an average of 1.34 arrested illegal aliens were released into Santa Clara every day,» AFL said in April.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The numbers reflect a pattern that is expected to continue drawing scrutiny from the Trump administration and groups such as AFL, which has also sought data from sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide.
Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.
sanctuary cities, virginia, migrant crime, illegal immigrants, politics
INTERNACIONAL
Trump calificó de “ridícula” la relación de Estados Unidos con la OTAN y volvió exigir que Europa aumente el gasto militar
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, calificó este viernes de “ridícula” la relación de su país con la OTAN, afirmó que el vínculo es “unilateral” y volvió a reclamar que los aliados europeos asuman una mayor responsabilidad en materia de defensa, a pocos días de la cumbre de la alianza que se celebrará el 7 y 8 de julio en Ankara, Turquía.
Trump publicó su mensaje en la red social Truth Social, donde cuestionó el compromiso de los países europeos con la alianza. “¡Ellos no estuvieron ahí para nosotros!”, escribió el mandatario. Además, sostuvo que la relación entre Washington y la OTAN “no es recíproca” y consideró “ridícula” la continuidad de un esquema que definió como “unilateral” para Estados Unidos.
El mandatario volvió a apuntar contra los aliados europeos por su respuesta a la guerra en Irán. En distintas ocasiones cuestionó que varios países restringieran el uso de bases militares por parte de las fuerzas estadounidenses y reiteró que Europa debe asumir el liderazgo de su propia defensa, mientras Washington reduce parte de sus compromisos militares en el continente.
Trump acompañó su publicación con un gráfico sobre el gasto militar de los miembros de la OTAN, en el que mostró que Estados Unidos destina una inversión ampliamente superior a la de varios países de la alianza.
Las declaraciones llegaron menos de una semana antes de la cumbre de la OTAN en Ankara, donde los líderes de los 32 Estados miembros debatirán el futuro de la seguridad europea, el reparto de responsabilidades dentro de la alianza y el fortalecimiento de las capacidades militares.
En ese contexto, el embajador de Estados Unidos ante la OTAN, Matthew Whitaker, reforzó el mensaje de la Casa Blanca y reclamó que todos los aliados aceleren el cumplimiento del compromiso de elevar el gasto en defensa al 5% del Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) para 2035.
“Algunos aliados están haciendo más que otros, y tenemos países como Polonia, los países nórdicos, los bálticos y Alemania a la cabeza”, afirmó Whitaker ante periodistas.
Sin embargo, advirtió que “tenemos algunos que se están quedando atrás, que o bien no están gastando lo suficiente en este momento o no tienen una vía creíble para llegar al compromiso de defensa de La Haya”.
El diplomático recordó que los líderes de la OTAN acordaron el año pasado aumentar el gasto relacionado con la defensa hasta el 5% del PIB para 2035, una meta impulsada por Trump.
Whitaker sostuvo que el presidente estadounidense “espera plenamente que todos los aliados den un paso al frente de inmediato y se pongan en el camino hacia el cinco por ciento, y que lo hagan con urgencia”.
El embajador también aseguró que las diferencias recientes entre Washington y algunos socios europeos respondieron al deterioro de las relaciones personales entre dirigentes y afirmó que “esos tiempos ya pasaron”.
Además, señaló a España por haber “decepcionado” a Trump debido a su postura respecto de la guerra en Irán y por su “falta de voluntad para demostrar un camino creíble hacia el cinco por ciento” del PIB en gasto de defensa.
Pese a esas críticas, Whitaker indicó que no espera un enfrentamiento entre Trump y el presidente del Gobierno español, Pedro Sánchez, durante la cumbre.
El funcionario estadounidense también sostuvo que el aumento del gasto debe traducirse en capacidades militares concretas. “El objetivo es claro: seguir trasladando la responsabilidad de la defensa convencional de Europa a nuestros aliados de la OTAN”, afirmó. Asimismo, agregó: “Estados Unidos no va a desaparecer, pero tenemos responsabilidades a nivel mundial”.
Otro de los temas previstos para la reunión será el fortalecimiento de la industria de defensa a ambos lados del Atlántico. Whitaker expresó el respaldo de Washington a los esfuerzos de la Unión Europea para ampliar la producción militar, aunque advirtió sobre iniciativas que puedan excluir a empresas estadounidenses.
“Desde luego, no apoyamos el lenguaje proteccionista que a menudo incluyen muchas de las iniciativas de defensa europeas, que excluiría a los aliados”, señaló. Por último, sostuvo: “Ese es un tema que podría surgir durante la cumbre y esperamos poder llegar a un acuerdo sobre ese desafío”.
(Con información de AFP)
Europe
El Gobierno se enfoca en la estrategia parlamentaria y diseña un plan para reflotar tres proyectos clave
Milei quiere prohibir por ley la emisión de pesos para financiar el déficit: similitudes y diferencias con el modelo peruano
La ciudad europea que vincula a la mayoría de los jugadores de Cabo Verde con las exportaciones argentinas a Europa
Mónica Ayos y Diego Olivera visitaron a Marcelo Tinelli en Infobae Mundial: “La mejor pareja de actores argentinos”
Este lunes se conocerá la pena que pedirá la Fiscalía paraguaya para Edgardo Kueider por ingresar USD 200 mil sin declarar
«Quedé en la calle, hermano, con mis hijos»: miles de venezolanos se agolpan en campos de desplazados como en un país en guerra
Con la incorporación de Santilli al Gabinete, el Gobierno relanza su estrategia para las elecciones 2027
Irán dilata nuevas reuniones con Estados Unidos e insiste en arancelar el paso por estrecho de Ormuz: se reunió con Omán
Exportadores y el sindicato de aceiteros acordaron un aumento de sueldo para todo 2026
En medio de su separación, Magui Bravi contó por primera vez su traumático embarazo: «El parto fue de emergencia y…»
POLITICA2 días agoCon la incorporación de Santilli al Gabinete, el Gobierno relanza su estrategia para las elecciones 2027
- CHIMENTOS21 horas ago
En medio de su separación, Magui Bravi contó por primera vez su traumático embarazo: «El parto fue de emergencia y…»
- ECONOMIA22 horas ago
¿Se recupera el mercado de los autos?: qué muestran los números de las cinco marcas que más 0 km venden en el país
