INTERNACIONAL
President Trump’s negotiating team praised by nuclear experts for walking away from Pakistan talks
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With a second round of talks likely to take place between the U.S. and Iran’s regime this week over its illicit nuclear weapons programs, leading experts on Tehran’s program say the Trump administration was right to walk away.
After nearly a day of talks, Vice President JD Vance’s team pulled the plug on the negotiations taking place in Pakistan, something welcomed by experts in the field.
«The U.S. team was wise to walk away once it became clear the Iranians would not agree to Washington’s core nuclear demands. Tehran maintaining enriched uranium stocks and uranium enrichment capabilities provides it with a pathway to nuclear weapons, plain and simple,» Andrea Stricker, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ nonproliferation program, told Fox News Digital.
A core dispute between the U.S. and Iran is over Tehran’s desire to enrich uranium — the material used to build nuclear weapons.
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Vice President JD Vance spoke during a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 12, 2026, after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, special envoy for peace missions, listened during the event. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew from President Barack Obama’s nuclear weapons deal with Iran because his administration argued that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the deal, permitted Iran to build an atomic bomb.
When asked what a good nuclear agreement would look like, Stricker said, «A good deal requires the regime to not only turn over its nuclear fuel, dismantle key facilities, and commit to a permanent ban on enrichment, but to cooperate with an IAEA investigation that fully and completely accounts for and dismantles Iran’s nuclear weapons-relevant facilities, equipment, documentation, centrifuges and related production capabilities.»
Stricker acknowledged that the process could take several years, but noted that «the IAEA is well-equipped for this mission and has experience dismantling nuclear weapons programs in Iraq, Libya and South Africa. Anything less and Iran will likely cheat on its commitments and reconstitute a breakout pathway.»
TRUMP REVEALS IRAN MADE ‘SIGNIFICANT PROPOSAL’ AFTER ULTIMATUM, BUT ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’
Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday he opposes a reported proposal by the U.S. for a 20-year ban on Iran’s uranium enrichment under a potential deal.
«I appreciate President Donald Trump’s resolve to end the Iranian conflict peacefully and through diplomacy. However, we have to remember who we’re dealing with in Iran: terrorists, liars, and cheaters,» Graham posted on X.
«If this reporting is accurate, the idea that we would agree to a moratorium on enrichment rather than a ban on enrichment would be a mistake in my view,» he said.
«Would we agree to a moratorium for al Qaeda to enrich? No.»
In this photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, technicians work at the Arak heavy water reactor’s secondary circuit, as officials and media visit the site, near Arak, 150 miles southwest of the capital of Tehran, in December 2019. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran/AP)
A regional official from the Mideast confirmed to Fox News Digital that a 20-year moratorium on enriched uranium was made by the U.S. and rejected by the Islamic Republic.
David Albright, a physicist who is the founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, D.C., praised the U.S. decision to end the talks in Pakistan. Writing on his X account, which is closely followed by Iran watchers, he stated: «The U.S. was Right to Walk Away in Islamabad.»
Albright told Fox News Digital the move by the U.S. negotiators «makes it clear that this is not negotiating for negotiating’s sake. And leaving threw Iran on the defensive, signaling it as the losing state in the war. Moreover, the Iranians would not have shifted their positions in any significant way. They usually have no flexibility. But Iran wanted to have negotiations continue in order to try to tie the hands of the U.S. and Israel, while trying to portray themselves as victors. Now, Iran has to decide whether to accept the U.S. offer or risk war resuming.»
He added that a good nuclear deal for the U.S. would mean «no enrichment and no stocks of HEU [Highly Enriched Uranium] and LEU [Low Enriched Uranium]; Iran cooperating with the inspectors and verifiably ending its nuclear weapons program and providing a complete nuclear declaration, something it has never done.»
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Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were greeted by Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Gen. Asim Munir upon their arrival at Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on April 11, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AP)
Albright continued that «If Iran signals willingness to accept the U.S. position, meeting again makes sense.
«Iran has absolutely no need to enrich. Its only civil need is for a small amount of 20% enriched for its small research reactor, the Tehran Research Reactor, and it has enough 20% enriched uranium in fuel or nearly made into fuel stored in Iran and in Russia under JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] arrangements for 20 years.»
He concluded, «To be flip, and paraphrase Abbie Hoffman, I have the right to yell theater in a crowded fire, but I don’t. Iran’s emphasis on its right to enrich is as irrelevant and beside the point.»
nuclear terror, al qaeda terror, nuclear proliferation, war with iran, iran
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A U.S. destroyer interdicted two oil tankers that were trying to leave Iran on Tuesday, a U.S. official said, as part of the Trump administration’s blockade on Iranian ports.
The official told Reuters that the ships left Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman before being contacted by the U.S. warship through radio communication. The official added that the tankers were among the six vessels that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Tuesday obeyed orders from American forces to turn around and head back to an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman.
«More than 10,000 U.S. Sailors, Marines, and Airmen along with over a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft are executing the mission to blockade ships entering and departing Iranian ports,» CENTCOM said. «During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade and 6 merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.»
«The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,» it added. «U.S. forces are supporting freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.»
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U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that «U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports.» (CENTCOM)
The Pentagon did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the reported interdiction of the oil tankers.
«U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports. The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or leaving coastal areas or ports in Iran,» CENTCOM said Tuesday. «A typical destroyer has a crew of more than 300 Sailors that are highly trained in conducting offensive and defensive maritime operations.»
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S NEGOTIATING TEAM PRAISED BY NUCLEAR EXPERTS FOR WALKING AWAY FROM PAKISTAN TALKS
Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo)
CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper added in a statement that «a blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented as U.S. forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East.»
A satellite image shows the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, vital for global energy supply. (Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)
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Cooper said an estimated 90% of Iran’s economy is supported by international trade by sea.
«In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea,» he also said.
us navy, pentagon, war with iran, iran, us marines
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A federal judge ordered Delaware officials to turn over confidential employer and employee data to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), delivering a legal defeat to former President Joe Biden’s home state in a dispute over immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly ruled that the Delaware Department of Labor (DDOL) must comply with a federal subpoena seeking wage reports and employee records from 15 businesses as part of an investigation into the suspected hiring of undocumented workers.
Delaware officials argued they could refuse the request and warned that compliance would harm worker reporting and state programs, but Connolly rejected that position.
«This is a political argument; not a legal one,» Connolly wrote. «This Court is not the proper ‘forum in which to air [DDOL’s] generalized grievances about the conduct of government.’ It would be wholly inappropriate for me to consider this line of argument, and I decline to do so.»
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The J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware. A federal judge ordered the state’s labor department to turn over employer wage records to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of an immigration investigation. (Anadolu via Getty Images)
The records include employees’ names, Social Security numbers and wages reported to the state as part of its unemployment insurance system.
Federal investigators said the records will help identify potentially fraudulent Social Security numbers, compare reported employees to workers observed on-site and detect off-the-books labor.
Connolly, a Trump-appointed judge, wrote that the subpoena was lawful, relevant to a legitimate investigation and not overly burdensome for the state to fulfill.
The subpoena seeks 30 records covering two quarters for the 15 businesses, which the judge said would not be burdensome for the state to produce.
He also dismissed Delaware’s argument that sharing the data would harm its unemployment insurance system, calling the claim unsupported.
«I am neither willing nor able to adopt DDOL’s cynical view of the State’s employers,» Connolly wrote.
FEDERAL JUDGE WHO ORDERED NO WARRANTLESS ICE ARRESTS IN COLORADO ASSERTS DOJ NOT COMPLYING
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at work. A federal judge in Delaware ordered state officials to turn over labor data to ICE as part of an immigration investigation. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The ruling marks a setback for Delaware in its battle over ICE’s access to state labor data, as the federal government moves to expand immigration enforcement.
The court said Delaware officials ignored the subpoena and failed to respond even after a follow-up warning from federal prosecutors.
Delaware’s newly appointed U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wallace said the ruling reinforces that federal law applies broadly.
Wilmington, Delaware skyline on the Christina River at dusk. (Walter Bibikow/Getty Images)
«We are gratified that the court recognized the simple truth at the core of this case: federal law applies to everyone, whether they are a state or private entity, and whether they agree or disagree with the federal government’s policy priorities,» Wallace told the Delaware News Journal.
The dispute escalated after Delaware ignored multiple ICE subpoenas in early 2025, prompting the federal government to sue for enforcement. State officials have not said whether they plan to appeal.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Delaware Department of Labor, the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware and DHS and ICE for comment.
Read the ruling below.
immigration, federal judges, enforcement, delaware, justice department
La misión Artemis II marca un nuevo hito en la historia de la exploración espacial: después de más de 50 años, una tripulación humana regresó al entorno de la Luna. La nave fue más allá de la órbita terrestre baja, rodeó nuestro satélite y nos permitió contemplar su lado oculto.
En este contexto, es necesario mirarnos en la dimensión que nos abre este asombroso viaje lunar y valorar la adhesión del Ecuador a los Acuerdos Artemis en junio de 2023, firmada en Washington como el vigésimo sexto signatario. Fue una decisión de política exterior seria y meditada, con implicaciones estructurales para la inserción de nuestro país en el sistema internacional de este siglo.
En un mundo cada vez más fragmentado, donde la rivalidad entre grandes potencias tensiona el multilateralismo, el espacio ultraterrestre se configura como un dominio híbrido: campo de competencia estratégica y, al mismo tiempo, laboratorio privilegiado de cooperación internacional. Los Acuerdos Artemis, impulsados por Estados Unidos junto a otras naciones visionarias, buscan consolidar principios esenciales como el uso pacífico del espacio, la interoperabilidad de sistemas, la sostenibilidad de las actividades y la transparencia en la exploración.
Para un país como Ecuador, incorporarse a esta arquitectura en formación significa ocupar un lugar en la definición de las reglas de gobernanza de la emergente economía espacial, un sector que las proyecciones internacionales sitúan como uno de los principales motores del crecimiento global en las próximas décadas.
La cooperación espacial no es una idea lejana ni ajena a nuestra realidad. Puede generar beneficios concretos en áreas tan importantes como la agricultura, el monitoreo del ambiente y el clima, las telecomunicaciones, la medicina y la gestión de riesgos naturales. También puede impulsar el empleo calificado, transferencia tecnológica y atracción de inversión extranjera directa, herramientas indispensables para diversificar la matriz productiva y reducir su vulnerabilidad a los altibajos de las materias primas.
A estas ventajas se suma un activo geoestratégico único, frecuentemente subestimado y hasta ignorado: la posición ecuatorial del país. La Nasa ha explicado que estar sobre la línea equinoccial permite aprovechar mejor la rotación de la Tierra, lo que pudiera disminuir el uso de energía y combustible, además de reducir costos en determinados lanzamientos. A eso se suma otra ventaja importante: frente a varios puntos de salida, Ecuador tiene menos amenazas climáticas como huracanes o tornados, fenómenos que pueden alterar la programación de los despegues como ocurrió en la misión Artemis I, en 2022, cuya salida tuvo que postergarse.
Sin embargo, la adhesión a los Acuerdos Artemis por sí sola no basta. El desafío radica en transformar ese paso inicial en una política de Estado con continuidad, visión y ejecución. Ello exige al menos cuatro líneas de acción convergentes: 1) la formulación de una estrategia nacional aeroespacial integral; 2) el fortalecimiento de alianzas público-privadas con actores líderes del sector; 3) la inversión sostenida en educación STEM (ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería y matemáticas) desde la básica hasta la universitaria; y 4) una participación de liderazgo y propositiva en los foros de gobernanza de los Acuerdos Artemis.
La cooperación con Estados Unidos en este ámbito se enmarca, además, en un contexto más amplio de relaciones diplomáticas basadas en intereses compartidos y vínculos previsibles y orientados al largo plazo.
Con Artemis II habiendo culminado su audaz periplo lunar, la ventana de oportunidad permanece abierta, pero no es ilimitada. La historia reciente enseña que las naciones que logran posicionarse en sectores emergentes son aquellas que logran alinear ambición estratégica, continuidad política y capacidad de ejecución.
Pero este desafío no es únicamente nacional. Es, sobre todo, regional. América Latina enfrenta una disyuntiva histórica: continuar como espectadora periférica de la nueva economía espacial o articularse como bloque capaz de generar capacidades propias, insertarse en cadenas globales de valor y negociar desde una posición de mayor densidad estratégica. La fragmentación regional, que ha limitado históricamente la proyección internacional del continente, constituye hoy el principal obstáculo —más incluso que las restricciones tecnológicas o financieras.
En el mito griego, Apolo -dios de la luz, la profecía y la razón- guiaba a los héroes hacia lo desconocido, iluminando caminos que parecían imposibles. Hoy, en esta era de exploración renovada, el programa Artemis, heredero simbólico de aquel espíritu, representa el progreso humano.
América Latina, al unirse en esta gran empresa compartida, no solo abraza una oportunidad tecnológica o económica. Reafirma un compromiso civilizatorio con el uso pacífico del espacio, con la innovación como motor de desarrollo y con una alianza estratégica basada en valores comunes de libertad, democracia y búsqueda del conocimiento. La próxima frontera de nuestro progreso no es solo lunar o tecnológica. Es, ante todo, estratégica y moral.
* Guillermo Lasso Mendoza es el expresidente de Ecuador
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