Policy brief urges removal, not dilution, of Iran uranium stockpile

Iran has launched multiple drones toward commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday, according to a US official, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

The official said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been carrying out repeated drone launches targeting shipping lanes in the strategic waterway. US forces have intercepted the drones before they could threaten commercial or military vessels, the report said.

According to NBC News, the official added that the IRGC has launched multiple drones each night since the agreement was signed, and that the US military continues to coordinate with commercial shipping operators to support safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

US Vice President JD Vance defended the Iran-US agreement in media appearances on the Megyn Kelly Show and Fox News, rejecting criticism that the deal would hand Tehran large-scale financial benefits without conditions.

Vance said critics were “making the same mistake that a lot of Iranian propagandists are making,” adding they focus on “the benefits to the Iranians without any of the things the Iranians would have to give up and change.”

“Not a single cent of American money under any circumstance, no matter what the Iranians do, goes to Iran. If the Iranians have done everything we require them to do, then we will allow” third countries such as the UAE to invest in infrastructure projects in Iran," Vance said.

"If the Iranians transform how they interact with the world, we will transform how the world economy interacts with Iran," he added.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Tuesday expressed skepticism about upcoming US-Iran negotiations under a ceasefire framework, while saying the process should still be tested.

Speaking to CBS News, Graham said he is not yet sure whether the initial agreement is “a good or bad idea,” but said he supports efforts to reopen shipping lanes and end the conflict.

Graham said he remains skeptical about Iran but added that the effort is “worth a try,” saying, “you never know till you try.”

The tanker monitoring group Tanker Trackers reported on Tuesday that Iranian crude exports have resumed following what it described as a two-month naval blockade.

"AIS tracking data and satellite imagery showed at least two National Iranian Tanker Company VLCCs - DIONA and HERO2 - exiting the blockade perimeter carrying a combined 3.8 million barrels of crude oil. It said the shipments marked Iran’s first crude exports in two months," the group said in a post on X.

The group also reported that another tanker, STREAM, was approaching the perimeter after spending several weeks in waters near Pakistan’s exclusive economic zone.

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Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock on Tuesday questioned the rationale for the US war with Iran following a ceasefire agreement and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, saying the outcome appears to resemble the situation before the conflict began.

“The Strait of Hormuz, they're saying, will be reopened. Well, it was open before he started the war. I hope the war is over. but the question is, why were we in the war in the first place?” Warnock told CBS News.

Warnock said the US remains “a long way from what Donald Trump promised and what it looks like he's going to deliver,” and said the conflict “has not been good for America or its credibility.” Asked whether the US is safer, he said: “I don't think so.”