๐บ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ท U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Iran:
We created a dollar shortage in the country.
It came to a swift and, I would say, grand culmination in December when one of the largest banks in Iran went under. There was a run on the bank. The central bank had to print money.
The Iranian currency went into free fall, inflation exploded, and as a result, weโve seen the Iranian people out on the streets.
๐บ๐ธ Jes Staley, then CEO of Barclays, told Epstein he had no need to fear popular uprisings against financial elites, because capitalism and pop culture have pacified social movements and people now prefer consumer goods over social justice.

๐บ๐ธ๐ท๐บ The U.S. and Russia are nearing an understanding to continue adhering to the limits of the New START arms control treaty after it formally expires today, according to Axios.
โก๏ธ The proposed arrangement still requires approval from both presidents, with talks having been ongoing in Abu Dhabi over the past day, though no final agreement has been sealed.
โก๏ธ While the treaty will officially lapse, a U.S. official said the extension would not be legally binding. Instead, both sides have agreed to continue observing its provisions while negotiating a successor agreement.
โก๏ธ One key reason the White House has been hesitant about extending New START is that the treaty does not place limits on China, whose nuclear arsenal remains smaller than those of the U.S. and Russia but is expanding rapidly.