“Bitter foreign policy debates over Israel and Iran are fracturing the Democratic and Republican parties, creating powerful wedge issues that are reshaping the battle for control of Congress this year and could affect the 2028 presidential election,” the New York Times reports.

“The dispute among Democrats, in particular, has already left a lasting mark on the midterms. Israel’s growing unpopularity since the war in Gaza began nearly three years ago emerged as a dominant force last week, when two incumbent House Democrats in New York lost to primary challengers who had cast them as insufficiently critical of the U.S. ally.”

“And both U.S. support of Israel and the war with Iran continue to cause fissures inside the Republican Party, and particularly within President Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. Isolationists who hailed Mr. Trump’s campaign promise to avoid foreign wars say they feel betrayed by his intervention in Iran and the domestic consequence: spiking prices.”

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has conceded that the country is facing fuel shortages following a barrage of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes,” CNBC reports.

“The Kremlin expects US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to travel to Moscow to continue talks on ending the war in Ukraine once Washington is no longer preoccupied with the conflict with Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with state television,” Bloomberg reports.

“The Trump administration’s effort to unwind decades of sanctions as part of a deal to end the war with Iran has created a head-spinning situation for governments, banks and other companies as they contemplate a shifting patchwork of new permissions and old restrictions,” Bloomberg reports.

“Following the revolution in 1979, Iran became one of the most sanctioned nations on Earth over its nuclear program and support for regional militias. But the White House is now orchestrating a stunning reversal as part of a broader deal to open the Strait of Hormuz, lower global energy prices and end its unpopular war.”

“The U.S. and Iran have agreed to end days of back-and-forth fighting around the Strait of Hormuz and resume peace talks, said officials from the U.S. and other countries involved in the negotiations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The dangerous period of violence that began Thursday disrupted President Trump’s attempt to end hostilities with Iran and negotiate a settlement that addresses Tehran’s nuclear program. Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz fell during the tit-for-tat strikes, slowing the recovery of a waterway through which 20% of the world’s crude oil once flowed. A U.S. official said vessels would now move freely.”

Axios: U.S. and Iran agree to halt strikes and meet this week.

“Iran says it skipped technical talks with the United States on Sunday after the two sides exchanged military strikes, but a U.S. official countered that negotiations to end the war are ongoing,” NOTUS reports.

“The four-day cycle of attacks that Iran set off with the United States over the Strait of Hormuz has risked derailing the newly reached cease-fire in a war both sides are eager to end,” the New York Times reports.

“Yet for Iran, analysts say, it was a necessary gambit.”

“Iran’s newfound power to disrupt traffic through a waterway that is pivotal to the global economy is critical leverage it cannot afford to lose — either at the negotiating table or back at war with the United States.”

Wall Street Journal: “Iran has the exclusive right to manage traffic in the Strait of Hormuz under the preliminary peace deal signed with President Trump, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday, adding that attempts to circumvent its authority risk triggering more strikes like those seen in recent days.”

Washington Post: Iran insists it has sole control of Hormuz, ignoring Trump’s threats.