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The Morning Risk Report: Trump Says U.S. Won’t Lift Iran Sanctions

By Richard Vanderford | Dow Jones Risk Journal

 

Good morning. President Trump lashed out at Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday, saying the U.S. would abandon plans to roll back sanctions on Tehran.

In a social-media post, Trump criticized Khamenei for claiming victory over Israel, arguing that the country’s leader wasn’t grateful for the U.S. president’s efforts to spare his life.

  • Biting sanctions: “During the last few days, I was working on the possible removal of sanctions, and other things, which would have given a much better chance to Iran at a full, fast, and complete recovery—The sanctions are BITING!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social network. “But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more.”
     
  • Force still an option: The White House has maintained that using force against Iran wasn’t off the table should Iran move to rebuild its nuclear program, though the president said he prefers diplomacy. Trump on Friday also said he had intervened to spare Khamenei’s life.
     
  • Weakened regime: The conflict has left Iran’s regime weaker than anytime since the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s and entrenched Israel as the pre-eminent military power in the region. The Trump administration has said it is working to schedule a meeting with Iranian officials.
 
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More Risk & Compliance articles from Deloitte
 

Compliance

Evraz steel mill in Pueblo, Colo. Photo: EVRAZ North America

Sanctioned steelmaker finds a buyer for U.S., Canada plants.

The North American business of steelmaker Evraz—whose largest shareholder is sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich—will be acquired by private-equity firm Atlas Holdings.

The sale removes a question mark around the ownership and operating status of the unit, which has largely functioned on its own for the past three years while its parent company in the U.K. has been unable to conduct business.

 

Foreign bribery defendant says Trump order kills case.

A Georgia business owner accused of bribing government officials wants a federal judge to put President Trump’s new guardrails on foreign bribery enforcement to the test.

The alleged misconduct didn’t harm any U.S. government interests or companies so it doesn’t fit new guidelines for enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a lawyer for defendant Carl Zaglin said in a motion to dismiss the case.

 ‏‏‎ ‎
  • New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation Friday that requires local governments in the state to begin reporting cyberattacks on their networks.
     
  • The United Kingdom has expanded whistleblowing protections to cover sanctions violations as authorities plan to strengthen enforcement of financial restrictions.
     
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News, alleging that the network defamed him by saying he lied about a phone call with President Trump, and is seeking at least $787 million in damages.
     
  • Canadian convenience-store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard’s year-long pursuit of 7-Eleven’s Japanese parent appears to be heading toward resolution, but most signs point to a dead end, analysts say. Some analysts are skeptical that the deal has legs, given the overhang of Japan’s national security review and persistent antitrust concerns.
 ‏‏‎ ‎
581

The number of mainline flights Delta canceled Saturday, when rough weather disrupted operations at its Atlanta hub.

 

Risk

The biggest risk to the outlook appears to be the consumer, as spending has slowed. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News

The U.S. economy pushes through the trade war.

President Trump is still issuing tariff threats, consumer spending is weakening, and the Mideast is in turmoil. So why did the S&P 500 hit a record high Friday?

Investors may not think the economy is taking off, but they are probably relieved that the worst-case scenarios feared in recent months haven’t come to pass. Trump’s tariffs, deportations, and cuts to the federal bureaucracy have bent the economy, but haven’t broken it.

  • American Consumers Felt Better in June Than They Did in May
 

How Israel-aligned hackers hobbled Iran’s financial system.

While Israel and the U.S. were bombing Iran’s nuclear sites, another battlefield emerged behind the scenes: the financial infrastructure that keeps Tehran connected to the world.

Israeli authorities, and a pro-Israeli hacking group called Predatory Sparrow, targeted financial organizations that Iranians use to move money and sidestep the U.S.-led economic blockade, according to Israeli officials and other people familiar with the efforts. U.S. sanctions, imposed off-and-on for decades due to Tehran’s nuclear program and support for Islamist groups, have aimed to cut Iran off from the international financial system.

  • Netanyahu Took a Giant Gamble in Confronting Iran. It Paid Off.
 
  • Extreme poverty is increasingly concentrated in economies that have been blighted by armed conflict, which has become more common over the course of this century, the World Bank said Friday.
     
  • Another increase in the Taiwan dollar’s strength is unwelcome news for the island’s exporters and life insurers. “De-dollarization” is prompting capital flows back into Asia, one economist said.
 ‏‏‎ ‎

“Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately.”

— President Trump on the social media network Truth Social, referring to the digital-services tax on U.S. tech companies.
 

What Else Matters

  • Canada announced late on Sunday that it is rescinding a digital-services tax in a bid to salvage trade discussions with the U.S. after President Trump paused talks on Friday.
     
  • The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday limited the authority of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions.
     
  • Public calls for lower interest rates of the kind directed by President Trump toward Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are not a threat to a central bank’s independence as long as there is societal support for its autonomy, the Bank for International Settlements said Sunday.
     
  • Alina Habba, who was one of Trump’s go-to personal lawyers, has brought a fierce sense of loyalty, MAGA values and a flair for television to her new job as New Jersey’s top federal law enforcer.
     
  • French President Emmanuel Macron and his European peers are angling to turn President Trump’s overhaul of U.S. academia into their gain.
     
  • These people are in the top 10% of earners, but they still don’t feel rich.
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About Us

Follow us on X at @WSJRisk. Send tips to our reporters Max Fillion at max.fillion@dowjones.com, Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com and Richard Vanderford at richard.vanderford@wsj.com.

You can also reach us by replying to any newsletter, or by emailing our editor David Smagalla at david.smagalla@wsj.com.

 
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