aacj

July 11 2025

Iran's Uranium Survives?; Pentagon Invests in Critical Minerals; 'Fight for America'; Ford's Safety Woes; Germany Protests Laser

Greg Loving

11 Jul 2025 • 8 min read

A uranium processing site in Isfahan, which hosts Iran’s nuclear laboratory, seen in 2005.

Iran's Enriched Uranium Stockpile Not Fully Destroyed, Officials Say

In Rare Move, Pentagon Makes $400M Direct Investment in Critical Minerals Firm

'Fight for America' Play Reenacting Capitol Riot Debuts in London

With 88 Recalls in Six Months, Ford's Safety Woes Mount

Germany Protests After Chinese Warship Targets Its Aircraft With Laser in Red Sea

Iran's Enriched Uranium Stockpile Not Fully Destroyed, Officials Say

Israel has concluded that some of Iran’s underground stockpile of near-bomb-grade enriched uranium survived American and Israeli attacks last month and may be accessible to Iranian nuclear engineers, according to a senior Israeli official. The senior official also said that Israel had begun moving toward military action against Iran late last year after seeing what the official described as a race to build a bomb as part of a secret Iranian project. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. The official said Israeli intelligence picked up the nuclear weapons activity soon after the Israeli Air Force killed Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon. That observation prompted the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to prepare for an attack with or without U.S. help. In the days surrounding Israel’s attack on Iran in mid-June, and President Trump’s subsequent decision to join in the action, U.S. intelligence officials said they had seen no evidence of a move by Iran to weaponize its stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium. The United States struck two of Iran’s most critical enrichment sites with 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs and aimed a barrage of submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles at a third site, where the fuel could be converted for use in weapons. In a briefing for reporters on Wednesday evening, the senior Israeli official did not express concern about the assessment that some of the stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium, stored in casks, had survived the attack. The official, and other Israelis with access to the country’s intelligence findings, said any attempts by Iran to recover it would almost certainly be detected — and there would be time to attack the facilities again. Western intelligence officials confirmed the Israeli assessment, saying that they believed much of the stockpile was buried under rubble in Iran’s nuclear laboratory at Isfahan and potentially other sites. One of the officials concurred that the United States or Israel would know if the Iranians tried to retrieve the enriched uranium. Such a move, the official said, would surely invite a renewed Israeli bombing attack. Israel, the United States and now a growing number of outside experts agree that all of Iran’s working centrifuges at Natanz and Fordo — about 18,000 machines, which spin at supersonic speeds — were damaged or destroyed, probably beyond repair. The question they are now examining is how long it would take the Iranians to rebuild some or all of that capability, especially after the top scientists in their nuclear program were targeted and killed.

NYT

In Rare Move, Pentagon Makes $400M Direct Investment in Critical Minerals Firm

The Pentagon is making a $400mn direct investment in a US rare earths producer, in an unusual arrangement highlighting the Trump administration’s determination to break Chinese dominance of critical minerals and bolster domestic supply chains. MP Materials, on Thursday said the Pentagon would become its largest shareholder, taking a 15 per cent stake in the company, as well as investing billions of dollars to build a 10,000 metric tonne magnet manufacturing facility — expected to begin preparing for operations in 2028. “This initiative marks a decisive action by the Trump administration to accelerate American supply chain independence,” said James Litinsky, founder and chief executive of MP Materials. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Litinsky owns more than 14mn shares in MP Materials. The company’s share price jumped more than 48 per cent in response to the news, adding $200mn to his personal net worth. It is rare for the US government to make direct investments in businesses. It does so on occasion to support development of technologies crucial to national interests, or in extreme circumstances to save systemically important companies from failure, such as Wall Street banks during the financial crisis. MP Materials, based in Las Vegas, operates the US’s only rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California, extracting rare earths such as neodymium and praseodymium, which are essential for making weapons systems and electric vehicles.

'Fight for America' Play Reenacting Capitol Riot Debuts in London

LONDON — In a city well-known for political theater, the show at Stone Nest, a performance venue in the heart of London’s West End, took the concept to a new level. For the last month, audiences have been reenacting the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in one of the most violent and divisive days of modern American democracy. But instead of sitting in stately silence, legs crammed into velvet chairs, attendees at “Fight for America” were active participants — singing, chanting, rolling dice, and maneuvering tiny figurines around a model of the Capitol. The unusual project — part tabletop strategy game, part thought-provoking political experiment — was meant to debut in the United States. But after President Donald Trump’s election victory last fall, the team behind it pivoted to London. “We thought maybe 3,000 miles away was the right way to start,” said Christopher McElroen, artistic director at the american vicarious, a Brooklyn-based arts nonprofit. A Washington, D.C., run is still planned for January to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the riot. While the production might seem like a dark, even tasteless, parody, organizers said their hope was that by reenacting the history, participants might better understand how easily people can be drawn into a “win at all costs” mentality — on both sides of a political divide. The goal, McElroen said, is to spark self-reflection about political polarization and the importance of an “infinite game” approach to democracy, in which the goal is not victory but shared values that keep the game (or, in this case, the American experiment) going forever.

A player moves figures during the “Fight for America” game. (Peter van Agtmael/Magnum Photos for The Washington Post)

WaPo

With 88 Recalls in Six Months, Ford's Safety Woes Mount

Ford Motor has recorded more safety recalls in the first six months of 2025 than any car company ever has in an entire calendar year. Through the end of June, Ford issued 88 safety recalls, according to federal data. The next closest manufacturer this year, at 21, is recreational-vehicle company Forest River, which has been plagued by manufacturing errors. Since 2020, Ford has either reported the first or second most recalls in the industry. Ford said nine of its recalls this year are expansions of earlier recalls. In March, the automaker said it was conducting an audit of past recalls that included software fixes as part of the remedy. So far, 33 recalls—about 37% of the total so far this year—have been issued as a result of the continuing audit, Ford said. On Thursday, Ford said it would recall an additional 850,000 pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles because of a potential fuel-pump failure. A bad fuel pump could result in the engine stalling while a driver is operating the vehicle, according to the recall. Ford said it has significantly improved product quality in recent years, with four new models winning accolades from a recent J.D. Power study on quality. The company has more than doubled its team of safety and technical experts and expanded testing on critical systems, such as vehicle powertrains, steering and braking.

WSJ

Germany Protests After Chinese Warship Targets Its Aircraft With Laser in Red Sea

BERLIN — Germany has summoned China's ambassador to protest after a Chinese warship used a laser against a German surveillance aircraft in the Red Sea, creating a dangerous situation that forced the mission to be aborted. The incident occurred earlier this month when the German aircraft, operating as part of the EU's Aspides mission to protect civilian ships from Houthi rebel attacks, was targeted "without any reason or prior contact" by the Chinese vessel, according to Germany's Defense Ministry. The laser incident highlights the growing complexity of naval operations in the strategically vital Red Sea, where eight nations including the US, China, France, and Japan maintain bases in Djibouti near the critical Bab el-Mandeb Strait chokepoint.

This confrontation fits a broader pattern of hybrid warfare tactics increasingly employed by China, which has faced similar laser-targeting accusations from the US, Philippines, and Australia in recent years. The 29-kilometer-wide strait serves as a crucial gateway for global commerce, making Djibouti's location invaluable for the tiny nation of 1.2 million people, which profits from hosting multiple foreign military installations while gaining security and infrastructure investment in return.

citizen journal

July 11, 1804: Aaron Burr slays Alexander Hamilton in duel

On July 11, 1804, in one of the most famous duels in American history, Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shoots his long-time political antagonist Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, a leading Federalist and the chief architect of America’s political economy, died the following day.