*By Conor White*
President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal makes it more difficult for the United States to negotiate a new understanding with Tehran, or any deal with other foreign governments, said Laura Secor, a journalist and author who has written extensively on Iran.
"The message not only is the United States is walking away from an agreement limiting the nuclear program in Iran, but that the United States is willing to walk away from its commitments negotiated under previous administrations" Secor said in an interview Wednesday with Cheddar.
Despite the White House's expressed confidence a better deal could be struck, Secor, author of "Children of Paradise: The Struggle for the Soul of Iran," said she doesn't see a way forward for another agreement with Iran.
"The Trump administration has not unveiled any Plan B here," she said. "There was talk they would get a bigger, better deal, but the idea that you would have a country whose commitment you have just abrogated agree to make a bigger, deeper, longer commitment to you, is delusional."
America's European allies, including France, which is a party to the Iran deal, have insisted the deal can survive even without the United States and have encouraged Iran to continue in good faith.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/fallout-from-president-trumps-iran-decision).
Israel rolled tanks into northern Gaza for what the military called a targeted raid aiming to destroy Hamas infrastructure. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council failed to pass two separate resolutions proposed by the U.S. and Russia on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.
Republican Mike Johnson is the new speaker of the House, but the ally of Donald Trump inherits many of the same political problems that have tormented past GOP leaders.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. He also says he's redoubling his commitment to working on a two-state solution.
The U.N. warned on Wednesday that it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the territory blockaded and devastated by Israeli airstrikes since Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel more than two weeks ago.
The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial fined the former president $10,000 on Wednesday, saying Trump violated a limited gag order barring personal attacks on court staffers.
Republicans eagerly elected Rep. Mike Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.
With mail theft and postal carrier robberies up, law enforcement officials have made more than 600 arrests since May in a crackdown launched to address crime that includes carriers being accosted at gunpoint for their antiquated universal keys, the Postal Service announced Wednesday.
