SuperTalk Media MidDays with Gerard Gibert 2026-06-17

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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Get ready to go beyond the headlines and join a meaningful conversation with people from around the state. You're listening to MidDays with Gerard Gibert here on SuperTalk Mississippi.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:01)
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to MidDays, SuperTalk Mississippi. I'm your host, Gerard Gibert, along with Rhino in the Element Wealth Studio, guiding you through the middle of your day with facts, fodder, and fine music on this hump day. Made it to the middle of the week, and it's still rainy and stormy, especially across the southern region of the state. And did I see this right? A tropical storm? Might impact the southern counties, the southern region of our state? I think just whipping it up with even more rain. Not that it needs more.
I think we've had enough rain this week to cool the data centers for about a decade. How about that?

**SPEAKER_4** (1:48)
Yeah, I don't know if it's technically a tropical storm yet.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:52)
Okay. Headed in that direction though, right?

**SPEAKER_4** (1:55)
The warnings have been issued, yeah.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:57)
Okay. A little early for that, huh? Geez. We got Mark Vargas on the program today at 1035, a member of the Iraq Task Force, also served in the Office of the Secretary of War from 2007 to 2010, and you guessed it, he's going to provide his assessment of this deal between the United States and Iran. Now, folks, the Wall Street Journal, well, like, within the last 30 minutes, they just published an annotated analysis of this draft of the deal.
I'm not exactly sure how they got it. They do say that US officials circulated a draft to counterparts at the G7 meeting in France, and I guess, Rhino, once you do that, you might as well tell the world, right? It's not like, even if they were asked to keep it confidential, that they would, we wouldn't expect that. Nonetheless, the Journal has got an excellent analysis of the major terms and conditions, and I won't go through every one of them. Just looking through the list here, there are 13 major provisions. 13, no surprise. Number one is, we're going to stop shooting at each other. I mean, you would expect that to be. I'll read that one for you. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on. They will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.
That sounds like a William Faulkner sentence right there, does it not? It goes on and on. Just looking at the journal here, that's one, two, three, four, five, seven lines it took to make that sentence. So no surprise there.
And then, okay, both the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US undertake to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and won't interfere. Okay.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:39)
It just became Tropical Storm, Arthur.

**Gerard Gibert** (4:42)
Oh, wow.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:42)
Just got the notification. Apparently, it happened about 10, 15 minutes ago.

**Gerard Gibert** (4:46)
Expected to dump a bunch of rain, right, on our Gulf Coast and that region. Not that it needs any more. Man, I'm hearing reports from Peaky Hune in particular. I have some friends in that area say that they're experiencing some flash flooding and they're concerned about all the water being dumped. Man, it's crazy, isn't it? It seems like only yesterday we were talking about droughts and still see a bunch of dead pine trees all over the place and other vegetation, the result of the drought of 2024 That was prolonged, it was hot, no rain, and now we're getting inundated with water.
So also then, with respect to the Strait of Hormuz, there is a provision that says, as soon as we sign this deal, the US will lift its naval blockade, won't obstruct, and all traffic will be restored to full capacity within 30 days.
So, let's see, take steps to ensure that the, Iran will take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa, is resumed within 30 days.
Let's see, both parties will work diligently to restore economic development. This is the one that's really in question, right? The president's saying, we're not sending any money to Iran. The vice president says, yes, we are. But they've got to meet certain conditions to receive that money. So this provision right here, number six in the MOU, it says the US, along with its partners, will create a comprehensive plan agreed on by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran while ensuring financing. So that's the tricky word there. Maybe we're just loaning money, financing, or are we providing unencumbered monies, 300 billion dollars. The implementation mechanism of this plan as part of the final agreement will be formulated within 60 days. So the bottom line is we don't know, but the number, the figure, 300 billion is in the MOU. The president says there will be no funding, but it's in the MOU, so I don't know what that means exactly.