Congress Urged to Lock In US-Iran Deal
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- Nancy Okail, president of the Center for International Policy, urged Congress to ensure the newly signed US-Iran deal is fully implemented during its 60-day MOU negotiation period, warning against attacking the agreement just because it comes from Trump.
- The US spent $72 billion on the Iran war against a $1.5 trillion military budget, and Okail called on a post-November Congress to investigate war profiteers — from arms contractors to a drone firm backed by the Trump sons that sought to sell interceptors to Gulf states being attacked.
- Polymarket and other prediction markets saw millions of dollars in bets on war outcomes, with suspected insider accounts netting $2.4 million on Iran war bets at a 98% win rate — what Okail called a 'dystopian innovation in war capitalism.'
- War Powers resolutions have majority House support this month, and 40 senators back a Joint Resolution of Disapproval to withhold certain arms from Israel, signs Okail cited of what Congress can achieve immediately.
- Okail warned that Israel is likely to continue military action against Iran or Lebanon during the 60-day negotiation period to provoke a reaction and restart the conflict cycle, and argued the US should stop 'aiding and abetting' such escalation.
- The Strait of Hormuz closure hit energy markets and created rare de-escalation pressure from Gulf elites who felt the costs directly, while some elites profited — proof, per Okail, that 'temporary market pressure is not a substitute for structural accountability.'
Why it matters: The $72 billion war produced a new class of unaccountable profiteers — from arms contractors to insider prediction-market bettors netting $2.4 million at a 98% win rate — while the structural conditions that produced the conflict persist. With majority House support for War Powers resolutions and 40 senators backing an arms-disapproval measure on Israel, Congress has a narrow legislative window to impose safeguards before the 60-day MOU expires and the next conflict cycle begins.
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