Saturday, June 20, 2026

What are Miranda Rights?

Miranda Rights & the Right to Remain Silent | Criminal Lawyer ...
Miranda rights are constitutional protections requiring law enforcement to inform a suspect of their right to remain silent and their right to an attorney before a "custodial interrogation". Established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, these safeguards prevent coerced confessions and protect the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.
The Core Warning
While there is no strict national script, police typically recite a warning containing these five essential elements:
  1. Right to remain silent: You have the right to refuse to answer questions.
  2. Use of statements: Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law
    .
  3. Right to an attorney: You have the right to consult with a lawyer before speaking to the police and have them present during questioning.
  4. Appointed counsel: If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you by the court.
  5. Right to stop: You can decide at any time to exercise these rights and stop answering questions.
When Are They Required?
Miranda rights must be read only if both of these conditions are met:
  • In Custody: You are not free to leave (e.g., arrested, handcuffed, or in a police vehicle).
  • Being Interrogated: Police are asking questions designed to elicit incriminating responses.
  • Note: Police do not need to "Mirandize" you during a routine traffic stop or if they are simply asking general on-the-scene questions before an arrest is made.
What Happens If Rights Are Violated?
If officers fail to read you your rights during a custodial interrogation, any statements or confessions you made are generally considered inadmissible in court under the "exclusionary rule". However, an arrest is still legally valid even if the arresting officers did not read you your rights, as long as there was probable cause.
For more detailed information, check out the U.S. Courts Miranda Warning Guide or the Cornell Legal Information Institute.
  • You have the right to remain silent
    You have the right to remain silent. 2. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. 3 You have the right ...
    United States Courts (.gov)
  • Miranda warning - Wikipedia
    You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say ca...
    Wikipedia
  • Simple Civics | What Are Your Miranda Rights?
    In its decision, the court established key pieces of information that are required to be shared with a person being placed under a...
    PBS
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Iran peace talks have been chaotic. But confusion has only grown since the MOU was signed. Full Article

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And it comes as Americans are increasingly down on Trump’s handling of the war the U.S. started with Iran.
  

The U.S.-Iran negotiations have been chaotic. But the confusion has only grown since the MOU was signed.

And it comes as Americans are increasingly down on Trump’s handling of the war the U.S. started with Iran.
France's President Emmanuel Macro welcomes President Donald Trump at Chateau de Versailles on June 17, 2026.
France's President Emmanuel Macron welcomes President Donald Trump at Chateau de Versailles on Wednesday.Guillaume Baptiste / AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The effort by the U.S. and Iran to negotiate an end to the war has been defined by dramatic fits and starts and punctuated by missile strikes and naval blockades. Yet since a memorandum of understanding was brokered last weekend, the confusion has only grown.

The White House said the agreement had been signed on Sunday by Vice President JD Vance but then announced there would be another signing — this time with a ceremony — on Friday. Also on Sunday, President Donald Trump said he would “fully authorize” the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in what he described as a “complete” deal. But an hour later, the president said the critical waterway would open once the deal was signed on Friday.

Trump administration officials offered conflicting messages on Monday about when the text of the memorandum would be released, with some saying within the next 24 to 48 hours and others saying not until Friday.

At one point, Trump said while in France for the Group of Seven summit that he might just read the text of the MOU aloud during a news conference. Instead, U.S. officials read the text on a call with reporters during Trump’s news conference.

Then, Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suddenly re-signed the agreement, the U.S. leader doing so during a dinner at Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron looking on. And now it’s unclear whether there will be a signing ceremony, or further talks, at all.

The lack of clarity over the proposed peace deal is only the latest murky point in the conflict since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February. Trump has offered shifting reasons for going to war with Iran and given different answers on what he hoped to get out of it. Both Iran and the U.S. have continued to launch strikes, even as leaders say a temporary ceasefire brokered in early April remains in place. Even the MOU differs from what Trump said he wanted out of a deal with Iran.

Donald Trump signs Iran deal at Versailles.
President Donald Trump signs a peace deal with Iran at Versailles on Wednesday.via Reuters

It comes as Americans are increasingly down on Trump’s handling of the war, with elevated gas prices and November’s midterm elections drawing near. And even some Trump-supporting Republicans in Congress are raising concerns about the 14-point MOU as a road map to a comprehensive Iran deal.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., wrote on X on Wednesday that President Ronald “Reagan is rolling over in his grave” and labeled the MOU “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”

Asked if he’s confident Iran will give up its nuclear ambitions, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on Tuesday, “Unless you were homeschooled by a day drinker, no one’s confident that Iran’s going to do anything.”

And Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has been skeptical of the U.S. negotiating with Iran, posted on X that he spoke with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and “it is my opinion that signing the MOU will be beneficial to the United States, in as much as the Strait of Hormuz will begin to open, and the hostilities with Iran will stop.”

Vance said Thursday that the 60-day clock for a long-term agreement had already started. But it took hours for the U.S. to say the critical Strait of Hormuz was open, a development that the MOU stipulates should have happened immediately, though the U.S. blockade of ships coming from or going to Iranian ports was lifted after the second MOU signing, according to U.S. Central Command.

“The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start,” the MOU states.

The U.S. military does not have any reports of Iranian attacks against commercial ships in the strait on Friday, according to a U.S. official. U.S. forces would continue to operate in the area to support freedom of navigation, the official said, adding: “We’re not going to let commercial vessels get attacked.”

It also remains unclear whether the U.S. has issued sanctions waivers to allow Iran to sell its oil, which is also a provision in the MOU. “The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of this MOU, and until the termination of sanctions, U.S. Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.,” it says.

The latest twist came on Thursday.

Officials from Tehran and Washington were set to meet in Switzerland on Friday to begin 60 days of negotiating a long-term deal designed to facilitate a lasting conclusion to the war. But new Israeli strikes in Lebanon cast doubt on the deal, and the White House abruptly announced that Vance had postponed plans to travel to Switzerland for the talks.

Iran asked for guarantees that hostilities in Lebanon would end, as outlined in the MOU, and mediators were working to resolve the issue, a regional diplomat told NBC News.

American spy agencies believe Israel will likely continue to launch attacks on Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, potentially jeopardizing the tentative peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, according to a source with knowledge of the intelligence assessments. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and officials in his government have criticized the MOU.

Trump, meanwhile, has publicly sought to convey optimism about the MOU and the prospect of a long-term deal.

“We have our deal done with Iran,” he said Tuesday during a meeting with the emir of Qatar while in France. “It goes to a second stage, which I think will be actually easier.”

 

Iran says Strait of Hormuz is closed after Israeli strikes in Lebanon

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Iran says Strait of Hormuz is closed after Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Iran and the U.S. have both shown frustration with Israel for continuing to strike Lebanon despite the deal signed this week.
 

 Iran says Strait of Hormuz is closed over ceasefire violations after continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Iran and the U.S. have both shown frustration with Israel for continuing to strike Lebanon despite the deal signed this week, which committed to end fighting on all fronts.
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Iran said Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, citing ceasefire violations after Israel continued deadly strikes in southern Lebanon overnight.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy warned ships not to approach the waterway, which Iran had committed to reopening under the interim peace deal signed this week. It said in a statement that vessels’ safety would be at risk if they did so.

Iran’s top joint military command said the ⁠closure was the “first step” in response to what were described as ‌breaches of ⁠commitments by the U.S. and Israel, according to Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency.

In a statement on X that did not acknowledge the apparent closure, U.S. Central Command said that 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday, “moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets.”

U.S. forces “remain present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect,” the statement said.

Iran and the U.S. have both shown frustration with Israel for continuing to strike Lebanon despite the deal signed this week, which specified that fighting must end on all fronts, including Lebanon. Though Israel was not a direct party to that deal, Iran has warned that it would consider Israeli strikes a violation of the terms.

Early Saturday, Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people, including two children, according to Lebanese civil defense and media, one day after the U.S. said Israel and Hezbollah had implemented a fresh ceasefire at President Donald Trump’s request.

Israel hit a series of towns across Lebanon’s south early Saturday, Lebanese news agency NNA reported. An airstrike on the town of Arabsalim reportedly killed three people, the agency reported, and a drone strike on the town of Deir al-Zahrani reportedly killed one person. At least seven people remain trapped under the rubble, it said. Lebanon’s army said a soldier was killed between Kfar Rumman and Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.

A previous wave of strikes on Friday killed 83 people, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said.

A statement from the Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, had breached the ceasefire and “launched more than 50 projectiles toward IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon” overnight, and that Israel had attacked what it described as Hezbollah targets in response. “The IDF remains committed to the ceasefire agreement,” the statement said.

Hezbollah said it had “adhered to the ceasefire since Friday evening,” accusing Israel of making false claims to justify its attacks in an effort to “sabotage the agreement” between Iran and the U.S.

Israel continues strikes on southern Lebanon despite U.S.-Iran agreement
Smoke rises from the town of Shweikin and the Ali al-Tahir hill area of southern Lebanon following Israeli airstrikes on June 20.Ramiz Dallah / Anadolu via Getty Images

The continued military bombardment has threatened to derail the fragile U.S. peace talks with Iran. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Switzerland on Saturday “dealing with some of the technical elements of this negotiation,” Vice President JD Vance told Fox News.

Speaking before Iran’s Hormuz announcement, Vance said he expected to join them “sometime the next couple of days,” adding that he spoke with Witkoff and Kushner and that it is his understanding that “things are going well.”

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced “technical-level talks” will take place Sunday, with U.S. and Iranian representatives joined by mediators from Qatar and Pakistan.

Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, told Iranian media the trip was a “mission to demand the fulfillment of the other side’s obligations,” adding that “negotiations for a final agreement” will begin when such obligations are implemented.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will lead the Iranian delegation, he said, according to Iranian state TV.

Officials from Tehran and Washington were originally set to meet in Switzerland on Friday to begin 60 days of negotiations on a “final” deal, but those talks were postponed. The negotiations are meant to resolve some of the thorniest issues in the deal that are yet to be agreed upon, including Iran’s nuclear program.

LEBANON-ISRAEL-IRAN-US-WAR
Smoke rises from the site of a string of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on June 20.Abbas Fakih / AFP via Getty Images

U.S. spy agencies believe that Israel will likely continue to launch attacks against the militant group in Lebanon, potentially jeopardizing the tentative peace deal, according to a source with knowledge of the intelligence assessments.

Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon have worsened a widening rift between the Trump administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who have criticized the Iran deal as not in Israel’s interest and agitated for more strikes on Lebanon. Netanyahu is also facing a crucial election in October and will likely need the support of the Israeli far right to stay in power.

“Netanyahu is in a challenging political spot,” Jonathan Panikoff, a former career intelligence officer now at the Atlantic Council think tank, told NBC News in an email. “When combined with the broad view that Iran has emerged strategically stronger, Netanyahu finds himself trapped.”

Netanyahu’s vow to occupy southern Lebanon and Israel’s decision to strike both Iran and Lebanon while an initial deal was being hammered out repeatedly delayed talks, fueling frustration among U.S. officials.

Vance hit out at Israeli officials on Thursday, saying that Israel does not appreciate American support.

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U.S.-Iran talks postponed as Vance cancels Switzerland trip

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Despite the rising tensions over Lebanon, there had been hope that ships trapped in the Persian Gulf will be able to transit through the Strait of Hormuz since the deal was signed. Industry experts have warned, however, that it could take weeks for the shipping traffic to fully normalize, given that the threat of mines still needs to be cleared.

IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Friday that Israeli forces will continue to operate in southern Lebanon and “do whatever is necessary to protect our civilians.”