Today: Vance defends the US-Iran deal, and Ukraine launches a heavy drone attack on Moscow

Today as it Happened on Thursday, June 18, 2026: Vice President JD Vance on Thursday defended the memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump and Iran, arguing the agreement benefits the United States whether Tehran ultimately complies with its terms or not. "Their nuclear program has been completely destroyed," Vance said during a White House briefing. "Their capacity for enrichment facilities ... those facilities are still destroyed. Their conventional military is still destroyed. Their capacity to threaten their neighbors is largely gone." Trump signed the deal in France on Wednesday, and Vance said it was already producing results, pointing to lower oil prices and increased shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Ukraine hit the Moscow Oil Refinery for the second time in a week early Thursday — one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia's full-scale invasion began more than four years ago. Massive fires raged at the facility in the Kapotnya district, one of Russia's largest refineries, responsible for more than a third of the capital's fuel. Thick black clouds rolled over the city. Four Moscow airports shut down. And when former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas began his investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s activities on Zorro Ranch, he never expected it to come to a grinding halt just as it began. But that’s precisely what New Mexico’s former top law enforcement officer says happened as he began to probe Epstein and his sprawling New Mexico property. In 2019, Balderas was six months into an investigation and had just interviewed one Epstein survivor. That’s when he said he heard from federal officials who said they were also looking into Epstein. “We were immediately contacted by a whole legal team in New York, asking us to pause our investigation,” Balderas told the Scripps News Group during an interview in May. ------------------------------------- Follow Scripps News on other platforms— Join our newsletter at https://bit.ly/2q1tepr Follow us on Facebook:   / scrippsnews   Follow us on X: https://x.com/scrippsnews Follow us on Instagram:   / scrippsnews   Follow us on TikTok:   / scrippsnews