IRAN, GAZA, AND THE HOSTAGES

FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Brigadier General (Res.) Professor Jacob Nagel, FDD senior fellow and former Israeli national security advisor.

Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

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The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan 501(c)(3) research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. FDD does not accept donations from any foreign governments.

FDD conducts in-depth research, produces accurate and timely analyses, identifies illicit activities, and provides policy options – all with the aim of strengthening U.S. national security and reducing or eliminating threats posed by adversaries and enemies of the United States and other free nations.

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On this special SITREP episode of the FDD Morning Brief, Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer is joined by FDD Senior Fellow Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus and FDD CMPP Senior Director Bradley Bowman to assess the fallout from Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran with a ceasefire now in effect — and evaluate the current status of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Tune in to the FDD Morning Brief for a special SITREP assessing the damage from the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer is joined by RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation; Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power; and Behnam Ben Taleblu, Senior Director of FDD’s Iran Program for a comprehensive analysis.

Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

After days and weeks of uncertainty, the United States struck Iran’s most fortified nuclear site — the crown jewel, Fordow — along with Natanz and Esfahan. The attack capped a week of Israeli operations that shattered key components of Iran’s nuclear program and eliminated top IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists. Are we witnessing the final chapter of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program unfold before our eyes?

Tune in to FDD’s Emergency SITREP with Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer, CEO Mark Dubowitz, Deputy Director for Nonproliferation and Biodefense Andrea Stricker, and Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation Senior Director RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery for real-time analysis of the fallout.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/06/21/fdd-sitrep-us-bombs-iran-nuclear-sites/

ISRAEL'S SUCCESSES AND IRAN'S STRATEGY

HEADLINE 1: Hackers stole approximately $90 million from Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

HEADLINE 2: Iran and Israel are slugging it out like two boxers in the 10th round of a heavyweight bout.

HEADLINE 3: As Trump considers what to do next, polls are shedding light about what Americans think about Iran.

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz, who hosts FDD's new podcast, The Iran Breakdown.

Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

THE REGIME IN IRAN'S ARSENAL, ISRAEL'S SUCCESSES AND SETBACKS, AND THE IRANIAN PEOPLE

HEADLINE 1: 20 Arab and Islamic countries signed a statement calling on Israel to stop striking Iran.

HEADLINE 2: The IDF took out Iranian Maj. Gen. Ali Shamdani.

HEADLINE 3: Two Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza.

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FDD Senior Research Analyst Natalie Ecanow fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, delivering timely situational updates and analysis ahead of a conversation with Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD's Iran Program.

Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/

ISRAEL, THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC, AND THE IRANIAN PEOPLE

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As tensions escalate following Israel’s strike on Iran, FDD’s Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus offers timely analysis and is joined by Iran expert Beni Sabti of The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) to assess the fallout.

Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Israel has launched precision strikes against nuclear and military facilities in Iran — just days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) formally declared Iran in violation of its nuclear nonproliferation commitments for the first time since 2005.

The Islamic Republic — closer than ever to acquiring a nuclear weapon — had dismissed U.S. diplomatic overtures and accelerated its nuclear program in ways that clearly exceed any plausible civilian use.

What are the implications for regional security and America’s allies? How will these developments affect Iran’s nuclear trajectory? And how might continued escalation shift the strategic balance across the Middle East and beyond?

To deconstruct, Jonathan Schanzer hosts an all-star lineup of experts: RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus, Eyal Hulata, and Mark Dubowitz.

Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

TURKEY'S NEO-OTTOMAN VISION

HEADLINE 1: The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on a network of sham charities that fund Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or “PFLP.”

HEADLINE 2: Israel carried out strikes against Yemen’s Hodeida port.

HEADLINE 3: The IDF took out two Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon.

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak — author, researcher, and one of the world’s foremost experts on Turkey — from the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

RUSSIA, UKRAINE, AND ... GRETA THUNBERG?

HEADLINE 1: Iranian intelligence agencies say they’ve acquired a cache of sensitive Israeli documents.

HEADLINE 2: Al Qaeda in Yemen is back in the spotlight.

HEADLINE 3: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon may soon be a thing of the past.

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Founder and President Cliff May.

Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/