Headlines:

• The State Department approved the potential sale of dozens of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia yesterday. 
• French President Emmanuel Macron met with Jordan’s King Abdullah and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun yesterday as part of a broader effort to raise funds for the Lebanese Armed Forces, or “LAF.”
• The Trump administration sanctioned members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, denying them visas to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week. 
• Israel and Morocco agreed to upgrade diplomatic ties following a meeting between their foreign ministers on Wednesday.

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD AI Fellow Leah Siskind.

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

Headlines:

• Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is in Beijing today to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
• A Russian bank just got dinged by the US Treasury for laundering dirty Iranian money.
• Malaysia seized three shipping containers headed for Israel as they transited through a major Malaysian port.

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Senior Fellow Bernard Haykel.

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

Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates and analysis ahead of a conversation with Mark Cancian, senior adviser with the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

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

Headlines:

• The Houthis seized the Yemeni port of Mokha yesterday, days after launching a combinedballistic missile and drone attack in Saudi Arabia.
• President Trump warned that the U.S. could strike Pickaxe Mountain — the deeply buried, hard-to-reach nuclear facility in central Iran near Natanz.
• Algeria severed diplomatic ties with the UAE, citing quote “provocative or hostile” actions.
• Iran’s Basij force is reportedly tightening its grip over the country under the direction of its returning commander, Hossein Taeb.

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman of the Council on Foreign Relations.

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

Headlines:

• Yesterday, the Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia, setting oil facilities on fire and wounding at least 73 people. 
• The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has just sounded the alarm on Iran's nuclear program. Rafael Grossi says Tehran still won't cooperate with inspectors and has cut off access to all its declared nuclear sites. 
•  London has just announced that it is banning all trade with West Bank settlements. 

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Israeli actress Swell Ariel Or, star of Netflix's "The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem."

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

Headlines:

• Russia is helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles.
• Remember the Gaza flotilla? Well, it’s back. Leaders from the so-called “Freedom Flotilla Coalition” said the group is planning to set sail once again and arrive in Gaza by October.
• Declassified Canadian intelligence indicates that Ottawa awarded an Iranian agent over $2 million in government contracts.

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Lara Burns, retired FBI Special Agent and head of terrorism research at the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University.

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

Headlines:

• Lebanese President Joseph Aoun petitioned Greece to help implement a future peace agreement with Israel, which would see the Lebanese Armed Forces, or “LAF,” disarm Hezbollah and deploy to areas of south Lebanon as Israel gradually withdraws from them.
• Israel will build a multi-tier air defense system to defend Greece against drones, ballistic missiles, and other aerial threats. 
• The Houthi terrorist group in Yemen is deepening its ties with Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab. 

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Brandy Shufutinsky, director of FDD’s Education and National Security Program.

Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines:

• USAID, the US Agency for International Development,released a new report on Friday, confirming what we already knew — namely, that UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency, is infested with Hamas terrorists. 
• A retired Shin Bet official named Adi Rotemhas come out of the shadows to confirm reports that Israel held direct talks with Hamas in 2024. 
• Donald Trump announced a major oil deal with Venezuela just before the weekend. 

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute.

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

Headlines:

• Kuwait and Pakistan signed a military cooperation agreement yesterday, building on a deal signed in 2023. 
• The IDF is poised to surge troops into the West Bank as violence over there continues to escalate.
• Iranians this week rushed to stock up on fuel and food in anticipation of supply shortages.

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with world-renowned Turkey scholar Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak.

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

Headlines:

• China blasted the United States after the Trump administration rolled out Operation Economic Outcast, its new pressure campaign to completely isolate Iran from the global economy. 
• Let’s stick with Iran, shall we? Iran and Oman are considering establishing a joint shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz. 
• Military officials from Uganda and Burundi visited Israel last week to discuss troop deployments to Gaza. 

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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Senior Fellow Miad Maleki.

Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief