FDD Morning Brief

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. -- FDD Executive Director...

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 Ho...

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 wi...

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. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, fo...

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...

Headlines: Some mixed messages out of Iran’s rump regime. We’ve got President Masoud Pezeshkian saying that a new MOU is the best way out of the war. He warned that the country’s economy is in a downward spiral. And he’s not wrong.  Reports over the weekend suggest that the regime may now ban all contact with foreigners. Four kites out of Gaza drifted over Kibbutz Nahal Oz. The last time kites fle...

Headlines: The Trump Administration sanctioned the International Criminal Court’s president and top lawyer over their egregious, corrupt, politicized conduct. The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran after Tehran fired two ballistic missiles at the gulf country on Tuesday. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency began excavating a suspected s...

Headlines: The U.S. and Israel have agreed to establish two Gaza working groups: one related to Hamas disarmament and the other to public health in the Strip.  Russia is reportedly replenishing Iran’s munition stockpiles by shipping drone parts, ammo, and even ballistic missile components to the regime via the Caspian Sea. President Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it obstructs the administration’...

Headlines: The rump regime in Iran claims that the government of Qatar is holding three of its pilots that were shot down in the open stages of the most recent war. The Houthis are still at it in Yemen. The port city of Mocha, controlled by the good guys in southern Yemen, continues to get hammered with Houthi missiles.  A Hamas delegation led by chief psychoKhalil al-Hayya began meeting with the...

Headlines: A tense situation is playing out in the West Bank village of Qusra. Israeli settlers, or perhaps not settlers but anarchists, depending upon who you talk to,have been besieging two Palestinian homes since Sunday, cutting their water and electricity.  The IDF killed Hamas commander Jamal Mahmoud Abu Kamil in a targeted strike in Gaza City on Thursday.  The Navy's swapping out its Mid...

Headlines: U.S. forces fired on a Panama-flagged ship early Tuesday for running Washington's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, hitting its rudder after the crew ignored warnings. Last Thursday the leaders of India and Israel had a phone call. Some called it "out-of-the-blue." But the conversation between Modi and Netanyahu was decidedly not random. Former Hamas hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen...

Headlines: The IDF and the Shin Bet have acknowledged that a special unit has been established to hunt down and kill every single Palestinian terrorist involved in the October 7 attacks. The Houthis are attacking south Yemen. Russian and Syrian officials met this weekend to iron out the fate of several Russian bases that were once bustling during the Bashar al-Assad era.  The Weekend at Bernie’s s...

Headlines: Mossad chief Roman Gofman has removed two of the agency's top officials over their role in a failed plan to topple Iran's regime.  Speaking of the regime: Iran's execution campaign against January's protesters isn't winding down — it's expanding.  A seventh round of Israel-Lebanon talks wrapped up yesterday in Rome, and the two sides are still claiming that progr...

Headlines: Syria reportedly agreed to decrease its Russian oil imports.  The International Monetary Fund, or “IMF,” announced a new technical assistance program for the country after wrapping up a visit there late last month.  A seventh round of talks between Israel and Lebanon kicked off yesterday in Rome.  An Indian-flagged ship was struck by a projectile off the coast of Yemen yesterday.  --- F...

Headlines: Two more Iranian nationals have been executed by the regime for allegedly spying on behalf of Israel. Reports are swirling in the region that the Saudis may need to go back to military operations against the Houthis in Yemen.  If the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t open, the Brits could experience a serious recession in 2027. -- FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational u...

Headlines: Last night President Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to give up its weapons and hand over power in Gaza to the newly established National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (or NCAG). U.S. officials say multiple U.N. relief agencies continue to stonewall a U.S. probe into their ties to Hamas, withholding key documents and other information that could reveal their employees a...

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 CMPP Chairman LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer provides timely updates and in-depth analysis of the latest Middle East headlines, followed by a conversation with FDD Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines: Greece is planning to buy a multi-layer air defense system, drones, and other military aircraft from Israel.  Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs is pushing to shutter the Turkish Consulate in Jerusalem. Iranian strikes on CIA facilities in the Gulf has intel folks wondering: is Russia helping the Islamic Republic target American facilities?  A congressional letter landed on Secretary...

Headlines: The Lebanese Armed Forces started deploying troops to areas in south Lebanon formerly held by the IDF. The Iran-backed Houthis sent an email blast to shipping companies warning them not to load or offload cargo at Saudi ports. Hamas announced the election of Khalil al-Hayya as its new leader, replacing the late Yahya Sinwar who was killed back in October 2024. The Wall Street Journal re...

Headlines: The Israelis were forced to activate their air defenses on Saturday night as an Iranian missile hurtled toward Aqaba, the southern Jordanian city that is nestled right next to the Israeli city of Eilat. Two Iranians were hanged over the weekend for anti-government protests and activities.  The Wall Street Journal reports that the ceasefire between the Islamic Republic and the United Sta...

Headlines: The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned seven companies and individuals that are part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ weapons procurement network.  Iran instructed the Houthis in Yemen to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if the U.S. strikes Iranian power infrastructure. Syrian authorities thwarted an attempt to smuggle arms from Iraq through Syria and onward to Hezbollah in Leban...

Headlines: T he regime in Iran publicly hanged two people accused of membership to the Islamic State. Yes, you got that right. The world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism is punishing, uh, terrorists. President Donald Trump hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at the White House yesterday.  Lebanon and Israel have resumed talks over in Rome. This is the sixth round of direct talks, bu...

Headlines: Sad news on Sunday morning. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina passed away following a brief illness after returning from a trip to Ukraine. Iraqi prime minister Ali al-Zaidi is due in Washington today for high level talks with the Trump Administration. Channel 12 in Israel released the contents of a handwritten letter penned in 2022 by none other than Yahya Sinwar. -- FDD Executi...

FDD Senior Fellow Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates and analysis ahead of a conversation with documentary filmmaker and "Operation Arnon" producer Hannah Puder. Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief