I - On Defense Podcast

For review:1. Using 1,100 tons of explosives, the Israeli military said on Thursday that it had demolished a “strategic” underground facility belonging to the Hezbollah terror group beneath a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon.2. An airstrike late Thursday in the southern Gaza Strip killed the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, the Israeli military and the terror group said on Friday morning.3. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis seized several strategic Red Sea islands on Friday after capturing territory along the coast, sealing their takeover of a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia.4. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly called US President Trump twice Thursday and urged him to launch strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Axios outlet reported, citing two US officials.5. The Saudi Foreign Ministry offers additional details on what led it to temporarily halt operations of its East-West oil pipeline, saying it was attacked by drones that originated from Iraq.6. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed regional developments and recent attacks targeting Saudi Arabia in a call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, a Turkish diplomatic source says.Last month, NATO member Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a joint defense agreement that includes a mutual defense clause similar to NATO’s Article 5.7. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Thursday that the agency has observed construction activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, which Western intelligence has flagged as a site likely used to store nuclear material.8. US Vice President JD Vance reportedly sought direct insight from American generals on the war against Iran, seeking to bypass the Pentagon amid his skepticism of the extended military conflict.

For review:1. A group of eight Muslim-majority countries, including Israel’s ally the United Arab Emirates, praised the United Kingdom on Wednesday for announcing that it will impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and called on other countries to do the same.2. Iran’s Guards said on Wednesday that a new “prohibited zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz would cover parts of the Gulf of Oman and beyond, adding that they would announce the exact coordinates later.3. Iran Claims Capture of US Navy Underwater Drone.4. The US military on Tuesday said it destroyed five oil tankers in Iran’s so-called shadow fleet following a pair of attempted Iranian ballistic missile attacks targeting an American warship the previous day. 5. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir announced on Tuesday that the military would soon inaugurate a new “unmanned systems and artificial intelligence” branch.Currently, the Israel Defense Forces has three branches — the Ground Forces, Air Force, and Navy. The existing branches are each headed by a major general. A new fourth branch would be an unprecedented move for the military.6. Presidnet Trump told Russian President Putin that a swift resolution to the Ukraine war could pave the way for the countries to fully restore trade and economic ties, according to a Kremlin readout of a call between the two leaders.

For review:1, The new head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Sunday said Tehran plans to announce a “prohibited zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels it believes are attempting to transit the waterway.2. The Israel Defense Forces struck Hezbollah terror group targets in Lebanon overnight Sunday-Monday, reportedly killing eleven people, after the Iranian proxy fired two explosive drones at troops, the army said.The IDF said that no injuries were caused to troops in the Hezbollah attack, the third such incident in a week.3. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Monday accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes around the country, including the deadly bombardment of a prison, as the rebels pressed an offensive to seize territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.4. A top official within the US-backed Board of Peace said on Monday that a failure to move forward in Gaza paired with rising violence in the West Bank are making a two-state solution “impossible.”5. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan on Sunday issued a joint condemnation of remarks by Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling for plans to facilitate the emigration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.6. Britain is set to announce wide-ranging economic restrictions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Tuesday, including a ban on trade in goods produced in the settlements, reports said Monday, in what would mark a significant escalation in London’s pressure on Israel and possibly prompt similar measures by other countries.7. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he expects the war with Russia to continue into the winter, following talks with Donald Trump's top envoys in Kyiv.The discussions finished without an announcement of a major breakthrough, after Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travelled to Ukraine for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion.The previous day, the pair had held talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.8. Sweden to Procure US-Made M142 HIMARS; Croatia to Procure S. Korean-made K239 Chunmoo Systems.

For review:1. The US military said Saturday it had struck and destroyed three oil tankers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Iranian military organization fired on American warships.2. The navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it targeted three oil tankers that were traveling through unauthorized routes in the Strait of Hormuz as well as three additional US vessels in other areas, according to a statement.There is no immediate confirmation from the US.3. US President Donald Trump’s administration is crafting a post-Iran war strategy to build a regional alignment of US allies to contain Iran, while also expanding the Abraham Accords.4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s “central mission” is to topple the Iranian regime, asserting that the goal was “within reach.”“The regime is now faltering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival,” PM Netanyahu said.4.  The US State Department today greenlit several potential arms deals for key Middle East partners Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iraq, totaling about $6.1 billion-worth of equipment.5. The European Union is reviewing Kyiv’s request to spend billions of euros on PAC-3 interceptor missiles for its Patriot batteries — the first time Ukraine has formally asked to tap a 90 billion Euro support loan approved earlier this year to buy the U.S.-made systems, European officials announced this week. 6. Following steep losses of the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper in recent combat operations against Iran, Air Force officials are accelerating efforts to replace the venerable drone with a new unmanned aircraft at a price of $10 million each. 

For review:1. The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday night that it had finished clearing a “strategic” underground facility belonging to the Hezbollah terror group beneath a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon in recent weeks.The Ali Taher Ridge is located within Israel’s southern Lebanon buffer zone, near Nabatieh. According to the IDF, Hezbollah built tunnel systems beneath the hill, which served as the “nerve center” of the terror group’s Badr regional division — a unit tasked with the area of southern Lebanon that is north of the Litani River.2. Iran has warned the United States that it would respond forcefully to any Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon where Iranian military personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters, three officials briefed on the message told Reuters.3. US Vice President JD Vance says Washington will only return to negotiations with Iran if Tehran stops targeting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.4. South Korea is preparing to deploy military assets to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and aims to dispatch them before the end of the year, local media reports, citing government and military sources.5. Russia has been helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles, an advanced weapon that is harder to defend against than subsonic variants, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.6. The German Navy said on Wednesday that it had successfully tested an Israeli ballistic missile system the previous night and would now begin to advance plans to procure the projectiles.The Long-Range Artillery Weapon System, known by the acronym LORA, has a range of 400 kilometers and is accurate to within 10 meters, according to its manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries. It is classified as a short-range ballistic missile.7. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was a chance of reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said U.S. negotiators trying to broker a deal would soon visit both Moscow and Kyiv.‌Putin, speaking at an economic forum in Russia's far east, said a number of countries including the U.S. and China were ready to support a peace settlement.8. The U.S. government on Thursday slapped new sanctions on Cuba in a fresh push to strangle the island’s economy and deepen its multiple crises. 9. American Rheinmetall delivered the first Lynx XM30 prototype to the Army this week, the company said in a Tuesday statement, the latest move in the service’s effort to replace the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.The vehicle is slated to start testing, while seven additional prototypes are scheduled for delivery later this year. 

For review:1. The US military hit targets in Iran on Tuesday, and Tehran fired missiles and drones in response, as hostilities flared once again.2. Jordan’s army says it has intercepted 10 ballistic missiles launched from Iran while three others landed in remote areas.3. A Syrian site held infrastructure “consistent with a nuclear reactor,” the UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report seen by AFP on Tuesday, adding that the country’s former authorities “failed to report nuclear material, facilities and activities.”4. “Special forces” of the Shin Bet captured the commander of Hamas’s internal security apparatus in a “bold operation” in Gaza City on Tuesday morning, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the military, and the domestic security agency.5. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to discuss a Washington-backed 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, Fox Business reported on Aug. 31.The two reportedly met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Asheville, North Carolina, marking the first in-person attendance by the Russian finance minister since the outbreak of Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022.6. Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping could hold a trilateral meeting at the upcoming APEC summit in China, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Sept. 1.Ushakov said the possibility of a three-way meeting between the leaders is being considered ahead of the summit, according to Russian state media.The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is scheduled to take place in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18-19.7. Two weeks after the Army picked a winner to provide prototypes for its next-gen wheeled howitzer, the service’s fires acquisition shop is now seeking a tracked variant.8. The Army has announced it awarded Georgia Tech Research Institute up to $33.4 million to be the lead weapons systems integrator for the service’s Common Autonomous Multidomain Launcher (CAML) prototype program.The CAML program is set to serve as a replacement for the Army’s Typhon — its Mid-Range Capability (MRC) long-range launcher — after the service discovered it was too large to operate on the battlefield. 

For review:1. The U.S. military struck Iranian military targets to prevent the deployment of sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said.2. Jordan’s army says it intercepted eight missiles, shortly after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it attacked US military targets in the Washington-allied kingdom.“Air defense systems intercepted eight missiles that breached the kingdom’s airspace at dawn today, Monday,” reads a statement quoting the army’s spokesperson.3. Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday called on leaders of Muslim countries, and particularly those in the Gulf, to stand together against Israel and the United States, imploring them to “know your real enemy.”4. The Trump administration plans to impose sanctions on another bank this week in an effort to clamp down on Iran transactions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says.5. The Hezbollah terror group has so far rejected overtures by the Lebanese government to pull its forces out of the contested Ali Taher Ridge in south Lebanon, according to a Saturday report.6. Cuba is preparing to loosen some of the tightest controls over its communist economy, allowing private companies to trade directly with foreign businesses, giving foreign investors greater freedom to hire workers and expanding their ability to develop real estate on the island.7. In a bid to accelerate missile production, India has approved the transfer of technologies for all conventional missile systems from a state-run organization to private companies.8. The US Air Force has awarded aerospace giant Boeing a broad contract for the company’s F-15 fighter jet worth up to $131.2 billion, according to a DoW announcement. 

For review:1. CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Moscow, Russia, for meetings on Tuesday, sources familiar with the situation told CBS News.2. Russia warned on Thursday that it could strike British military ​targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Ukrainian attacks on targets inside Russia using long-range British cruise missiles.3. The United States on Friday issued fresh Iran-related sanctions as the war hit its six-month mark in a move that was rebuffed by Tehran as “state terrorism.”Iran condemned the United States’ new economic sanctions and said other countries were legally obliged not to implement them. 4. The United Kingdom warned on Friday that expelling its representatives from the US-led coordination center for postwar Gaza, located in southern Israel, would “undermine” efforts to improve the situation in the war-torn Strip.5. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Tuesday that Dutch representatives will be expelled from the US-backed international coordination center for Gaza, citing a series of “anti-Israel measures” by the Netherlands.6. US President Donald Trump signed an order on Friday creating a US Space Academy, billing it as a new military and civilian institution modeled after West Point and other military service academies.7. USN Aircraft Carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) will leave from San Diego in the coming weeks. The the strike group expected to move into US Central Command AOR to relieve the Japan-based USS George Wshington (CVN-73), which entered US 5th Fleet last week.8. The Pentagon is betting big on a $1.15 trillion discretionary budget request with a further $350 billion coming from the reconciliation process — together adding up to a historic $1.5 trillion defense budget. 

For review:1. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday lamented what he called a “humanitarian crisis” in Iran, saying it “must be stopped,” as he accused the Tehran regime of killing protesters and failing to pay its armed forces.“The failing Islamic Republic of Iran is not paying large segments of their military, while at the same time killing protesters, even when they are not protesting, at levels not seen before,” he wrote on Truth Social.2. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told counterparts around the world that Washington does not currently expect to launch new offensive strikes against Iran, as the Trump administration shifts its focus to economic pressure and restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Channel 12 reported Tuesday.Rubio did not rule out US military action if Iran initiates new hostilities, according to two sources familiar with the conversations.3. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in footage broadcast Wednesday that he urged US President Donald Trump to consider tightening the “siege” on Iran during their July meeting in Washington.4. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will visit Tehran tomorrow, where he will meet a number of Iranian officials to discuss ways to de-escalate tensions, foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari says on Wednesday on X.5. The Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy briefed the UN Security on Wednesday, touting Hamas’s acceptance of a disarmament plan while effectively acknowledging that progress has since stalled amid Israel’s rejection of the proposal.6. Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday told troops in southern Syria that the Israeli military would not leave its buffer zone there as long as “jihadist threats” remain, issuing a belligerent message to Damascus as the US tries to secure a security deal between the countries.7. The first-ever road bridge linking North Korea and Russia across the Tumen River appears close to completion, according to satellite imagery reviewed by Defense News.The border between North Korea and Russia is just 17 kilometers, or 11 miles, long, but increasingly geopolitically significant.8. The Army is looking for a weapon that is similar to the existing Hellfire and Joint Air-to-Ground Missile, according to the Army’s Sources Sought notice. The deadline is Sept. 15. 

For review:1. Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed the United States for the country’s severe crisis in an interview, saying his government will not make any concessions to the Trump administration, has “no alternative but to resist,” and that talks with Washington are “very stalled.”2. Mossad chief Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani held a meeting on Sunday to defuse tensions between their countries, Syrian state media confirmed.3. The United States removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, lifting what Damascus says was the last major impediment to investing in the country as Washington deepens ties to the new Syrian government.4. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged Sunday that Iranians were facing “many problems” as the United States prepares new sanctions aimed at further isolating the country’s economy, while defending a June memorandum of understanding with Washington as the best way out of a diplomatic deadlock that has left Iran in a state of “neither war nor peace.”5. US Treasury Secretary Bessent announced a new round of sanctions aimed at Iran on Monday and warned every country that does business with Iran to sever those financial ties or face retaliation from the United States.6. Two U.S. tanker aircraft have left Bulgaria’s Bezmer air base, Bulgaria’s defense minister said on Saturday, nearly a month after their deployment in the country angered Iran.

For review:1. The United States tightened sanctions on Cuba on Thursday, blacklisting three officials ​tied to a state-run organization that promotes Cuba's ties ‌with foreign solidarity activists, along with nine state entities in the metals, mining and construction sectors.2. Israel reportedly claimed to the US that Turkey was planning to set up an air defense system on the airbase in northwest Syria that the IDF struck last week, according to the Kan public broadcaster.3. The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an airstrike in southwest Syria on Saturday afternoon, adding it targeted an operative “who advanced terror attacks in the final stages of preparation.”4. The IDF said Saturday it had killed a Hamas commander involved in efforts to restore the terror group’s tunnel network in central Gaza. It also said it had killed an October 7 terrorist who had held hostages.5. Iran on Saturday slammed US plans to announce new sanctions that could put further strain on the Islamic Republic’s economy, and warned that any countries which take part in imposing these sanctions would be “considered an enemy.”6. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on Thursday that they targeted an airport and a facility belonging to state-owned oil giant Aramco in Saudi Arabia’s southern region, near the Yemeni border.7. A new wave of N. Korean Troops, already numbering 8,500 in Russia, contains a drone unit that could attack targets inside Ukraine, according to a senior Ukrainian intelligence official.8. Taiwan’s budget agency has announced a proposed 18 percent increase in its defense budget for 2027 as the self-governing island continues efforts to deter a potential invasion from China. 9. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is looking to leave his role at the Pentagon around the end of 2026 a former White House official and another source familiar with the discussions told The Hill on Friday. 

For review:1. Israel confirmed late Tuesday that it was behind overnight strikes against a Sysrian military airport, where it claimed Turkey was planning to deploy forces.2. Turkey’s Defense Ministry denied Thursday that a Turkish military delegation had visited Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase ahead of Israeli strikes on the site this week, a day after Syria’s foreign minister had said that such a visit took place.3. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared “ECONOMIC D-DAY” against Iran, warning that any country doing business with the Islamic Republic will face “TREMENDOUS economic consequences.”4. Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned newly threatened US economic and trade sanctions, claiming they would target ordinary Iranians and amount to “economic terrorism” and crimes against humanity.5. USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the US military said Thursday.US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the carrier arrived in the region Wednesday.6. A Yemeni minister warned Tuesday that the country’s Houthi rebels are plotting to seize land along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which would allow the group to further threaten the vital shipping artery.7. The US Army is issuing a call to ramp up production of ground-launched rockets.The service sent out a request this week for manufacturing 133,014 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, rockets by 2034, 

For review:1. South Korea on Monday expressed hopes for resumption of diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea to ease animosities on the Korean Peninsula, as President Trump reduces exercises with South Korea.2. The runway of a military airport in northwestern Syria was targeted by unidentified fighter jets overnight Monday, with Damascus blaming Israel for the airstrike and the United States denouncing Israel for the attack.3. The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said Tuesday that its inspectors had found several tons of nuclear material in Syria, at a site which the authorities said they reported to the agency last month.4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted during a meeting Monday with envoys from the White House and the US-backed Board of Peace that Israel would not redeploy any of its forces in Gaza or allow reconstruction to begin until the Strip was completely disarmed, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel.5. The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday struck what it said was a meeting of Hamas commanders and elite operatives in Gaza City.6. US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to bomb Oman and urged Iran to surrender, after Tehran announced that it had reached an agreement with Muscat on a plan for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between the two countries.7. The Navy has awarded RTX subsidiary Raytheon a $22.9 billion contract to ramp up production of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles to 1,000 rounds a year.8. US Army Selects Hanwha to Deliver 155mm K9 Mobile Tactical Cannon Prototypes.

For review:1. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner met with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian coastal city of El-Alamein on Sunday, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel.2. The White House established a secret backchannel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a Sunday report, which said that the United States has been informed that the IRGC stands behind the positions of the Iranian negotiators in their talks with Washington.3. Iranian authorities on Saturday called for the release of three pilots they said were captured in Qatar amid the US-Israel war with Iran.4. Lebanese media reported Israeli airstrikes in the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon Saturday overnight, a day after three Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah.Israel is awaiting US approval for a military operation aimed at taking control of the ridge, Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria reported Friday morning, citing a senior security official.5. US Central Command announced the stand-up of a joint US-UAE task force to advance AI in the two allies’ militaries.The task force will be “the first bilateral task force focused on accelerating the development of military artificial intelligence,” the CENTCOM statement says, with a particular focus on “AI applications for intelligence support, protecting critical infrastructure, and monitoring the regional security environment.”6. Department of War Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby pushed back against reports that the U.S. military’s stockpiles and capabilities are strained following Operation Epic Fury.“There’s been a lot of news about the United States military being stretched. Please don’t be misinformed,” Colby told Manila’s defense and security elites at a closed-door event organized by the Stratbase Institute think tank.

For review:1. Russia believes the United States is deeply involved in Ukrainian attacks against it and has raised the issue with ​Washington, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments broadcast on Friday.He ‌said that the alleged U.S. support included the supply of intelligence.2. US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States will hit Iran hard economically, as Washington and Tehran struggle to reach a deal to end a nearly six month conflict.His comments to Fox News came a day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was going to apply measures that have “never been seen” on Tehran as soon as next week.3. Iran will soon join the New Development Bank, the development lender established by the BRICS group of nations, central bank governor said in a state media report published on Wednesday ahead of a BRICS finance meeting in India.4. Surveillance soldiers on the Gaza border were reportedly sounding the alarm on Thursday about armed terrorist activity inside the Gaza Strip, in what they said feels like a repeat of their unheeded warnings before the October 7, 2023, onslaught.5. Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired missiles at the Yemeni port city of Mokha on Friday, killing eight people, the country’s internationally recognized government said, A Yemeni government official said the Houthis “fired five missiles at commercial ships unloading at the port” in Mokha, setting two ships on fire.6. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met the commander of US Central Command, Brad Cooper, and discussed defense cooperation between the kingdom and the United States as well as efforts to reduce regional tensions, the Saudi state news agency says.7. U.S. Central Command will stand up the inaugural task force focused on multi-domain, multinational attack drones.Task Force Falcon Strike will utilize one-way attack drones composed of unmanned systems from above, on and below the sea, managed by U.S. military support staff and regional partners.8. The Pentagon signed two framework agreements Friday with Boeing and RTX to expand production of critical components for the Standard Missile-3, the Navy’s primary ship-launched interceptor against ballistic missiles.9.  US Army M1E3 & XM30 Prototypes.10.  Breaking Defense Opinion Article- concerning US Transits through the Taiwan Strait.  

For review:1.Israel told the United States about the Iranian assassination threat that prompted the US Secret Service to take President Donald Trump off Air Force One and transfer to another military plane as he prepared to fly out of Turkey last month, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed US official.Later Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he had indeed been smuggled off Air Force One in Ankara because the Secret Service and US military told him to switch planes.2. Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed six people aboard a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday.3. The Board of Peace on Wednesday denied that there is any “financial agreement” with Hamas, after the Kan public broadcaster reported that the body agreed to cover $400 million of Hamas’s debt to outside parties as part of its roadmap for the terror group’s disarmament.4. Israel informed the White House recently that it would be willing to negotiate an agreement halting the targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but that any such deal would exclude those who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack.5. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday he hoped more countries would join a the defense agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that they say is aimed at stabilizing a region wracked by conflict.6. The US military is on track to pull all of its forces out of Iraq by the end of September, officials said Wednesday, marking the end of a presence that started with the 2003 invasion and beginning of the Iraq War.7. An Army unit has been picked to begin training and testing out plans for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome air defense mission, according to a three-star general helping with plans.  

For review:1. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the administration of President Donald Trump is escalating economic pressure on Cuba with an unprecedented sanctions campaign and warned that "there are no escape valves."2. Yemen's Houthis said they attacked an oil facility Sunday in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the latest attack by the Iranian-backed rebels on the kingdom.3. Nickolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy of the US-backed Board of Peace, sought to dispel skepticism in Israel about the board’s roadmap for the disarmament of Hamas in the Strip, arguing that the plan’s full implementation is Israel’s only “guarantee” of preventing a repeat of the October 7, 2023, massacre, and that it will be based on verifiable steps, rather than trust of the terror group.4. Iran on Monday said that it has no reason to be concerned about the new security pact between Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, arguing that it is “a sign of a change in the perception” of countries in the region toward the United States, and not a threat to Iran.5. US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Washington was “low-keying” its approach to Iran and only “semi-negotiating” with the Islamic Republic, as it suffers in dire economic straits.6. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has denied that Russian and German officials held talks in Azerbaijan last month to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine.“There have been no official contacts with Germany regarding a settlement in Ukraine, nor are there any now.” 7. The US Defense Department has requested that American defense companies quickly boost their production and delivery of weapons amid an acute shortage of arms due to the Iran war, according to a memo reported on by the WP on Saturday.8. The Army has officially opened up four of its domestic testing ranges and one international range where private industry can blast off interceptor missiles they have developed with their own funds, in hopes of getting promising candidates into the acquisition pipeline faster.

For review:1. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defense agreement in Mecca on Friday.The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all, they said in a joint statement.2. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that the defense pact his country signed yesterday with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is technically the same as NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense agreement.Egypt could potentially join the pact once certain technical matters are resolved, he adds.3. A member of Iran's Parliament and National Security and Foreign Policy Commission has criticised the new defence pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and said that even though the agreement has been signed, it would not guarantee Riyadh lasting security.Ebrahim Rezaei reacted to the defence agreement on X and wrote, "Saudis must know that a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as years of one-sided nursing to the Americans did not bring them security."4. Houthi attacks on a strategic Yemeni province killed at least 10 people Friday, according to a minister and military source, as the rebels escalated strikes on the oil-rich region.A source close to the Saudi military told AFP that the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government since 2015 would not stand “idly by” against the Houthi attacks and that Marib was a “red line.”5. In an interview with Fox News, US Vice President JD Vance says that Iran has told the US that it has “no plans” to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz.6. As the US-backed Board of Peace pushed ahead with its roadmap for postwar Gaza, Hamas asserted Saturday it remained ready to proceed with the plan and urged Washington to pressure Israel to implement it, as Israeli officials warned that the terror organization was exploiting the process to prevent renewed military action.7. The US Senate overwhelmingly approves a punishing Russian sanctions package, the result of a year-long campaign by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.The bipartisan legislation, which passes the Senate 86-11, would penalize countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas and other exports.8. The U.S. Air Force has committed $75 million to an initial production run of a jet-powered guided bomb that can fly more than 300 nautical miles.Boeing’s Payload Delivery Unit is a wing-and-turbojet engine kit that converts a 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) into a long-range JDAM (JDAM LR) dubbed the GBU-75. The result is a gravity bomb with the reach of a cruise missile.

For review:1. Report: Mossad chief removes 2 senior officials behind aborted Iran regime-change plan 2. Iran’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that Iran and Oman have agreed on a route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and are putting the final touches on arrangements for jointly managing the waterway.3. Lebanon and Israel held a fresh round of US-sponsored talks in Rome on Tuesday. This week’s negotiations mark the seventh round of Washington-mediated talks.4. Yemen’s Houthi rebels have killed at least 30 government soldiers and injured 15 in missile attacks on Yemeni military, government sources Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attacks, using missiles and drones, led to “hundreds” of casualties.The Yemeni military confirmed the attacks, framing them as a response to their own attacks on the Houthis.5. A Ukrainian cargo plane targeted by a drone carrying explosives at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport was loaded with ammunition at the time of the incident, German media reported on Aug. 6.6. US Triples Patriot and Quadruples THAAD Interceptor Production.

For review:1. US President Donald Trump held a phone call earlier today with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during which the pair discussed “efforts to deescalate tensions between the US and Iran,” the latter’s office says.2. Iran and the Gulf Arab state of Oman have made progress toward a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a potential breakthrough that could help wind down the war in the Middle East, regional officials say.Under the emerging agreement, ships would enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman, with service fees charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment, two regional officials tell The Associated Press.3. In his first public comments on the matter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel has not agreed to the Board of Peace’s Hamas disarmament plan, which was accepted by the terror group last week.4. The US-backed Board of Peace appeared to change its conditions for the IDF to withdraw from Gaza after its top officials held a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, shortly before a fresh Israeli airstrike was reported in the enclave.5. Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's former ambassador to the U.S., has been charged with illicit enrichment, an anti-corruption prosecutor said at a hearing of the High Anti-Corruption Court on Aug. 5.6. Ukraine will never become a member of NATO despite years of pursuing accession, Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.K. and former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said on Aug. 3.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said Zaluzhnyi's remarks had been "taken out of context and caused a stir," noting that the ambassador's full answer referred primarily to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), not NATO.

For review:1.  US President Donald Trump on Monday said that Washington and Tehran were currently engaged in talks, pushing back on Iranian claims to the contrary and accusing the Islamic Republic of being “unbelievably duplicitous.”  In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump lashed out at Iran and insisted that negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz had already begun and that more were scheduled imminently. 2.  As Israel faced growing criticism from the Board of Peace for its continued strikes on Gaza, despite Hamas’s recent signing of a US-backed disarmament plan, a senior Israeli spokesman said Monday that the roadmap “does not reflect Israel’s positions,” and “stands in direct contrast to the current reality” in the Strip. 3.  Former Mossad chief David Barnea is joining Ondas Defense Ltd. as its global president and chairman, the NASDAQ-traded company announced on Monday. 4.  President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Olha Stefanishyna from her post as Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., according to a decree published on the presidential website on Aug. 3. 5.  Ukraine President Zelensky on Tuesday (21 July) fired Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and named his replacement, following days of mass protests in Kyiv, the country’s capital, and other cities across the nation demanding his removal. President Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new commander according to a statement on social media. 6.  President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov as head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, according to a decree published on the presidential website on Aug. 3. 7.  Poland is preparing to host the first military drills for the so-called Coalition of the Willing with British and French forces. A spokesperson for the Polish Ministry of National Defence told Defense News that the military exercise, which is scheduled to be held this fall, is part of the group’s preparations for the post-war reality in Ukraine.8.   Anduril’s first Ohio-made unmanned, semi-autonomous aircraft rolled off the production line Monday, just four months after its beginning. In January 2026, Anduril declared that its first product would be the YFQ-44A, a missionized variant of the company’s FQ-44, or “Fury,” autonomous fighter jet, for the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The $1 billion, 5 million-square-foot facility is located near Rickenbacker International Airport. 

For review:1. US Sec of State Rubio raised concerns about Cuba’s ability to infiltrate and influence top-level U.S. institutions, detailing what he described as a dangerous Cuban spy network that is undermining American interests. 2. Secretary of State Rubio: Diplomatic Efforts in the Coming Weeks to Restart Moscow - Kiev Negotiations.3.  The Pentagon is giving up leadership of a U.S.-led NATO command in Germany that coordinates military aid to Ukraine. Another NATO member will eventually take over running the Security Assistance Group, according to a U.S official.4.  A deal is being mediated to return the United States and Iran to the memorandum of understanding the two countries signed last month, sources aware of the details told Israeli-outlet Channel 12 on Sunday. The deal would ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remains open for 60 days without fees and renew a ceasefire between the two sides, according to the report. 5.  Israeli airstrikes overnight Saturday and into Sunday killed at least 17 people, according to local health officials, and a senior Israeli minister vowed that strikes in the territory will not stop despite Hamas signing a US-backed disarmament plan and earlier reports that Israel agreed to halt attacks. The strikes followed similar heavy attacks on Saturday, which the IDF said targeted several Hamas weapon depots.6.  The U.S. Air Force’s F-47 program has begun its engineering and manufacturing development phase and will fly in the coming years, a service official said.  The first Boeing F-47 is on track for its first flight in 2028. The Air Force plans to buy at least 185 F-47s, matching the size of the F-22 Raptor fleet it intends to replace. 7.  US Navy announced that it is awarding contracts for another round of ballistic missile and fast-attack submarines. The Defense Department is granting a collective $76.6 billion to General Dynamics Electric Boat for five Columbia-class submarines and to both General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding for nine Virginia-class submarines to be built in the coming years. 

For review:1. Saudi Arabia is gearing up for a major offensive against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, by sea and possibly including a ground operation, The Guardian reported Thursday. 2.  The United States and Israel are planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure in Iran, multiple sources told CBS News, with strikes possible throughout the weekend. 3.  The Israeli military blew up a Hezbollah tunnel system beneath the Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced late Thursday night in a joint statement. They said the Israel Defense Forces used 700 tons of explosives to demolish the subterranean facility.  4. US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his Board of Peace had reached an agreement on the “complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza.” 5. USMC F-35B crasheded today  in California, according to the service. The pilot ejected and is in stable condition at a local medical facility, the service said in a statement. The pilot is being treated and evaluated for non-life-threatening injuries, the statement added. No additional details were immediately available. 

For review:1. Iran fired multiple ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in the Middle East on Tuesday evening, in what U.S. Central Command called an attempted surprise attack.2. US Central Command announces that it has renewed airstrikes in Iran, in what it calls “a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East.”3. A drone hit a US-owned gas storage tanker at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday, citing an initial assessment of the incident.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident.4. Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers, as it rebuilds its defenses amid ongoing fighting with the United States, three sources told Reuters.5. Yemen’s Houthis are considering imposing fees on commercial ships sailing through the southern Red Sea, a week after declaring a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, regional sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.6. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not push any one particular strategy regarding Iran during his Oval Office meeting with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, according to a senior Israeli official, who characterized the sit-down as an “exchange of ideas.” 7. The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday struck a mosque in Gaza City, saying Wednesday that it was one of several Hamas weapons depots in the central and northern Gaza Strip that it destroyed this week.8. The Pentagon has formally launched the Europe force posture review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last month, beginning a process to examine U.S. military troop presence, force posture and basing across Europe.

For review:1. Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq reported drone attacks in their territory Monday amid a lull in US air strikes against Iran.2. US President Donald Trump said Monday that he paused military strikes on Iran to give diplomacy another chance, amid a report of “significant” progress in talks to end the war. But he added that he is prepared to authorize another major attack on the Islamic Republic if the talks fail.3. Iran will top the agenda in his meeting with US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, minutes before taking off from an Israeli Air Force base for Washington, DC.PM is set to meet Trump on Tuesday at 11 a.m, local time, after more than five months since their last meeting.4. WSJ Report: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham out of convincing US President Donald Trump to join Israel’s fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon.5. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview aired Sunday that his country is working toward a security agreement with Israel, which he said could eventually pave the way for comprehensive peace between the two neighbors.6. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday vowed to respond against Ukraine for a deadly attack in the Caspian Sea that the minister claimed was carried out “at Israel’s behest.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Kyiv struck “vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran” in the Caspian Sea.7. The Kremlin ​said on Monday that it had ‌not seen any specific information regarding new proposals for a peace settlement in Ukraine ahead of a ​meeting in Washington between U.S. President Donald Trump ​and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.8. India has successfully tested a long-range surface-to-air interceptor missile. The project includes development of three variants with approximate ranges of 150 kilometers, 250 kilometers, and 350–400 kilometers. 

For review:1. The United States refrained from striking Iran overnight Friday-Saturday for the first day in two weeks.After the quiet night in Iran, there were also no reports on Saturday of attacks by Iran on its Gulf neighbors, which have been taking place daily as well.2. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump on Tuesday at the White House, the premier’s office announced Friday, in what will be the leaders’ first sit-down since the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28.3. The Israel Defense Forces has in recent days announced a series of strikes in the Gaza Strip targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad members who it said were involved in the October 7 attack, or the subsequent holding of hostages.4. Khalil al-Hayya has been elected to be the new leader of Hamas, the terror group announced Monday.Al-Hayya, who previously served as the head of the group’s political bureau in Gaza, defeated former Hamas chief and veteran leader Khaled Mashaal.5. US President Donald Trump’s administration has maintained that Turkey does not currently meet the criteria necessary for purchasing F-35 fighter jets from the United States.To address US concerns, Turkey has been in talks with Washington about offloading the S-400 system.6. Ukraine and the U.S. are coordinating a new round of peace proposals to present to Moscow, hoping that changing war dynamics could create the opportunity to push Russia toward negotiations, Ukrainian and U.S. officials told the Kyiv Independent.7. Greece has approved the purchase of a multi-layer air defense system worth up to €3.5 billion ($4 billion) from Israel, its defense minister said on Thursday.Greece wants to build a multi-layer anti-ballistic, anti-aircraft and anti-drone system, called “Achilles Shield,” with Israeli radars and missiles from Rafael and IAI defense companies forming the core of the system.8. Australia successfully tested a “Frankenstein” medium-range air defense system last month, harnessing existing and new capabilities in a way nobody has tried before.This first-of-type integration, which successfully fired an SM-2 interceptor missile, offers an alternative to buying expensive air defense systems.

For review:1. Iran has reportedly rejected a ceasefire deal passed along from the United States by Iraqi mediators.According to The New York Times, citing Iranian and Iraqi officials, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi traveled to Iran today with a proposal formulated not long after he met with US President Donald Trump in the White House earlier this month.2. The US military says it completed its latest round of strikes on Iran that marked a 13th consecutive night of American attacks.The latest wave of strikes lasted more than two hours, according to the US Central Command.CENTCOM says the latest attacks concluded shortly before 5 a.m. local time.3. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he is considering ordering the largest US attack on Iran yet, adding that Israel would join the strikes upon his request.4. US President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to bomb one Iranian bridge or power plant in return for each attack on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, reiterating his longstanding threat to go after Iranian infrastructure as fighting has escalated in recent weeks and could reportedly further intensify in the coming days.According to a Wednesday report in Hebrew media, the US informed Israel that it will soon deploy heavy bombers for strikes on Iran, presumably targeting fortified nuclear sites, in what would be a major escalation.5. Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf have prompted US intelligence analysts to investigate whether Russia assisted by providing targeting information or advanced drone technology, said four people familiar with US intelligence. 6. The Iran-backed Houthis struck two Saudi oil tankers on Thursday that they accused of violating a naval blockade imposed by the group, signaling a potential new front in the US-Iran conflict, Yemen’s Houthis said they targeted two Saudi oil tankers, identified as Encelia and Laylia, saying the vessels violated their naval blockade.7. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the agreement reached with Saudi Arabia for a civilian nuclear program would require Riyadh to normalize relations with Israel, prompting praise from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.8. Lebanon’s prime minister on Wednesday visited a battered southern village that was vacated by Israeli troops, planting a Lebanese flag at the scene and declaring that it marked the beginning of a complete Israeli withdrawal.9. The US House passed its version of a $1.15 trillion fiscal 2027 defense authorization bill on a 216-to-212 vote.

For review:1. US Central Command (CENTCOM) says it has completed its 11th consecutive evening of air strikes against Iran to further degrade the country’s “ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”.2. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that his country was in a “full-scale war” with the United States and that Tehran should accept the repercussions of the conflict, even as mediators reportedly proposed a 10-day truce to deescalate the fighting.3. US President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that the US will be striking Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain “probably pretty soon,” amid reports that Tehran has moved nuclear centrifuges, and possibly even enriched uranium, to the secretive underground enrichment site.4. Houthi Rebels on Monday announced they are imposing a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia  in retaliation for a blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the Sanaa Airport. 5. Israeli intelligence has reportedly assessed that Iran has moved thousands of nuclear centrifuges into a site in the Natanz area known as Pickaxe Mountain, burying them deep underground and making them harder to target in aerial strikes.6. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, where he declared that his country will permanently end hostilities with Israel and asked for backing in his efforts to disarm Hezbollah. 7. Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh Tuesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said in a statement, in line with a US-brokered plan for “pilot zones” in the south.8. Two Hamas terrorists, including a commander, who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and were responsible for the abduction of hostages, were killed in separate recent airstrikes, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet announced on Tuesday.9. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman warned Bulgaria on Tuesday against allowing the U.S. to use its territory for operations against Iran.The Bulgarian government has said it will seek parliamentary approval to station up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft at an air base in the Balkan country, which is a member of NATO and the European Union.

For review:1. US President Donald Trump says the latest military strikes on Iran are being carried out in honor of US servicemembers killed in recent days.The US military launched a new wave of strikes targeting Iran early on Monday, the ninth consecutive night of attacks."The strikes will continue degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz," the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.As the US sent dozens of refueling jets back to Israel in anticipation of a possible further escalation, Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported, citing an unnamed American official, that the US was also sending dozens of warplanes to the Middle East, bolstering its F-16 and F-35 fleets there.2. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the start of his official visit to Washington, according to a US State Department readout.The meeting, held at the State Department, discussed the US-Israel-Lebanon Trilateral Framework, the readout said.3. Breaking Defense Interview with USAF Chief of Staff. In a one-on-one with Breaking Defense, Air Force Chief of Staff GEN Kenneth Wilsbach laid out his big concerns for the service.

For review:1. China on Thursday voiced strong opposition to any potential US military action against Cuba after reports that the Pentagon was examining contingency plans for possible operations against the island.2. The US military said it carried out the seventh night of strikes on Iran since President Donald Trump declared the temporary ceasefire agreement was "over".In a statement shared on X, US Central Command wrote that its forces "hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities".3. The US has reportedly notified Israel that it is sending dozens of additional refueling aircraft to Israel, as US President Donald Trump weighs launching another massive bombing offensive against Iran.4. Iran has reportedly told its regional allies, including Hezbollah, to prepare for the possibility of a broader conflict amid military escalations with the United States, raising the prospect of Israel becoming directly involved in the fighting.5. Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi rebels to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.6. A Hamas company commander who held hostages during the war and served as the “right-hand man” of senior leaders in the terror group was killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip yesterday, the IDF and Shin Bet announced.7. The Kremlin said on Thursday that there is no immediate prospect of resuming peace talks ​with Ukraine, though it said that Russia remains open to ‌the idea of negotiations.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was appreciative of Turkey's willingness to help peace efforts, but no new talks were expected for now.8. Ukraine has agreed on a plan to acquire 16 Rafale fighter jets from France together with the accompanying weapon systems.9. The Pentagon doesn’t have a unified strategy for investing in a key hypersonic missile capability for the Navy and the Army — and failing to figure one out could result in additional program delays and inefficient use of funds, a new watchdog report warns.

For review:1. US Military planners have in recent weeks examined a range of options for possible action against the island, including an Army-led air assault involving thousands of U.S. soldiers to be carried out by the 101st Airborne Division, the only unit trained for such a task, according to multiple U.S. officials with knowledge of the discussions. 2. US President Trump is leaning toward further expanding US military operations in Iran, according to reports Wednesday, after huddling with top aides in the White House Situation Room the previous night to discuss potentially launching a major offensive against Iran in the coming days.3. The United States launched fresh waves of strikes on Iran on Wednesday afternoon and evening after reimposing a naval blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran threatened to shut off more regional energy exports.4. Iran is signaling it could use Yemen’s Houthi allies to shut the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea.5. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to the United States on Saturday night, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.6. Russia said on Wednesday that any multinational ​force sent by Ukraine's allies to ‌deploy there in the event of a peace deal would be unacceptable to Moscow, which would view ​it as a threat and a legitimate ​military target.7. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Mykhailo Fedorov as the country’s minister of defense after just six months in office.8. The Army could award contracts for its high-profile Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher (CAML) program next month, according to Lt. Gen. Frank Lozano, the service’s portfolio acquisition executive for Fires.The CAML program is set to serve as a replacement for the Army’s Typhon — its Mid-Range Capability (MRC) long-range launcher — as the service discovered the Typhon was a bit too large to operate on the battlefield.

For review:1. United Nations Ambassador Mike Walz on Sunday said Cuba’s regime is “a national security threat,” as the Trump administration keeps its sights on the Caribbean island nation.2. Yemen’s internationally recognized government said it struck Sanaa airport Monday, as the Houthis blamed the government’s Saudi backers for the attack, in the biggest escalation in years between authorities and the Iran-backed rebels.3. US President Donald Trump said Monday he would probably soon order a strike on the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site, as he declared American military forces would hit Iran hard over the coming two days.The President's remarks came as the US military confirmed launching strikes on Iran for a third consecutive night.4.  Israel engaged in a multi-year effort to recruit and re-install as leader Iran’s former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, The New York Times reported Monday.5. The U.S. will resume its blockade of Iranian ports, coasts and ships, according to a Monday announcement from U.S. Central Command, signaling an end to the 60-day ceasefire between Iran and Washington.6. US forces used unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for the first time in combat operations — striking a submarine and ship maintenance facility in Iran on Sunday, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM). 

For review:1. The US military is carrying out a new round of strikes on Iran, the third in recent days, in response to the Revolutionary Guards’ announcement that it has attacked a vessel there and closed the waterway until further notice, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announces.2. US President Donald Trump said Saturday that he had ordered the military to be prepared to launch major strikes against Iran if the Iranian government carries out or attempts an assassination of the president.3. A US military delegation met with Lebanon’s army in Beirut to discuss the implementation of Israel’s withdrawal fro6. m a “pilot zone” in occupied territory, a Lebanese military official told AFP on Saturday.4. Board of Peace officials have briefed reporters in recent days about their plans to establish a pilot humanitarian zone in the Rafah area of south Gaza.5. China could ​play a decisive role in pressuring Russia towards peace talks, helping end its war in ‌Ukraine, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Friday.6. Canada announced this week that it will purchase up to 12 attack boats from Germany following an intense bidding competition between Seoul and Berlin for the next-generation of Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) submarines. 7. Germany will purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States and station them on German soil, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday.According to German government sources, Washington committed to granting approval in August for Germany to procure Tomahawk missiles and corresponding ground-based Typhon launchers.8. The Pentagon is planning to reroute roughly $4.3 billion from fiscal 2026 coffers in order to pay for “higher priority items,” including increased personnel and operational costs around the globe, the department told lawmakers in a new reprogramming notification. 

For review:1.  Iran’s slain supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei was buried in the country’s holiest shrine, state media said early on Friday. The burial in Mashhad in northeast Iran follows a week of mass funeral processions, rallies and mourning.2.  The United States is demanding that Iran publicly state it will stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and that all lanes in the strait will be open to shipping with no tolls, senior US officials say.3. US President Donald Trump said Friday that the US has agreed to continue holding talks with Iran, but reiterated that the ceasefire with Tehran is over.4. Iran fired missiles into Jordan as it targeted US military infrastructure across the Middle East after the American military carried out another wave of strikes on Iran, including attacks that Iran said hit near the perimeter area of the Bushehr nuclear plant.5. A series of unclaimed airstrikes that hit Iran after the US said it finished its attacks have again raised questions of who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.6. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir all declared on Thursday that Israel would be ready to return to war with Iran at a moment’s notice.7. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday dismissed objections from Israel and Greece concerning the possible US sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.8. Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall have signed an agreement to co-produce the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) at Rheinmetall’s Unterlüß site in northern Germany, marking the first time the ballistic missile is set to be manufactured outside the United States.9. The United Kingdom announced today it planned to join the US Army’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) program after having set aside £190 million ($254 million) to buy the long-range munitions. 

For review:1. The United States launched fresh strikes on Iran late Wednesday and into early Thursday morning after striking Iranian targets a day earlier in response to attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.2. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday fumed at Iran following renewed military strikes overnight, saying he thought the US-Iran memorandum of understanding “is over,” calling Tehran’s leadership “scum” and adding: “We’re going to hit them hard tonight.”3. Funeral processions for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were held Wednesday in the holy Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala with masses of mourners present.4. Lebanon is demanding that Israel fulfill its pledge to withdraw from two “pilot zones” in the nation’s south and hand them over to the Lebanese military before it agrees to participate in the next round of direct talks, scheduled for next week in Rome, a Lebanese diplomatic source told AFP Wednesday.5. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday informed his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa that he had decided to remove the country from the US list of designated state sponsors of terrorism.6. President Trump said Wednesday he is undecided on whether to readmit Turkey into the U.S.’s F-35 fighter jet program after expelling the country during his first term. 7. President Trump at NATO Summit in Turkey.8. Cuba’s foreign minister accused the United States of committing an "act of war" by restricting fuel shipments to the island Tuesday, prompting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz to deliver a forceful response blaming Cuba’s communist government for years of blackouts, repression and economic collapse.

For review:1. President Trump held separate calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year. 2. Norway wants China to use its ⁠ties to the Russian ⁠leadership to help bring about ⁠a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, also for the sake of better relations with Europe, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday.3. NATO Summit in Turkey 07-08 July 2026.4. As US President Donald Trump heads to Turkey for a NATO summit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday urged Washington not to sell advanced weaponry to Ankara, and in particular F-35 jets.5. Iran’s top officials and brothers of the country’s new supreme leader emerged into public view Sunday to attend the funeral prayers for the late ayatollah Ali Khamenei.6. The Hamas government in Gaza on Monday announced the resignation of the so-called “Emergency Committee” — the Hamas-led administration that governs the Strip — in preparation for the transfer of authority to the technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.7. Seoul and Jakarta are ironing out the transfer of a singular KF-21 fighter jet prototype, capping a decade-long back and forth over deal to manufacture the South Korean jets in Indonesia that once envisioned the handover as one of many.8. The People’s Liberation Army Navy test fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from the South China Sea to the Pacific Ocean on Monday. 

For review:1. Iran’s ambassador to China insists that new fees will be charged to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz — an idea rejected by Washington — while assuring that “friendly” nations would receive special treatment.2. Recent satellite imagery shows no signs that Iran has begun repairing key damage at its main nuclear facilities following US and Israeli strikes, though construction appears to be taking place at the Pickaxe Mountain tunnel complex adjacent to the Natanz Nuclear Facility, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security says.3. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump agreed to meet in the US in the near future during a phone call Friday, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.4. Iranian security officials have rejected Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s request to attend the burial of his slain father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, because they fear Israel will kill the son or track him back to his hiding spot, NYT Report.5. US officials indirectly warned Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during negotiations earlier this year that Israel might try to assassinate them.6. Massive crowds gathered as Iran began a days-long funeral Saturday for the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with many calling for “revenge” and “death to Israel,” months after an airstrike killed him at the start of the war.7. The United States has withdrawn most of the forces it deployed for a recent operation against Islamic State militants in Nigeria and is now providing intelligence support at Abuja’s request, the head of U.S. Africa Command said.In May, U.S. and Nigerian forces conducted military operations in northeastern Nigeria that killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the second-in-command of ISIS globally.

For review:1. US-Saudi relations have significantly deteriorated in recent months amid anger in Riyadh over Washington’s decision to launch a war against Iran that has caused massive blowback for the rest of the region, to the extent that the US is reportedly considering pulling troops from the Gulf kingdom.2. Funeral processions for Khamenei will begin on Saturday in Tehran and conclude on July 9 with his burial in his hometown of Mashhad, with additional ceremonies planned in Qom and Iraq in between. The ceremonies are expected to draw 15 to 20 million mourners, according to officials, which would make it the biggest state funeral in the country’s history.3. Syria’s foreign minister said during a visit to Beirut on Thursday that Syria was open to meeting the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah “if interests require it,” Lebanon’s state news agency reported.Asaad al-Shaibani met Lebanese government leaders, including President Joseph Aoun and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally. 4. Israel has successfully completed a series of tests on an upgraded version of its Iron Dome aerial defense system, demonstrating new joint operational capabilities with the Iron Beam laser system, the Israeli ministry of defense said on Tuesday. This integration is a prerequisite for future operational deployments allowing commanders to dynamically toggle between missile and laser interceptions based on the nature of the incoming threat, system availability and cost-benefit calculations.5. President Donald Trump will traveled for the first time on the new Air Force One aircraft Wednesday, according to the White House. 

For review:1. Talks between Cuba and the U.S. are at a standstill, despite the island recently approving a series of free-market reforms, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez announced Tuesday.2. Attackers shot dead two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at their home in the western city of Paveh, near the border with Iraq’s Kurdistan region, state media reported Tuesday.It was not immediately clear who was behind the shooting. 3. Top US envoys Steve Witkoff and ‌Jared Kushner were in Doha on Tuesday for meetings with Qatari mediators to discuss negotiations with Iran, but Qatar and Iran said there would be no high-level meeting between Washington and Tehran on Tuesday or in the coming days.4. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told IDF troops in the southern Lebanon security zone on Tuesday that the military would remain in the area for the foreseeable future, crediting the soldiers’ work for the recent agreement between Israel, Lebanon, and the US that demands Hezbollah’s disarmament to enable an Israeli withdrawal.5. The Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Directorate and Southern Command submitted a warning last week to Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir that Hamas’s military wing is preparing for renewed war with Israel, the Kan public broadcaster reported Sunday.6. Russian President Putin has admitted that there was no deal with President Trump to end the war in Ukraine, after Kremlin officials insisted such an agreement was made between the two leaders last August in Alaska.7. China called on Ukraine and Russia to resume peace talks “as soon as possible” and reiterated its support for an immediate ceasefire during a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, June 30.8. Outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that British defense spending will reach close to £80 billion ($105 billion) annually by 2029.9. Based in Townsville in northern Queensland, the Australian Army’s 3rd Brigade is undergoing a massive transformation, as the heavy armored formation absorbs whole new fleets of vehicles.10. Russia and China conducted joint bomber patrol flights on Saturday for the first time this year, prompting Japan and South Korea to scramble fighter aircraft.

For review:1. US & Iran have agreed to halt attacks on each other and to meet again on Tuesday in Doha to discuss the issues of the Strait of Hormuz.2. The Israel-Lebanon framework agreement, signed last week, explicitly preserves the Israel Defense Force’s full freedom to act against threats in the southern Lebanon security zone, an official familiar with its contents told The Times of Israel on Sunday.3. Hezbollah’s leader on Saturday pilloried the Israel-Lebanon framework agreement signed in Washington as “null and void” and a surrender of Lebanon’s sovereignty, with the terror group’s top ally in Beirut’s parliament going as far as calling it an “incitement to civil war.”4. A top commander in Hamas’s naval police and a Hamas terrorist who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught were among four terrorists killed in recent strikes in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday.5. Turkey Offers to Host Russia - Ukraine Peace Talks.6. The German Navy is moving two ships to the Red Sea in preparation for a possible mine-clearing mission in the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s defense minister confirmed on Thursday.7. During a meeting with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo, Canada’s defense minister has said that Ottawa is “interested in learning more about” the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) next-generation fighter.The GCAP is a multinational effort between Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom that envisions a sixth-generation fighter jet as well as collaborative combat drones and high-tech data sharing.8. Japan’s government has confirmed it will rename its air force to reflect a broadened mission set to include outer space.The upper house of Japan’s parliament approved a bill today to rename the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) to the Japan Aerospace Self-Defense Force.9. North Korea commissioned its largest warship to date, the 5,000-ton destroyer Choe Hyon (51), in a ceremony Tuesday in the port city Nampho.Choe Hyon was domestically made, and was armed with indigenous weapons systems. 

For review:1. US Central Command (CENTCOM) says its forces conducted strikes against Iran earlier this evening in response to an attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.2. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it attacked US sites in the Gulf region in retaliation to American strikes in Iran, according to state television.3. The United States is considering moving Middle East military installations westward, including to Israel, to reduce their exposure to Iran’s missiles and drones.4. Israel, Lebanon and the US reached an agreement Friday that will see the Israel Defense Forces begin to withdraw from small parts of southern Lebanon.5. Officers from the Moroccan military, whose deployment was announced in February, have arrived in Israel to join a nascent international force for Gaza, US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace said Tuesday.An official from the board separately told AFP on condition of anonymity that the contingent arrived on June 18 at the headquarters of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in southern Israel.6. The Kremlin said Wednesday that contacts between Moscow and Washington on the Ukraine war will resume when the American envoys become available amid their occupation with other issues.

For review:1.  The U.S. government on Tuesday hit Cuban state companies with new sanctions.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions target five Cuban entities, including three linked to Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., a business conglomerate operated by Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces. 2. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Washington would not accept Iranian tolls or fees on the Strait of Hormuz, as disputes over the vital waterway, nuclear inspections, and missiles exposed early strains in negotiations to end the Middle East war. 3. Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed Wednesday that the IDF will not withdraw from its southern Lebanon security zone, “even if there is an American demand,” while adding there was no such demand at this time. 4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel needs to be “free” from military dependence on the United States and develop its own weapons-production capabilities, arguing that this is needed to support the ongoing fight with Iran and its terror proxies. 5.  A senior Islamic State leader was killed by an airstrike last week, Central Command announced on Wednesday,. Ali Husayn al-Ulaywi was killed in a precision airstrike on June 19.6.  U.S. President Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Group of Seven summit in France that he would consider letting Ukraine build its own Patriot interceptor missiles.7.  The Missile Defense Agency today awarded Lockheed Martin a $35 billion undefined contract action (UCA) to quadruple production of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors over a seven-year period, the company and the Defense Department announced. 

For review:1. The United States and Iran began talks in Switzerland on Sunday after signing a preliminary agreement to end their war.American and Iranian representatives gathered alongside delegations from mediators Pakistan and Qatar at the luxury Swiss resort of Burgenstock.2. Iran and the United States agree on a roadmap toward reaching a final deal to end the war within 60 days, mediators Pakistan and Qatar say in a joint statement on Monday.3. Iran and the United States agree to set up a “de-confliction cell” with Lebanon to stop military operations there, Pakistan and Qatar, which are mediating the US-Iran negotiations in Switzerland, say in a joint statement.4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to keep Israeli troops in the south Lebanon security zone “for as long as necessary” to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah.5. IDF Captures Hezbollah Subterranean Drone Base / Factory in S. Lebanon. 6. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday ruled out intervening militarily in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, after US President Donald Trump again suggested Damascus could get involved.7. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given Belarus a one-week ultimatum to remove relay equipment on its territory that he says is helping Russia attack Ukraine, warning that Kyiv will otherwise intervene itself to halt the transmissions.8. The U.S. Department of Defense is open to Poland’s offer to host a permanent U.S. military presence in Poland, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Thursday after meeting U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Brussels.9. The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) inked a pair of conditional loans totaling $1.2 billion this week within the rare earth elements sector, according to department announcements. 

For review:1. A B-52 on a routine test mission crashed shortly after takeoff Monday (15 June)  in Southern California, killing all eight crew members on board.2.  US Army aims to release proposal requests for its heavy variant of the ISV this fall, a senior service official told lawmakers, adding that the Army is attempting to field the capability as quickly as possible. The Army is seeking vehicles that can provide  60 kW of continuous high-voltage DC power, 15 kW of 28V DC power and 4.8 kW of 120V AC power. 3. After eight years as US Indo-Pacific Command, the Pentagon has announced it is restoring the original name to simply Pacific Command (PACOM).4. KNDS, the French-German maker of the Leopard tank and the Caesar truck-mounted gun, pitched a new howitzer with a barrel longer than any NATO production artillery, which the company said gives the weapon a range of up to 60 kilometers (37 miles) with standard high-explosive shells.The 155mm howitzer, named Loras for long-range artillery system, is equipped with a 58 caliber gun tube, about 12% longer than the 52 caliber barrels that equip most recent European cannons.5. President Trump on Friday unveiled the Boeing 747-8 that will serve as the new Air Force One, that the U.S. accepted as a gift from the Qatari government last year.6. US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is traveling to Switzerland for the first round of talks with Iran on a potential nuclear deal, Axios reports, citing a US official.Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is already in Switzerland, it adds.7. Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday afternoon, a US official said, after another flare-up in southern Lebanon that saw four Israeli soldiers and dozens of Lebanese casualties.8. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has set up secretive new cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf countries that host American forces, bypassing established militia networks to avoid detection, eight Iraqi sources told Reuters. 

For review:1. Cuban lawmakers unanimously approved sweeping reforms backed by the Communist ​Party and former leader Raul Castro that would privatize a vast swath of the country's socialist economy in a bid to survive punishing U.S. sanctions.The ‌measures, if implemented as passed, would represent the single largest change to Cuba's socialist model since former leader Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution and a major shift towards a market economy.2. President Trump on Wednesday signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran ending the war between the two countries.3. Iran will invite the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency to inspect its nuclear sites and begin work on identifying and uncovering the locations of Tehran’s enriched material, US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff tells US lawmakers in a private briefing.4. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman warned Thursday that a continued IDF presence in southern Lebanon would mean the “annulment” of the memorandum of understanding it signed with the United States, as Israel doubled down on its plans to keep troops in the area amid its ongoing conflict with the Hezbollah terror group.5. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told NATO Thursday the Pentagon will review its force presence in Europe within six months.“This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” Hegseth told a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.6. USAF CCA Update.

For review:1. Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar opened Somaliland’s embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, the eighth top-level diplomatic mission in the capital.The United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, and Fiji also have embassies in Jerusalem, while other countries — including Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia — have embassy branches in Jerusalem.2. The Hamas terror group carried out its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel partly in order to thwart the Jewish state’s rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, according to seized documents.3. US & Iran MOU (Reaction/Analysis).

For review:1. Senior Hezbollah commander Ali Mussa Daqduq, mastermind of a January 2007 attack that killed five US troops in Iraq, was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon over the weekend, the IDF announced Sunday.2. US & Iran Reach Deal; Ceasefire Extened 60 Days; Formal Signing in Switzerland Friday.3. Ahmad Vahidi, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, emerged as a key player during negotiations between the US and Iran, according to a Saturday profile in the Wall Street Journal, which found that the senior paramilitary leader pushed for a hard line in talks, advocating against any concessions to Washington. According to the report: Vahidi has “frequently overruled” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. 4. Israel was bracing for Iranian missile fire on Sunday after Tehran vowed that an Israeli Air Force strike on a Hezbollah target in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day would “not go unanswered.”The strike in the Lebanese capital’s Dahiyeh district came shortly after Hezbollah fired drones into Israeli territory.It was Israel’s first strike in a week in the Hezbollah stronghold, with the previous strike also a response to rocket fire on northern Israel.“The IDF has just struck Hezbollah terror targets in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut, in response to Hezbollah’s firing at Israeli territory,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement after the strike on the Hezbollah stronghold.5. CNN Report: Iran has, in recent weeks, deliberately collapsed tunnels and mined entrances to its bombed Isfahan nuclear complex in a bid to stop the US from launching a raid to retrieve the Islamic Republic’s store of highly enriched uranium that is believed to be buried at the site.

For review:1. The U.S. imposed sanctions Thursday on Cuba’s state-owned oil company, part of a Trump administration effort to restrict fuel supplies and increase pressure on the island’s Communist government.2. US President Donald Trump called off strikes on Iran Thursday evening, claiming an agreement to end the war had been reached and would be signed shortly.He later said the document should “get done in the next few days,” possibly in time for a signing in Europe this weekend.3. A US official said Friday that the emerging memorandum of understanding with Iran “leads to” Washington getting Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.The official, who held a phone briefing with reporters on condition of anonymity, also said the draft agreement was “broad” and would include Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran’s proxy group Hezbollah. He added that Iran’s loosening grip on the Strait of Hormuz has cost it leverage in the talks, and that he was “80 to 85 percent” sure the deal would happen.

For review:1. US Defense Secretary on Wednesday said the future of Cuba is in the hands of President Trump and Havana’s leadership amid increased U.S. pressure on the communist-ruled island.“No matter what, the Department of War is going to be prepared and postured for any possible contingency,” Sec Hegseth told troops during a visit to the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.2. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said two U.S. Army aviators “got very lucky” after an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter was downed by Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, emphasizing that US retaliation is not over.Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the president declared, “We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them hard again today.”3. US President Donald Trump said the US would be attacking Iran again on Wednesday, indicating that Tuesday night’s strikes against the regime were only the first part of Washington’s retaliation against the Islamic Republic for shooting down an American military helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.4. US Central Command confirms it has launched fresh “self-defense strikes” on “multiple targets in Iran at the direction” of President Donald Trump.5. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says that it struck bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in response to the latest US strikes.6. The United States and Iran have honed in on four key points of negotiation during talks to permanently end the fighting that began with a joint US-Israeli offensive back in February, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.According to the newspaper, the deal will include agreements on an extended suspension of uranium enrichment by Iran; the dilution of Tehran’s existing stockpile of enriched uranium; the dismantling of Iranian nuclear sites; and the right for international nuclear watchdogs to conduct snap inspections in the Islamic Republic.7. Iraq and the United Arab Emirates are fast-tracking plans to expand oil pipelines to replace the capacity lost by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as new data reveals their stark dependency on the Persian Gulf. 8. The Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) has collapsed following the failure of industrial mediation between Dassault and Airbus on several issues, multiple reports said Monday.9. The House Appropriations Committee released its $1 trillion defense spending bill for FY27.

For review:1. Israel on Sunday carried out airstrikes in Beirut, with the military saying it targeted a Hezbollah headquarters in the group’s stronghold of Dahiyeh, a large suburb just south of the Lebanese capital.Iran threatened to retaliate, saying, “Watch the sky of the occupied territories tonight.”2. Iran fired a volley of missiles at northern Israel Sunday night, catapulting the region back to the cusp of all-out war after two months of a shaky ceasefireNo Israelis were hurt in the attack, which involved some 10 missiles fired in quick succession around 10 p.m. Iran said it launched the missiles in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburb earlier in the day targeting the headquarters of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.3. Israel launched strikes on Iranian military targets and a petrochemical plant on Monday morning in response to the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile attacks on northern Israel hours earlier.4. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly called off a major strike on Iran with fighter jets on the runway. PM Netanyahu said he would halt attacks on Iran “for now,” but warned that Israel would strike Iran and Hezbollah if it is attacked again.5. The European Union said on Monday it had imposed sanctions on two Iranian individuals and a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for threatening the freedom of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil flows.The move marked the first time the bloc has used new powers to sanction Iran for restricting freedom of navigation.