Stay ConnectedThe Middle East never stops moving. Neither does the FDD Morning Brief.
Three mornings a week, FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer cuts through the noise with the experts who have spent their careers studying, shaping, and living the region’s most consequential moments. All before your morning coffee gets cold.
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SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL REALITIES IN ISRAEL POST-OCTOBER 7
HEADLINE 1: The Palestinian Liberation Organization Central Council held a two-day meeting this week.
HEADLINE 2: Iran may be operating a new, deeply buried tunnel and an expanded security perimeter near the Natanz nuclear site.
HEADLINE 3: Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa says he is open to normalizing ties with Israel.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Reichman University lecturer Rachel Gur, who formerly served as deputy CEO of Lobby 99.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
SANCTIONS, ILLICIT FINANCE, AND THE IRANIAN PEOPLE
HEADLINE 1: Egypt and Qatar reportedly tabled a new ceasefire proposal.
HEADLINE 2: Another day, another round of Iran sanctions.
HEADLINE 3: Egypt and China kicked off their first-ever joint air force exercise.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Saeed Ghasseminejad, senior Iran and financial economic advisor at FDD.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
SANCTIONS, TARIFFS, AND MORE
HEADLINE 1: Turkish Intelligence Chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Hamas leaders over the weekend.
HEADLINE 2: The U.S. and Iran held a second round of nuclear talks in Rome.
HEADLINE 3: Hamas launched a deadly attack against Israeli troops in northern Gaza.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Juan Zarate, former deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism under George W. Bush and chairman and co-founder of FDD's Center on Economic and Financial Power.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
MORAL COURAGE IN THE WAKE OF OCTOBER 7
HEADLINE 1: Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani arrived in Moscow yesterday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
HEADLINE 2: Hamas is on the verge of bankruptcy.
HEADLINE 3: The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the International Bank of Yemen.
HEADLINE 4: Lebanese forces detained multiple people who fired rockets into Israel last month.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with actress and producer Debra Messing, who has used her platform to stand with Israel and against antisemitism in the wake of October 7, 2023.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
CAN THE UNITED STATES SUSTAIN SIMULTANEOUS MILITARY SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL, UKRAINE, AND TAIWAN?
HEADLINE 1: Jordan arrested 16 people linked to the Muslim Brotherhood who were involved in a plot to undermine Jordan with targeted attacks.
HEADLINE 2: The European Union announced a new aid package for the Palestinian Authority.
HEADLINE 3: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says 2025 is the year that the Lebanese Armed Forces must gain a monopoly of arms in his country.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ryan Brobst, a senior research analyst at FDD's Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP).
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
IRAN, OMAN, AND THE UNITED STATES
HEADLINE 1: The IDF struck a Hamas command center inside Gaza’s al-Ahli hospital.
HEADLINE 2: Syrian President Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani was on a charm offensive this weekend. Yes, I still called him by the name he used when he was openly leading an Al-Qaeda affiliate group.
HEADLINE 3: The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are reportedly planning to sign a nuclear energy cooperation agreement.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis on headlines of the Middle East, followed by a conversation with FDD Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz, who hosts FDD's brand-new podcast, The Iran Breakdown.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
LEBANON, ISRAEL, AND THE FUTURE OF THE MIDDLE EAST
HEADLINE 1: The Trump administration rolled out another round of Iran sanctions.
HEADLINE 2: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a wanted man in Argentina.
HEADLINE 3: Israeli and Turkish officials met in Azerbaijan to discuss Syria.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Carine Hajjar, an opinion and editorial writer and Editorial Board member at The Boston Globe.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief/
JERUSALEM, ANKARA, AND WASHINGTON
HEADLINE 1: Hezbollah may be using maritime routes to smuggle weapons into Lebanon.
HEADLINE 2: Iran has been recruiting Swedish criminal gangs to target Jews and Israelis.
HEADLINE 3: Protests erupted in Egypt against President Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Erick Stakelbeck, a bestselling author and host of "Stakelbeck Tonight" and "The Watchman" on TBN.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
A VISION FOR YEMEN'S FUTURE
HEADLINE 1: In June 2021, Hamas asked Iran for $500 million to help fund the destruction of Israel.
HEADLINE 2: On Saturday, The Washington Post reported that the regime in Iran hired a Georgian drug trafficker to assassinate a rabbi in Azerbaijan.
HEADLINE 3: The United States has sent another THAAD air defense system to Israel.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ahmed Atef, a former Yemeni diplomat who now serves as the U.S. representative of the Southern Transitional Council.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
MAXIMUM PRESSURE ON THE REGIME IN IRAN + MAXIMUM SUPPORT FOR THE IRANIAN PEOPLE
HEADLINE 1: On Wednesday, the IDF struck what it described as “remaining military capabilities” that belonged to the former Bashar al-Assad regime.
HEADLINE 2: The IDF is establishing a new security corridor in southern Gaza.
HEADLINE 3: Russia and Iran’s deputy foreign ministers spoke with each other about Iran’s nuclear program.
HEADLINE 4: The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a network of Houthi financiers and procurement operatives.
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FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Emily Schrader, an Israeli journalist, author, and activist who serves as a news anchor at ILTV News.
Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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