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US CENTCOM Forces Attack 3 x Iranian Crude Carriers + US Developing Post-Iran War Middle East Strategy; Expands Abraham Accords; Alignment of Allies Against Iran + Israeli PM Netanyahu: Toppling Iran Regime "Within Reach" Sep 05, 2026

Show notes

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.

Israel: IDF Controls Strategic Ali Taher Ridge in S. Lebanon; Underground Site Cleared; Working to Demolish + Russian President Putin: Chance of Settlement to End Conflict + New US Sanctions on Cuba Sep 03, 2026

Show notes

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.

US Resumes Strikes on Iran Tuesday; Targets Radar Systems, Air Defense Sites, Mine-laying Capabilities + Iran Responds; Jordan Intercepts Iranian Missiles; No Casualties + US Army Looks for New Tracked 155mm Howitzer Sep 01, 2026

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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.

US Attacks Iran in Strait of Hormuz; IRGC Attempted to Launch Rockets with Sea Mines + Iran Retaliates; Launches Ballistic Missiles at US Bases in Jordan; No Report of Casualties Aug 30, 2026

Show notes

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.

President Trump Orders Creation of US Space Academy; Modeled after USMA at West Point + CIA Director Ratcliffe Visits Moscow + Russia Warns UK & France Over Ukraine's Use of Storm Shadow - SCALP Missiles; Playing With Fire Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

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.

US Shifts to Economic Pressure on Iran; Diplomats Returning to Middle East Embassies + Israeli Defense Minister Visits IDF Troops in S. Syria; IDF to Remain in Buffer Zone + Russia & N. Korea Border Road Construction Almost Complete Aug 26, 2026

Show notes

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.

US Treasury Secretary Bessent Announces Additional Sanctions Against Iran; Dubbed Operation Economic Outcast + Pakistan's Army Chief Travels to Tehran + US Removes Syria from List of State Sponsors of Terrorism Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

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.

Report: Bombed Syrian Air Base Was Planned Location for Turkish Air Defense System + US Adds New Sanctions Against Cuba + US to Announce "Toughest Sanctions in History" Against Iran on Monday Aug 23, 2026

Show notes

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.

Israel Confirms Attack on Syrian Air Base; Cites Violation of Security Status Quo; Syria Repeatedly Warned + President Trump Declares "Economic D-Day" Against Iran + Aircraft Carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) Arrives in CENTCOM AOR Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

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,

President Trump Reduces Combined Military Exercise with S. Korea + Unknown Warplanes Strike Airbase in N.W. Syria; Israeli Jets Suspected + US Army Selects Hanwha to Deliver 155mm K9 Mobile Tactical Cannon Prototypes Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

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.

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