FDD Morning Brief

Headlines:On Wednesday, the State Department sanctioned three targets involved in smuggling man portable air defense systems, or “MANPADS,” to Iran. Yemen’s internationally recognized government is reportedly embarking on an economic campaign of its own, targeting the Houthis’ finances. Yesterday, Israel and Germany extended an existing energy cooperation agreement for another year. Since Sunday, the IDF has killed at least seven terrorists, including a Hamas anti-tank battalion commander who held Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov captive.--FDD Senior Research Analyst Natalie Ecanow fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates and analysis ahead of a conversation with Max Lesser, senior analyst on emerging threats at FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI).Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines:Yemen’s internationally recognized government said yesterday that 21 Iranian and Hezbollah operatives are in Yemen overseeing Houthi military operations.Yesterday, Syria announced that it foiled a plot to sabotage the country’s only functioning oil refinery.Israeli forces arrested six members of a West Bank terror cell that was building rockets for attacks against Israel.The Sultan of Oman and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this week. --FDD Senior Research Analyst Natalie Ecanow fills in for Jonathan Schanzer, providing timely situational updates and analysis ahead of a conversation with Tyler Stapleton, senior director of government relations at FDD Action.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines:Qatar continues to try and prevent a return to fighting between the U.S. and Iran. British police arrested 139 people over the weekend as hundreds of protestors gathered outside the US embassy in support of a group called Palestine Action. More action on the Syria-Jordan border. --FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Southern Transition Council Special Representative Amr Al-Bidh.Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief 

Headlines: Qatar is reportedly hard at work trying to avert renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran after the midterm elections next week. The Houthis may be lacing their munitions with illegal chemical substances. Australia wants to build out its missile defense shield and is reportedly interested in Israel’s Iron Dome technology.The IDF is expanding its counterterrorism missions in the West Bank. --FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Research Analyst Samuel Ben-Ur.Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines: Russia is reportedly helping the Houthis and Iran-backed militias in Iraq target Saudi Arabia’s military and energy infrastructure.Last week, Libya and Turkey finalized a maritime border agreement that gives Ankara a larger than legal slice of the eastern Mediterranean. Albania is officially joining the International Stabilization Force for Gaza.The Jordanian Air Force launched airstrikes on multiple sites in southern Syria in response to that attack last Friday on a Greek Orthodox Church in Jordan that killed nine people. --FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Lahav Harkov, senior political correspondent of Jewish Insider.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines:The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is reeling from an attack on a Greek Orthodox church on Friday afternoon. Hamas appears to be issuing threats that it likely cant back up. Leaders of Hezbollah have reportedly informed parliament speaker and ally Nabih Berri that the group will not join forces with the Islamic Republic of Iran against Israel and the United States if war resumes. --FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Steven Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and director of the Middle East Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines:Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Ankara yesterday on the first-ever bilateral visit to Turkey for a Canadian prime minister. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ term is almost up, which means the succession race is heating up.New reports out of Israel: Hamas has no intention to disarm. Shocker, right? The city of Hebron is in lock down. --FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ryan Brobst, deputy director of FDD's Center on Military and Political Power.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines:The UK is sending fighter jets to support Saudi Arabia in its fight against the Houthis.Pakistan’s military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir was in Tehran yesterday for meetings with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and other top regime officials. The parliament of Libya’s Islamist-aligned eastern government approved a maritime border agreement with Turkey.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Middle East analyst Eitan Fischberger.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines:Egypt’s National Defense Council agrees to provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary support in its war against the Houthis.Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced that five Saudi nationals had been executed for committing acts of terror against the Saudi state and its people. Some wild news stories circulating out there, purportedly showing how the Netanyahu government was steering Qatari cash into Gaza.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Senior Envoy for Europe Simone Rodan-Benzaquen.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief

Headlines:The U.S. is allegedly considering dropping the “mother of all bombs” on Iran. Technically, it’s called the Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, and it’s the largest non-nuclear bomb the U.S. has. Terrible news out of Ukraine. It looks like the Ukrainians have run out of Patriot missile interceptors, leaving their country more vulnerable to Russian drone and ballistic missile attacks. Now, for some good news: Lebanon’s central bank revoked Bank Saderat’s license to operate inside the country, effectively shutting down one of Iran’s biggest commercial lenders. --FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with FDD Senior Advisor Jacob Breach.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief