Podcast
FDD Morning Brief
Hosted by FDD · EN
The 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.
72episodes
Episodes
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The deal that dooms the Iranian people | feat. Moj Mahdara
Jun 100:28:37Tap to summarizeHeadlines:The Israeli military is on the move in Lebanon. The IDF is set to move further north to do more damage to Hezbollah.We’ll keep with Lebanon and note here that the Europeans are nudging their way into this theater. The Brits are saying that they want the Israeli advance to end. The French have done the same.Ahmad al-Sharaa, the newish leader of Syria, says he wants all the remaining sanctions on his country lifted.One of the biggest Iran-backed militias in Iraq, Kataeb Hezbollah, says it will not disarm, despite calls from the United States to do so.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Iranian-American entrepreneur and activist Moj Mahdara.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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The unfinished war on terror | feat. Joseph Zacks
May 2900:25:48Tap to summarizeHeadlines:The Sultanate of Oman committed to increase trade and economic relations with Iran.The Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which is the body that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard stood up to extort vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.The IDF carried out a strike in Beirut yesterday — it was the first Israeli strike in Beirut in three weeks.The U.S. government is expanding its probe into the United Nations Relief and Works Agency — a.k.a. “UNRWA,” a.k.a. Hamas in UN clothing.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Joseph Zacks, FDD Adjunct Fellow and former deputy assistant director for counterterrorism for the CIA.Learn more at: https://fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Law and order in the Iran war | feat. Natasha Hausdorff
May 2700:26:26Tap to summarizeHeadlines:Israeli media reported that Shin Bet chief David Zini met with former Palestinian Authority security official Mohammad Dahlan in the United Arab Emirates.The regime in Iran executed a man accused of spying on behalf of the Mossad.The IDF expanded operations in Lebanon, pushing past the ceasefire line delineated in April — the so-called “Yellow Line. Iranian hackers were responsible for a breach of the Los Angeles transport authority earlier this year. An Israeli cybersecurity firm traced digital evidence to a known operation that’s believed to be affiliated with Tehran.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with UK international lawyer and barrister Natasha Hausdorff.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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What's the deal with the Iran deal? | feat. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus & Behnam Ben Taleblu
May 2500:38:08Tap to summarizeFDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer hosts a special SITREP featuring FDD experts Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus and Behnam Ben Taleblu.They dissect the latest on the Iran deal: what we know, what we don't, and what we're watching.Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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The anti-Israel propaganda pipeline feeding mainstream media | feat. Jacki Alexander
May 2200:28:47Tap to summarizeHeadlinesTreasury sanctioned nine Hezbollah enablers who help preserve the terrorist group’s chokehold on Lebanon by obstructing peace or disarmament efforts. German federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against two individuals suspected of helping Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps plot the murder of Jewish leaders in Germany. The Trump administration is threatening to revoke the visas for the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations if ambassador Riyad Mansour doesn’t withdraw his candidacy for vice president of the UN General Assembly.Some bold statements coming out of Tehran. --FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Jacki Alexander, president and CEO of HonestReporting.Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Can the IDF stop Hezbollah's FPV drones? | feat. Ryan Brobst
May 2000:24:29Tap to summarizeHeadlines:The Trump administration rolled out another batch of Iran sanctions, as well as a second package targeting four individuals associated with Palestinian terror groups and the Gaza flotilla.It’s official. Hamas has a new leader in Gaza.The world’s largest cable-laying company suspended work in the Persian Gulf after Iran demanded that the company obtain permits and pay fees to continue repairing subsea cables.Israeli troops reportedly found a document in Gaza last year indicating that Hamas spent the January to March 2025 ceasefire training new recruits.--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
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Hezbollah's West Africa money trail | feat. Daniel Swift
May 1800:28:47Tap to summarizeHeadlines:Iranian drone attacks, whether launched by the regime or its Iraqi proxies, continue to plague the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Remember the yellow zone in Gaza? You know, the territory that Israel controls and that surrounds the red zone that is still controlled by Hamas? Looks like Israel is slowly gaining ground on the terror group.The outrage continues over Nicholas Kristof’s column in The New York Times accusing Israel of training dogs to r*pe Palestinians in jail.The Israeli government just passed a death penalty law for West Bank Palestinians convicted of murder.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Daniel Swift, a senior research analyst from FDD's Center on Economic and Financial Power.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Washington's week with Beirut and Beijing | feat. David Daoud and Craig Singleton
May 1500:27:42Tap to summarizeHeadlinesWe’ve got another flotilla on the way to Israel. Just what we all needed, right?A Hezbollah drone attack wounded four Israeli civilians in northern Israel.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that Netanyahu secretly visited the United Arab Emirates during the war with Iran to meet with Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.Fatah, the Palestinian Authority’s dominant faction, is on day two of a three-day conference to elect members to its Central Committee and Revolutionary Council, which is essentially the party’s parliament.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer hosts a special SITREP featuring FDD experts David Daoud and Craig Singleton.They examine the takeaways from the U.S.-China summit, the deadlock over Hezbollah's disarmament in the Israel-Lebanon talks, and what Washington can achieve on both fronts.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Why bombs alone won't beat Iran | feat. Andrew Fox
May 1300:22:28Tap to summarizeHeadlines:The UAE and Saudi Arabia both struck Iran during the latest round of conflict.Operation Economic Fury continues apace.Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Qatar’s Minister of State for Defense Affairs in Doha.Israel’s Iron Dome and Arrow defense systems have been working overtime but, after weeks — if not months — of speculation, the chair of Israel’s Rafael defense firm asserted that the country is not short of missile interceptors.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Andrew Fox of the Henry Jackson Society.Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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Groundhog Day in Gaza | feat. Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib
May 1100:28:28Tap to summarizeHeadlines:Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan met with a group of Hamas officials in Ankara over the weekend.The New York Times reported over the weekend that Russia is shipping drone components to Iran through the Caspian Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.The Wall Street Journal ran an exclusive on Saturday detailing how the Israelis set up a secret military post in Iraq that hosted special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli Air Force.With elections slated for the fall, a heated political debate is erupting in Israel over Hamas and the October 7 attack.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, founder and director of the Realign for Palestine project at the Atlantic Council.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief
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