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.