I - On Defense Podcast

For review:
1.  The U.S. proposed that Iran accept a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment during talks over the weekend, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge..  The Iranians countered with a shorter "single digit" period, according to the sources.
2.  US Aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is operating off the coast of Namibia, as it sails around the African continent and is set to join a growing naval force in the Arabian Sea amid a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, USNI News has learned. 
3.  The US military on Monday detailed the boundaries of its Strait of Hormuz blockade, saying it would extend east to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, while ship-tracking data showed two ships turned around in the strait as the blockade went into effect. 
The blockade began at 10 a.m. US Eastern Time on Monday. 
4.  Responding to the US blockade announcement, Iran said the move was illegal and “amounts to piracy,” and threatened a “forceful response” to any renewed military action amid a fragile 14-day ceasefire that was reached last week. 
5.  France and Britain will co-host a summit this week to discuss a “coordinated, independent, multinational plan” to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday. 
6.  All three major Hebrew TV networks reported that the IDF is gearing up for renewed conflict with Iran after the ceasefire talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic collapsed, in what appeared to be a coordinated leak by defense officials on Sunday. 
7.   The Israeli military has nearly completed the capture of the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 members of the terror group in the area in the process, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday. 
8. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Monday urged Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington the following day, reiterating his group’s rejection of direct negotiations with its sworn enemy. 
9.  Israeli PM Netanyahu castigated Europe on Monday, as Israel ushered in Holocaust Remembrance Day in a pre-recorded ceremony, amid ongoing hostilities with Iran and the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. 
10.  European allies must wean themselves off an “addiction” to US defense capabilities and step up regional military planning and rearmament, Swedish defense minister Jonson told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview.

For review:
1. The talks in Islamabad stretched into the early hours of Sunday morning following hours of marathon negotiations, even as Iran warned that Washington was making “excessive demands” over the Strait of Hormuz that could undermine Pakistan’s peacemaking efforts.
2. The US military said on Saturday that it had begun a mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz, with two US warships passing through the key waterway.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of Central Command, said in a statement: “Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce.”
3. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warns that any attempt by military vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz will be met with “a strong response,” saying only non-military vessels would be allowed to pass under specific regulations, the IRGC declares in a statement carried by Iranian media after the US Central Command announced two US Navy warships transited the strategic waterway to clear mines laid by Tehran.
4. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries suffered in the airstrike that killed his father at the beginning of the war, three people close to his inner circle told Reuters.
5. Israel and Hezbollah traded fire throughout Saturday, with the Israel Defense Forces striking hundreds of targets in Lebanon and the Iran-backed terror group launching dozens of rockets and drones at northern Israel.
6. The first in-person meeting in the expected negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will take place on Tuesday in Washington, a US official familiar with the details told The Times of Israel on Friday.
7. China is preparing to deliver new air defense systems to Iran within the next few weeks, according to three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments.
8. The Board of Peace does not expect to receive a final approval from Hamas to its disarmament proposal by the Saturday deadline set by the international body overseeing the postwar management of Gaza, three sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.
9. Finland has signed a €547 million ($642 million) contract with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace to procure 112 additional K9 self-propelled howitzers, accelerating its artillery expansion.
Finnish authorities announced the government-to-government deal on Thursday, expected to bring its total K9 inventory to over 200 systems, making Finland the second-largest European operator behind Poland.

For review:
1. Items from the 10-Point Ceasefire Plan.
The lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions on Iran. 
Continued Iranian control over the strait of Hormuz. 
US military withdrawal from the Middle East. 
An end to attacks on Iran and its allies. 
The release of frozen Iranian assets.
A UN security council resolution making any deal binding. 
2. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday night renewed his threat to use unprecedented force against Iran if it doesn’t comply with the terms of the ceasefire, ahead of scheduled peace talks between Washington and Tehran.
3. The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday carried out its largest wave of airstrikes yet against Hezbollah.
The IDF branded the wave of strikes launched on Wednesday with the codename of “Eternal Darkness.”  
According to the IDF, the strikes were carried out across Lebanon by 50 fighter jets that dropped some 160 bombs on 100 targets within 10 minutes.
4. The secretary of Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem was killed on Wednesday evening in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, the Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday.
5. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening that Israel would begin negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible,” aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a full peace agreement between the countries.
6. The UK and several EU countries on Thursday condemned the large wave of IDF airstrikes in Lebanon.
7. France today announced a €36 billion ($42 billion) boost to its defense budget for the next four years as part of an updated military planning law.

For review:
1. The White House asserts that the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran is a victory for Washington.
The U.S. has agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran proposed by Pakistan, President Trump said Tuesday night.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed Tehran's acceptance and said Iran would allow "safe passage" of the Strait of Hormuz during those two weeks "via coordination with Iran's armed forces."
2. Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is unconscious and being treated for a “severe” medical issue, rendering him unable to govern the country, according to an intelligence assessment obtained by the UK News Outlet The Times.
3. The Israeli Air Force bombed eight rail sections and bridges in Iran on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the US military conducted strikes on military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, the Axios news outlet reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified senior US official. 
4. The Israeli Air Force launched a wave of attacks on Iran overnight Sunday and on Monday, killing two senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers in Tehran, hitting the country’s largest petrochemical plant and blowing up several airports used by the IRGC as fighting continued despite efforts to reach a ceasefire.
5. The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had completed deployment of ground troops along a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon from which Hezbollah could fire anti-tank guided missiles directly at Israeli communities.
The so-called anti-tank line is located several kilometers deep in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah’s anti-tank missiles have an estimated range of around 10 kilometers.
6. Russian satellites have made dozens of detailed imagery surveys of military facilities and critical sites across the Middle East to help Iran strike US forces and critical infrastructure in Israel, according to a Ukrainian intelligence assessment seen by Reuters this week.
7. France has completed the delivery of armored personnel carriers to the Lebanese Armed Forces, fulfilling its commitment to strengthen the country’s ground mobility capabilities.
The donation includes 39 Armored Forward Vehicle (VAB) platforms, originally developed for the French military and in service since the 1980s.
8. Israeli defense firm Elbit announced today the Greece is formally acquiring the Precise and Universal Launching System (PULS) rocket artillery system in a $750 million agreement.
Elbit noted that its PULS system had been selected by Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. 
9. The U.S. Navy is requesting $3 billion to replenish its stockpile of Tomahawk missiles that have been depleted over the course of the Iran war, according to the Defense Department’s fiscal 2027 budget request.
As part of the $1.5 trillion budget request released Friday, the Navy has asked for a 1,200% increase in the number of the long-range land attack missile.

For review:
1. US special forces conducted a daring raid deep into enemy territory to safely rescue a wounded US airman who was shot down over southwest Iran, with US President Donald Trump triumphantly declaring “WE GOT HIM,” on Sunday, ending a 36-hour race to find the aviator before he could be captured by pursuing Iranian forces. 
2. In an expletive-laden post on his Truth Social account on Sunday, US President Donald Trump warned that the US would attack power plants and bridges in Iran starting Tuesday — when his latest ultimatum for Tehran to make a deal ends — if the Islamic Republic failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. 
3. Iran fired four salvos of missiles at northern and southern Israel on Sunday, with one projectile hitting an industrial zone, as the Islamic Republic damaged critical infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. 
4. Russian President Putin and Turkish counterpart President Erdogan called for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East war during a phone call on Friday, the Kremlin said. 
 5. NATO Secretary General Rutte will meet President Trump next week on a visit to Washington, as the US president lashes out at the alliance over the Iran war, NATO said Friday.