America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) sails in the 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East, Apr. 24, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo)

1. The United States and Iran held indirect talks in Qatar yesterday after Tehran repeatedly launched strikes at commercial and U.S. military targets late last week, testing how far it can push Washington.

• Back to the table: Iranian strikes on commercial vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz late last week violated its side of the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). While the regime’s aggression led to U.S. retaliatory strikes, American and Iranian delegations moved forward with negotiations this week, holding indirect talks through Qatari and Pakistani mediators. With its continued MOU violations, the regime is forcing the Trump administration to choose between surrendering the Strait of Hormuz to the Islamic Republic or fighting to keep it by force.
• Why is Iran striking? Repeated ceasefire violations are the consequence of what many in Washington warned about when the MOU was signed. That is, U.S. concessions (i.e., sanctions relief) are outpacing Iranian concessions (i.e., reopening the strait). Now, the regime is testing the boundaries of the MOU to see how much the Trump administration is willing to concede before Tehran has to reciprocate. Absent economic consequences, Tehran will keep treating negotiations as a revenue source. FDD’s Miad Maleki notes that Tehran negotiates “to manage pressure while preserving its leverage,” with the MOU only increasing its incentive to stall for time by providing concessions upfront.
• License without limits: To keep the regime under pressure, the administration must amend General License (GL) X, explains FDD’s Max Meizlish. The license, which allows Iran to produce, ship, and sell its oil for 60 days, lacks an escrow mechanism, reporting requirements, an approved-buyer list, and other sale limitations. Such unrestricted relief will be a boon to Iran’s military, which receives at least one third of Iran’s oil revenues. If Congress does not want the regime to become flush with cash, it must push for significant amendments to the license.
• The stakes of relief: In its current, unrestricted form, GL X is handing Tehran an enormous economic windfall. Maleki and FDD’s Orde Kittrie note that the sanctions relief makes available 67 million barrels of stranded Iranian oil worth some $8 to $9 billion. It also clears the way for restored exports worth as much as $120 to $135 million per day and reopens a $10 to $15 billion annual petrochemical revenue stream. All of this comes before a single Iranian nuclear concession has been verified.
• INARA inconsistency: On top of all this, Maleki and Kittrie warn that the Treasury Department’s issuance of GL X “appears to be inconsistent with the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA),” which prohibits such relief for 30 days after a U.S. nuclear agreement with Iran is submitted to Congress. Moreover, the Justice Department has reportedly provided the White House with an opinion that INARA’s requirements somehow do not apply to the MOU. Yet, that legal opinion has not been shared with Congress. Maleki and Kittrie recommend that Congress insist on being fully briefed on the rationale for this seemingly inexplicable view, so it can judge its validity for itself.
• Questions for the admin: As Members of Congress begin to receive more briefings from the administration about U.S.-Iran negotiations, lawmakers should ask the White House if it plans to waive further sanctions, on what timeline, and under what conditions. Congress should also press the administration as to whether it plans to submit any final agreement with Iran to Congress as required under INARA. In a recent Policy Alert, FDD Action laid out urgent questions for the administration, including whether a deal will require permanent and verifiable nuclear dismantlement and if it will touch on the regime’s missile program and support for terrorism.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio participates in a Trilateral Framework signing ceremony between the United States, Lebanon, and Israel at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Jun. 26, 2026. (Official State Department photo by James C. Pan)

2. Lebanon, Israel, and the United States signed an initial security agreement, a first step toward dismantling Hezbollah in Lebanon and promoting peace between Beirut and Jerusalem. The agreement comes after months of U.S.-mediated talks to end conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began in April.

• What’s in the deal? The agreement establishes a process to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and disarm Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization and Iranian proxy. Importantly, the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm. To start, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will begin to deploy to “pilot areas” near Israel’s security zone to demonstrate whether they can keep Hezbollah from operating there. Unlike previous agreements, this framework adds teeth and verifiable benchmarks.
• Beirut’s choice: By agreeing to this deal, Lebanon must choose to either disarm Hezbollah or lose its southern border region to Israeli control, explains FDD’s Hussain Abdul-Hussain. The Lebanese government has a history of issuing empty promises that buy Hezbollah time to rebuild. “The 2026 agreement ends that cycle,” Abdul-Hussain writes. “Rather than introduce new language on disarmament, it adds enforcement mechanisms.” Specifically, it conditions Israeli military withdrawal on concrete actions by Beirut.
• Condition LAF aid: The FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act calls for considering suspending assistance to the LAF if it does not uphold its promises to disarm Hezbollah — with a June 30 deadline. As the United States prepares to send the LAF another $30 million under the agreement, FDD Action’s Tyler Stapleton tells us, “The LAF must do more to weaken Hezbollah militarily including its support networks and continue efforts to intercept weapons flowing to the group through Syria and other vectors.”
• Repeal anti-normalization laws: Beyond Hezbollah, there is another roadblock to peace between Israel and Lebanon, which the current agreement does not address. “While signs indicated Lebanon would do away with its domestic laws that criminalize business relationships with Israelis, this has not come to fruition in a meaningful way as of yet,” FDD Action’s Tyler Stapleton tells us. In March, three members of Congress explained to the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon that these laws block the “functional channels of communication and coordination” required to achieve peace. In future talks, Washington should pressure Lebanon to suspend enforcement of these laws so that Beirut and Jerusalem can continue to improve cooperation.

Urban Search and Rescue Team members from Fairfax County, VA, who have deployed to Venezuela with the State Department to render life-saving disaster response in Venezuela, posted Jun. 26 (State Department via X)

1. The United States has mobilized a significant response to devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, as the interim authorities fail to meet basic needs in hard-hit areas.

• Rapid reaction: Within hours of the pair of massive earthquakes on June 24, the U.S. government mobilized urban search-and-rescue teams, a disaster assistance response team, and military assets to support rescue operations on the ground. The State Department has also committed over $300 million in U.S. assistance. The U.S. military has deployed more than 900 personnel on the ground in Venezuela and helped reopen the country’s largest airport to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid. On the other hand, there are widespread reports of Chavista regime forces impeding recovery efforts and prioritizing publicity over rescues. Notably, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello was caught on video arguing with American rescue workers as they attempted to search a building. Cabello is a fugitive from U.S. justice and has a $25 million bounty on his head.
• Government corruption takes a toll: The death toll from the disaster has reached nearly 2,000, but that number is expected to rise as recovery efforts continue. The rapid collapse of housing complexes built by the Chavez and Maduro regimes has generated criticism that corruption, poor design, and government neglect have exacerbated the human toll of the quakes. Reports on the ground indicate growing frustration from Venezuelans at the inability of government institutions to mount a rescue effort and provide food, water, and other necessities to those displaced by the disaster.
• Urgency of transition: The devastation in Venezuela and ineffective government response underscores the need for political change after the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro on January 3. “This terrible tragedy only lends more urgency to putting Venezuela on the path to a real democratic transition. Chavismo has destroyed the capacity of the state to help its own people, and the country will not be able to recover effectively until new leadership is in charge,” FDD Action’s Connor Pfeiffer told us. “The strong U.S. response to the earthquake once again demonstrates why American leadership is needed to secure a better future for the Venezuelan people.”

Pilots with the 33rd Fighter Wing prepare to take off during F-35 exercise Northern Lightning at Volk Field, Wis., Aug. 26, 2016. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Stormy Archer)

2. President Trump will attend the NATO summit in Turkey next week, as he signals an openness to sell F-35s to Ankara, despite its ties to U.S. adversaries and terrorist organizations.

• Erdogan pushes for F-35s: A key objective for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the summit will be Turkey’s readmittance to the F-35 fighter jet program, from which it was ejected in 2019. Adding momentum to that push, President Trump sounded receptive when asked about the idea last week, saying he would “probably do something” to make Erdogan “very happy.” Yet, Erdogan’s Turkey has cozied up to U.S. adversaries, acquiring advanced weapons from Russia and welcoming heavy digital infrastructure investments from China. Ankara has also supported terrorist groups like Hamas even after the group launched a horrific terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
• Risky business: When Ankara procured the Russian S-400 air defense system in 2019, in defiance of U.S. warnings, the Trump administration made an important call to evict Turkey from the F-35 program. “Turkey’s possession of both the S-400 and the F-35 would be dangerous because it would allow the two systems to be operated in regular proximity to each other or even networked together,” explain FDD’s Sinan Ciddi, Cameron McMillan, and Bradley Bowman. This means Moscow could gain valuable intelligence for shooting down F-35s flown by Americans and our allies. Turkey’s dangerous record of supporting terrorists and supporting U.S. adversaries demonstrates why it is unfit to participate in the F-35 program.
• Block the transfer: Beyond the national security risks, FDD’s Sinan Ciddi, Cameron McMillan, and Bradley Bowman note that a transfer would also be inconsistent with U.S. law, particularly the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and Sec. 1245 of the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The latter makes clear that Turkey cannot receive the F-35 if it still possesses the S-400. Congress should uphold these legal requirements and support joint resolutions of disapproval to block the sale of the F-35 to Turkey. And there are already multiple congressional efforts underway to pressure the White House against it.