Fdd's overnight brief

Iran

The Trump administration outlined an array of new measures that are intended to preclude China and Russia from selling weapons to Iran and to block the shipment of goods that might be used for its missile programs. – Wall Street Journal

The United States on Monday slapped new sanctions on Iran’s defense ministry and others involved in its nuclear and weapons program to support the U.S. assertion that all U.N. sanctions against Tehran are now restored, which key European allies as well as Russia and China reject. – Reuters

Iran is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the United States, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a virtual address to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Monday, amid heightened tension between the longtime foes. – Reuters

Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari was executed earlier this month for murder, the country’s foreign minister said on Monday, rejecting assertions by rights activists that the death sentence arose from his involvement in street protests. – Reuters

U.S. officials announced new sanctions against Iran on Monday and insisted that a raft of nuclear-related restrictions are back in force, part of a standoff with European allies that’s spurring a crisis at the United Nations Security Council. – Bloomberg

A day after the US triggered a “snapback” of international sanctions on Iran, Israel’s UN envoy wrote an official letter to the international body’s secretary-general urging strong enforcement of the measures. – Algemeiner

Barely a week after Israel signed peace agreements with Arab Gulf states United Arab Emirates and Bahrain Iran is threatening the two Sunni Arab countries and says it could stage attacks in them to let Bahrain and the UAE pay a price for their “treason”. – Arutz Sheva

Seth J. Frantzman writes: Iran believes it has largely outfoxed the Americans and is almost daring the Trump administration to “bring it on” with the sanctions, so as to prove they won’t bite. Iran’s Supreme Leaders and other regime officials boasted this week about how previous invaders of Iran have suffered grievously. In short the regime is saying it will continue doing what it wants, regardless of the US laser focus on the ballistic missiles and nuclear program and the North Korea cooperation.  –  Jerusalem Post

Israel

Palestinian security forces arrested over half a dozen supporters of an exiled Palestinian politician who some have accused of involvement in the United Arab Emirates deal to forge ties with Israel, a spokesman for his faction said. – Reuters

Dozens of NGOs issued a joint statement on Monday calling on the UN Human Rights Council to seek the release of a Palestinian peace activist held by Hamas for holding a Zoom meeting with Israelis. – Algemeiner

Defense Minister Benny Gantz headed to Washington on Monday for talks with his US counterpart on maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East following its historic normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates. – Times of Israel

Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas are set to meet in in Istanbul, Turkey for direct talks aimed at ending the 15-year-long rift in Palestinian politics, Fatah said Monday. – Times of Israel

The criminal charges against former prime minister Ehud Olmert were a “political assassination,” PLO Executive Committee secretary-general and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday evening. – Jerusalem Post

Hussein Ibish writes: Palestinians are understandably furious at the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for agreeing to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, but it leaves them with no choice but to formulate their own strategy for ending the occupation.[…] A fresh mandate is essential to restore the credibility that the leadership will need in order to make the Israelis a bold counter-offer. That must perforce contain significant concessions on emotive issues like refugee return and land swaps. – Bloomberg

Middle East & North Africa

Jordan’s main opposition Islamist party said on Monday it will run in its November parliamentary election to prevent a packing of the assembly with pro-government deputies and advance demands for democratic reform and a crackdown on corruption. – Jerusalem Post

Seth J. Frantzman writes: The context of the conversation and Egypt’s discussions about stopping terror and working with partners in the Mediterranean is Cairo’s desire to play a larger role in the region and especially regarding the concept of stability. Although this is unstated, Egypt’s main goal is to prevent what it sees as the destabilizing conflicts that have occurred over the past decade. – Jerusalem Post

Hussein Aboubakr writes: Much has changed in the past decade, however, and we are now entering the age of a post-Palestine Middle East. And as the region moves on to its post-Palestine reality, the world will move on to post-Islamism, and Islam itself will exert an ever-smaller influence over international politics. For the ideological forces that once caused terror in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Amman, Beirut, Cairo, London, Madrid, and New York are slowly shrinking in history’s rearview mirror. – Commentary Magazine

Asia

At least 57 members of the Afghan security forces were killed and dozens injured in overnight clashes with Taliban fighters across Afghanistan, security officials said on Monday, in the bloodiest day of fighting since government and insurgent forces began peace talks in Doha over a week ago – Reuters

Hong Kong has no legal basis to demand that any particular rights be extended to 12 Hong Kong people detained in China as they tried to flee by boat and they will have to face the law there, the city’s chief executive said on Tuesday. – Reuters

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen praised on Tuesday the “heroic performance” of air force pilots who have been intercepting Chinese jets that have approached the island, as Beijing steps up military pressure on democratic Taiwan. – Reuters

The military funeral for Nyima Tenzin, a Tibetan fighter killed in an August skirmish along the Sino-Indian border, was a provocative spectacle. A leader of the Special Frontier Force — a secretive, Indian-controlled paramilitary group of Tibetan refugees — the 51-year-old’s coffin was draped in both the Indian tricolour and the Tibetan “snow lion” flag, which is banned in China. – Financial Times

Europe

Support is growing in Europe for targeting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with sanctions, as the European Union looks to toughen its response to the political crisis in the former Soviet republic. – Wall Street Journal

The British government on Monday won over some domestic political opponents of its plan to breach part of the Brexit divorce deal it agreed upon with the European Union — but not former Prime Minister Theresa May, who warned that the move would do “untold damage” to the U.K. – Associated Press

Britain hopes never to need to use proposed powers to break its Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union, Northern Ireland Office minister Robin Walker said on Monday as the government pressed ahead with legislation to create such powers. – Reuters

The European Union imposed sanctions on Monday on a Turkish shipping company accused of breaking a U.N. arms embargo on Libya and whose vessel was involved in a naval incident between NATO members France and Turkey in June. – Reuters

Sweden’s state-owned space company, which provides ground stations that help fly Chinese spacecraft and transmit data, said on Monday it would no longer renew contracts with China or accept new Chinese business, because of changes in geopolitics. – Reuters

EU Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday the next EU-UK joint committee meeting will be held on Sept. 28 in Brussels. – Reuters

Germany’s Europe Minister Michael Roth urged Britain on Tuesday to drop plans for a bill that would break the country’s obligations to the European Union under its withdrawal treaty as time was running out to clinch an EU-Britain trade deal. – Reuters

Lithuania’s defence minister said on Tuesday a new battalion of U.S. troops, including tanks and armoured vehicles, will be deployed in Lithuania in November and will stay until mid-June 2021. – Reuters

European Union efforts to put pressure on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko are on hold, as a separate crisis in the bloc’s backyard lays bare its struggles to reconcile competing national interests. Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday failed to make good on their promise to sanction dozens of Belarusian officials involved in a contested election and the violent suppression of protests because of disagreements over how to deal with Turkey’s energy claims in the eastern Mediterranean. – Bloomberg

Cyprus has blocked action by insisting the EU should also agree sanctions on Turkey before it gives the green light, European diplomats said, after a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday ended in deadlock. – Financial Times

The EU and Israel are in talks to reinstate the body strengthening their bilateral ties, after the government suspended plans to extend Israeli sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, The Jerusalem Post has learned. – Jerusalem Post

The Americas

Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a New York City police officer with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, accusing him of providing intelligence about Tibetans living in the United States to officials at the Chinese consulate. – New York Times

Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster said the risk of another 9/11-style attack on the country is “very high.” – Washington Examiner

Canadian police on Monday searched a home in the Montreal area in connection with a letter addressed to US President Donald Trump that is believed to have contained the poison ricin. – Agence France-Presse

The United States is offering a reward of up to $5 million (£3.9m) for information leading to the arrest of a leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group in Colombia. – BBC

Retiring Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) expressed hope on Monday that her recent legislation on Middle East peace would be passed by the Senate and signed into law before she leaves office in January 2021. – Jewish Insider

Defense

Army Futures Command has given the green light to the Maneuver Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate to move forward on developing a plan to equip tactical and combat vehicles with electric power, according to a Sept. 21 statement. – Defense News

The U.S. Army is seeing improvements in anti-jam capabilities in new radios crucial to securing manned-unmanned communications at its annual Network Modernization Experiment. – C4ISRNET

The Army has signed a cooperative research and development deal with Estonia focused on cyber defense and other technologies. – C4ISRNET

John R. Kroger writes: stead of mindlessly repeating past acquisition mistakes, we need to empower a high-level expert panel to review recent ship design and purchasing failures in order to identify the weaknesses of our system and initiate reforms. This should include implementation of more sophisticated risk analysis and management procedures, so we can avoid the problems that have plagued the Ford, LCS, and Zumwalt programs. – Defense One