Fdd's overnight brief

Iran

Iranian boats closely shadowed an American warship in the Persian Gulf on Friday, underscoring the potential for renewed maritime hostility between the United States and Iran. – Washington Post

Facebook announced Friday that it had suspended 82 pages, groups and accounts that had originated in Iran for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” and sharing divisive political messages, including opposition to President Trump.- Washington Post

A port being developed in the southern Iranian city of Chabahar underscores some of the dilemmas U.S. policy makers face in implementing sanctions against Tehran. – Wall Street Journal

Israel launched airstrikes Saturday in response to a salvo of rockets fired by militants from the Gaza Strip into its territory overnight, saying it held Gaza’s rulers, Hamas, responsible for the flare-up and that it had evidence that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force was behind the latest escalation. – Washington Post

Shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced in May he would reimpose sanctions on Iran, the State Department began telling countries around the world the clock was ticking for them to cut oil purchases from the Islamic Republic to zero. – Reuters

As President Donald Trump prepares to re-impose a second batch of Iran sanctions that had been eased under the 2015 nuclear deal, conservative lawmakers and outside advisers have become worried that the administration may break a promise to exert “maximum pressure” on Iran. – Associated Press

A battle is brewing between the Trump administration and some of the president’s biggest supporters in Congress who are concerned that sanctions to be re-imposed on Iran early next month won’t be tough enough. – Associated Press

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Sunday for the stepping up of efforts to fight enemy “infiltration” in a speech to officials in charge of cyber defense, state television reported. – Reuters

European diplomats are warning that enhanced U.S. financial sanctions against Iran run the risk of forcing the rest of the world to create alternative banking systems that could undermine the long-time dominance of the U.S. dollar. – Washington Examiner

Hijab Shah and Melissa Dalton write: Reinstating economic sanctions on Tehran will not alone address the range of threats the United States faces from Iran—the Trump administration must broaden its scope and focus on the larger challenge. Rather than focusing singularly on Iran’s economy as the fulcrum of its new strategy, it must take a holistic approach towards the multifaceted challenge that Iran presents. – Center for Strategic and International Studies

Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Oman marked a new chapter in his effort to strengthen ties with Gulf Arab nations and shift the conversation from Palestinian issues toward regional threats like Iran. – Wall Street Journal

Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi says the country will not establishing ties with Israel and that it supports the Palestinians because the Gaza Strip has also faced “unprecedented atrocities” like Kashmir. – Associated Press

Three Palestinian boys were killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip frontier on Sunday, medical officials in the Hamas-run enclave said, while Israel said it had hit suspected militants trying to blow up part of a border fence. – Reuters

The Israeli frontier with Gaza fell silent on Saturday under what Palestinians described as an Egyptian-mediated truce, after Israel responded to the biggest salvo of Palestinian rockets for months with scores of air strikes on Gaza targets. – Reuters

Israeli residents from the southern border communities blocked the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza Monday morning. The group, protesting the continuous rocket fire and security situation in the south, were joined by activists from the right-wing organization Im Tirtzu, and managed to block dozens of trucks carrying supplies from entering the coastal enclave. – Jerusalem Post

Simon Henderson and Assaf Orion write: For Israel, the visit […]shows Muscat’s role as a possible back channel with Iran, perhaps relating to Syria. For Qaboos, the meeting may help deflect criticism of his relations with Tehran and his willingness to tolerate the transshipment of Iranian weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen. In addition, it implies that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are not the only regional routes for Israeli diplomacy. For Washington, the meeting is another good first step down the long road to reviving the peace process. – Washington Institute

Middle East

President Trump late Thursday signed into law new sanctions targeting Hezbollah. The law requires the U.S. to impose sanctions on foreigners, foreign companies and foreign government agencies found supporting Hezbollah or a number of entities related to the Lebanese militia and political group, including its financial agency, its foreign-relations department and its media arm. It also mandates sanctions on affiliated networks involved in transnational crime activity. – Wall Street Journal

The devastating war in Yemen has gotten more attention recently as outrage over the killing of a Saudi dissident in Istanbul has turned a spotlight on Saudi actions elsewhere. The harshest criticism of the Saudi-led war has focused on the airstrikes that have killed thousands of civilians at weddings, funerals and on school buses, aided by American-supplied bombs and intelligence. – New York Times

In an emotional scene, the Israeli national anthem was performed at a public sporting event in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday while two Israeli Cabinet ministers said they would soon head to the region in new signs of warming ties between Israel and the Gulf Arab states. – Associated Press

Gonul Tol writes: The killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul could not have come at a worse time for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Economic troubles have forced him to mute his anti-Western rhetoric: the country faces a currency crisis, double-digit inflation, and an enormous current account deficit. – Foreign Affairs

A. Smith writes: On June 27, 2018, the court board of the second criminal court of Sakarya province in Turkey sentenced Halis Bayancuk aka Ebu Hanzala to 12 years and six months in prison for the crime of “establishing and managing an armed terror organization” and to another year, six months, and 22 days for “organization propaganda,” for a total sentence of 14 years and 22 days[…]. This report will review the organization’s websites and the content they host as well as the social media accounts that distribute that content. – Middle East Media Research Institute

China

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is announcing that China’s defense chief will travel to Washington next week for a meeting that has been delayed by tensions between the two nations. – Associated Press

China has sent thousands of scientists affiliated with its armed forces to western universities — especially in countries that share intelligence with the US — and is building a web of research collaboration that could boost Beijing’s military technology development. – Financial Times

A privately developed Chinese carrier rocket failed to reach orbit after lifting off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Saturday, in a blow to the country’s nascent attempts by private companies to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX. – Reuters

David Von Drehle writes: First-time visitors to the booming cities of Eastern China invariably marvel at everything new — the gleaming airports, super-fast trains, luxury emporia and glamorous rich. But in Western China, where foreigners are forbidden to look too closely, the ruling Communist Party remains as brutal and totalitarian as ever. – Washington Post

Claude Barfield writes: US intelligence agencies, given their own capabilities and missions, cannot have been surprised that Chinese intelligence agencies would probe and even possibly penetrate some US supply chains. Finally, whatever the truth of the Bloomberg assertions, the episode does represent a vital wake-up call. – American Enterprise Institute

Asia

Anwar’s rise comes as the country faces critical decisions — righting its debt-burdened economy, taking steps toward human rights such as abolishing the death penalty and trying to stand up to China’s growing influence in Southeast Asia. – Washington Post

President Maithripala Sirisena late Friday removed his party from the ruling coalition and ousted the prime minister, appointing in his place the controversial former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and triggering a constitutional showdown. – Wall Street Journal

The leaders of China and Japan vowed Friday to open a new chapter in their often-fraught relationship and strengthen financial and trading ties between two powerhouse economies. – Washington Post

Panos Mourdoukoutas writes: For Pakistan, CPEC could help sustain economic growth and raise the living standards of its people. […]And, perhaps, something more in the case of Pakistan: Transparency for the CPEC project. Already, IMF has asked information about CPEC. But Pakistan has declined it, according to some sources, placing at risk the fate of the IMF bailout of the country and the future of CPEC. – Forbes

Europe

Europe’s highest human rights court ruled on Friday that disparagement of religious doctrines such as insulting the Prophet Muhammad isn’t protected by freedom of expression and can be prosecuted. – Wall Street Journal

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s once-unassailable position in German politics endured yet another blow Sunday as support for her party dropped precipitously in a state that has long been a bellwether for the nation, projected results showed. – Washington Post

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said his talks with European allies so far have not resulted in any suggestions for addressing Russia’s violation of a Cold War-era arms control pact other than for the United States to withdraw. – Washington Post

French-German plans for a joint fighter aircraft project may be off to a rocky start, as reports emerged last week about fundamental disagreements between the two partners over export restrictions for such a weapon. According to a report on the website of the German magazine Der Spiegel, French negotiators made unlimited exportability of the so-called “Future Combat Air System” a prerequisite for getting started on the project. – Defense News

Gary Roughead writes: The reactivation of the U.S. Second Fleet on August 24, 2018, is a prudent and timely recognition of again having to deal with an increasingly capable and assertive near-peer Russian navy[…]. The Second Fleet’s return also resets the U.S. Navy’s command organization in the Atlantic so that it is better aligned to generate and oversee the operational readiness of naval forces in what is and will be a complex, demanding and active environment. – Center for Strategic and International Studies

Heather A. Conley and Matthew Melino write: The United States and the European Union had always previously rejected the idea of partition[…]. In the end, perhaps the only positive dynamic to come from Serbia and Kosovo’s land swap idea was to awaken the transatlantic community from their strategic slumber so that it can re-prioritize and re- energize multi-ethnic regional integration in the Western Balkans. – Center for Strategic and International Studies

Pittsburgh Shooting

The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that left 11 people dead Saturday has renewed calls for the federal government to update its laws to put the kind of violence targeting minorities, religious groups and the public in the same category as terrorists inspired by overseas groups. – Washington Post

The ambush that killed 11 people and injured six in what is considered the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history has put synagogues across the country on lockdown and laid bare an active online world of hate postings. – Wall Street Journal

President Trump and his Republican allies remained defiant Sunday amid allegations from critics that Trump’s incendiary attacks on political rivals and racially charged rhetoric on the campaign trail bear some culpability for the climate surrounding a spate of violence in the United States. – Washington Post

Federal prosecutors want to pursue the death penalty for Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect Robert Bowers. U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said they are seeking Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ approval for the move, according to the Associated Press. – Washington Examiner

Anti-Semitism has “moved from the margins into the mainstream,” Anti-Defamation League CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said Sunday. His remarks on NBC’s “Meet the Press” came a day after a gunman fatally shot 11 and injured seven others in Pittsburgh in the deadliest attack on a synagogue in U.S. history. The tragedy can be linked to concurrent political rhetoric, Greenblatt said. – Politico

The Shabbat morning massacre at a synagogue in Pittsburgh — in which 11 Jews were murdered by a white supremacist gunman — has drawn condemnation from an interfaith range of religious figures and groups across the world. At St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis said, “All of us are wounded by this inhuman act of violence,” and he asked God “to help us to extinguish the flames of hatred that develop in our societies.” – Algemeiner

Editorial: Americans would do well to ignore this toxic habit of political blame for murderous acts by the racist, anti-Semitic or mentally disturbed. […]But the blame artists are distracting attention from the real sickness, which in this case is anti-Semitism, a hatred that goes back millennia. That is the toxin to banish as much as possible from American life, even if it can’t be purged entirely from human souls. – Wall Street Journal

Dani Dayan writes: It must be faced: Our world is becoming darker. Robert Bowers might have acted out in hatred of Jewish values and derangement against Jewish conspiracies, but his evil must not be explained away. The only chance we have to combat anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred is when we all take a strong stance against it in every corner. – Wall Street Journal

Max Boot writes: After a “lone wolf” Islamist militant attack, the media invariably ask: What inspired him to kill? Usually the answer is found in Islamist militant propaganda. We need to ask the same question about right-wing terrorism. – Washington Post

Defense

The U.S. defense industry is on track for one of its best years in recent memory. The five largest U.S. defense contractors — Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics — reported healthy financial results for the third quarter, in a series of earnings reports over the past week. – Washington Post

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said Friday that the Trump administration has instructed the Pentagon to prepare a $700 billion budget for 2020 — 4.5 percent less than the $733 billion that the Defense Department had planned. – Washington Post

The U.S. military has already begun delivering jersey barriers to the southern border in conjunction with plans to deploy active duty troops there, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said as a caravan of Central Americans slowly heads across Mexico toward the United States. – Associated Press

A treaty banning nuclear weapons could come into force by the end of 2019, backers of a campaign that won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize said in an annual progress report on Monday. – Reuters

The Czech Republic’s prime minister has told U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that a possible U.S. withdrawal from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty would be wrong. Andrej Babis told reporters in Prague on Sunday that relations (with Russia) “aren’t ideal and we’re returning to Cold War times.” – Associated Press

The Fiscal Year 2020 budget may slow down modernization efforts and research into next-generation weapons, like hypersonic missiles, but will still invest in growing the military force and boosting readiness for aircraft such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, the deputy secretary of defense told reporters today. – USNI News