SCOOP: Israel’s Footprint in Iraq

A deal is almost done, says the U.S. president. Iran denies it. The Strait remains closed.

President Trump wrote on Truth Social that the framework had been “largely negotiated,” then told his team “not to rush.” Iran denied any commitment to reduce its uranium stockpile and insisted the Strait of Hormuz stays under its administration. The hardest questions remain unresolved.

Also this week: new details on Israel’s secret military base in Iraq’s western desert, where two rabbit hunters were the first to stumble onto a foreign military force. One civilian ended up dead, and the Israelis vanished without a trace. In Baghdad, Iraq’s new prime minister faces his first crisis: Drones launched from Iraqi territory struck Saudi Arabia and the UAE, including a target near the Arab world’s only civilian nuclear plant. In Lebanon, Washington sanctioned active-duty Lebanese security officers for the first time, targeting the architecture that keeps Hezbollah embedded inside the state. 

Ghassan Taqi, Mustafa Saadoon, Sakina Abdallah, and Asrar Chbaro contributed to the Agenda this week. 

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Scoop

Rabbits and a Secret Base

The Iraqi shepherd who stumbled upon an Israeli military force in the western desert was not a shepherd. And he was not alone.

New details obtained by MBN’s Mustafa Saadoon correct and deepen the account MBN published last week about an Israeli military operation discovered in Iraq’s Nukhaib desert, a remote area in western Iraq between the provinces of Karbala and Anbar. The first witnesses were two brothers on a rabbit-hunting trip. What they saw, and what followed over the next three days, left one civilian dead, one Iraqi soldier killed, and a foreign military force that disappeared without a trace.

On March 3, 2026, 25-year-old Thani and his brother were hunting in the Shinana desert, south of al-Nukhaib, when they noticed a drone flying at low altitude. As they moved deeper into the area, an uncovered military vehicle approached them. Several armed men in uniform disembarked. One spoke Arabic in a non-Iraqi dialect. They ordered the brothers to leave and warned them not to return. The brothers filed an official report at a nearby security post that same day. Iraqi security forces did not respond immediately.

Two days later, on March 5, an Iraqi security unit moved toward the location. As it approached, it came under direct fire. One soldier was killed. Several others were wounded. The force withdrew.

The following day, March 6, a 27-year-old shepherd named Awad Hadi was found dead nearby. His civilian vehicle had been completely burned. Three Iraqi federal and local security sources told MBN the available evidence points to the Israeli force as responsible for his death.

Iraqi intelligence sources told MBN the force withdrew less than 48 hours after Hadi’s killing. When Iraqi security forces returned two weeks later, no trace of the force remained. A separate source told MBN the force had installed equipment to track drones and missiles launched from Iraq and Iran.

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji acknowledged in a recent MBN interview that “Iraqi airspace has been violated,” an admission that Baghdad cannot fully monitor what moves through its own territory.

Israeli military sources declined to comment.

Read the full scoop here

Washington Signals

Almost a Deal

Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

The Iran negotiations are neither culminating nor collapsing. They exist on paper only as a tentative framework, with the hardest questions still unresolved.

In the past 48 hours, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that the deal had been “largely negotiated,” then told his representatives “not to rush.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters in New Delhi, said there was “a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open.” Iran denied any commitment to discuss its highly enriched uranium stockpile and insisted the Strait of Hormuz would remain under its administration.

A 14-point Memorandum of Understanding, offering both sides 60 days to finalize details, would address the war, the blockade, and navigation immediately, including reopening Hormuz and allowing Iran to sell oil freely, while deferring nuclear questions to later negotiations. The signing did not happen on Sunday as some reports suggested. A senior State Department official told MBN that finalizing the memorandum could take additional days.

In his Truth Social post, Trump linked any deal to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Pakistan joining the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states signed during Trump’s first term, and suggested Iran itself could eventually join. “Either a great deal for everyone, or no deal at all, and back to the fronts,” he wrote.

The senior State Department official told me the American negotiating position has not changed. “A draft framework exists. Iran’s positions on uranium and on Hormuz sovereignty remain unresolved. We continue to negotiate through our intermediaries, and we are prepared to pursue other options if diplomacy does not produce results.”

The core obstacles remain in place. Washington proposed a 20-year freeze on uranium enrichment. Iran countered with five years. Tehran wants the war ended on all fronts, including Lebanon, before any nuclear discussion begins, which would surrender Washington’s main source of leverage. Iran also wants guarantees against a repeat of 2018, when President Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement negotiated under former President Barack Obama.

Qatar, Pakistan, and China are all facilitating back-channel conversations. None of them has closed the gap.

Iraq Watch

Al-Zaidi’s First Test

Iraq’s new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has been in office for weeks. He is already facing a crisis that could define his government.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates say drones launched from Iraqi territory have struck their countries. The UAE said one targeted the Barakah nuclear power plant, the first civilian nuclear facility in the Arab world, located in Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three drones entering from Iraqi airspace. Both governments have demanded that Baghdad act immediately.

A source in the Iraqi prime minister’s office told MBN that some Gulf governments have already scaled back senior-level engagement with Baghdad because Iraq has yet to produce results from the investigations it announced. A senior Iraqi official told MBN that Gulf states have delivered warnings through both formal and informal channels: If the attacks continue and no one is held accountable, Gulf diplomatic missions in Baghdad could halt operations, a scenario that could evolve into a full diplomatic rupture.

Al-Zaidi posted on X that he had ordered an investigation into what he called “criminal attacks” against Saudi Arabia and the UAE and called for a joint investigation with both countries. Iraqi officials, however, say no conclusive evidence has yet been presented by either Gulf state proving the drones came from Iraq.

Political analyst Ihsan al-Shammari told MBN the message behind the attacks is deliberate. “It is meant to embarrass the new government and prevent it from building strong relations with Gulf states,” he said, adding that some Iran-backed armed factions are trying to demonstrate they still hold real power over decisions of war and peace inside Iraq.

The question al-Zaidi cannot avoid: Can his government convince Gulf capitals that the Iraqi state controls its own territory, or will Baghdad once again be accused of failing to stop armed factions from dragging Iraq into conflicts beyond its control?

Read the full MBN exclusive here

Quote Of the Day

“The notion that this president would agree to a deal that ultimately strengthens Iran’s nuclear ambitions is ludicrous.”

— U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pushing back against Ted Cruz and Mike Pompeo, May 24, 2026

Lebanon Watch

Inside the State

For the first time, Washington has sanctioned Lebanese security officers still on active duty.

The U.S. Treasury Department designated nine individuals last week under counterterrorism authorities, including two active-duty officers: Brigadier General Khattar Nassereddine, head of the National Security Directorate within Lebanon’s General Security agency, and Colonel Samer Hamadeh, head of the Dahieh branch within Lebanese Army Intelligence. The Treasury accused both of providing Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, with significant intelligence over the past year.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on X that Hezbollah “is a terrorist organization and must be fully disarmed,” adding that Washington would continue targeting officials who had “infiltrated the Lebanese government.”

The Lebanese Army responded that its officers carried out their duties “with professionalism and discipline” in accordance with military leadership directives, and that soldiers’ loyalty was solely to the Lebanese state.

The package also targeted figures close to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his political party, the Amal Movement, including Ahmad Baalbaki and Ali Safawi, both of whom are Amal military officials in southern Lebanon. It was the first direct targeting of prominent Berri-linked figures since 2020. Also designated was Mohammad Reza Sheibani, Iran’s ambassador-designate to Lebanon.

Financial crimes researcher Mahasen Morsel told MBN the officer designations sent a direct warning to Lebanese security agencies that any cooperation with Hezbollah could place individuals under U.S. scrutiny. Journalist Imad Chidiac told MBN the sanctions reflected Washington’s conclusion that Lebanon’s “gray-zone positioning” is no longer acceptable.

The message is plain. Washington is no longer targeting Hezbollah solely as an organization. It is going after the architecture that keeps the group embedded within the Lebanese state.

Read the full article here

Featured Conversation

What Abdalrahim Heard in Ramallah

An Israeli flag flutters at a new Israeli settlement near Ramallah, in the West Bank, April 11, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman

MBN’s Abdalrahim Abdallah, an executive editor and journalist who grew up on the Green Line between the West Bank and Israel, has been for years covering events in Gaza and Ramallah. Below is an edited exchange with MBN Chief Executive Officer Jeff Gedmin on the nuances that news consistently overlooks.

On Gaza’s reconstruction pledges: “Setting aside the embellished rhetoric about Arab solidarity, Arab Gulf donors will only write checks if doing so strengthens their ties with the U.S. It is an old story that has persisted for 30 years. What Gazans fear most is another frozen front, where temporary arrangements persist.”

On ordinary Palestinians and the yellow line: “Palestinians deeply distrust Israel’s intentions. They are worried about losing more land. But above all else, they are exhausted. Arguments about borders and lasting security arrangements don’t mean much when you are in constant struggle to ensure basic needs.”

On Hamas: “Hamas is a shadow of its former self. Unlike Hezbollah, Hamas has no clear routes to bring in arms. Hamas can recruit new members, but retraining a fighting force would be very hard. Priority for them is to preserve what they have in anticipation of an internal conflict.”

On the West Bank, the mood is: “Settlers are aggressively taking control of the countryside. Farming is collapsing. Teachers and civil servants work for very little to no pay. There is no sense of safety on the streets. It feels like the end of an era. What comes next is everybody’s guess.”