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President Donald Trump announced a deal with Iran on Sunday, his 80th birthday. Days later, the U.S. and Iran signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding that ends the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and commits Iran to allow commercial shipping there as both sides negotiate a final agreement – including provisions on Iran’s nuclear profile – within the next 60 days.
The agreement, which faces scrutiny on many fronts, clearly doesn’t sit well with Israel’s military and political leadership, as we report this week. Meanwhile, Arab powers are working to curtail Iran’s influence in the region. Washington is pressing Baghdad to commit to a set timeline for disarming militias.
This weekly roundup of our best reporting on stories shaping developments in the Middle East and Washington is also published in Arabic. If you were forwarded this newsletter, subscribe here. We’d love to hear from you at thebriefing@mbn-news.com.
This Week on MBN
US-Iran Understanding Raises Hopes for Lebanon
Smoke rises from southern Lebanon, as seen from Nabatieh, following reported Israeli airstrikes, according to local residents, in Lebanon, June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Lebanese officials are cautiously hopeful that the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding will support renewed ceasefire efforts with Israel. In Southern Lebanon, Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets continue despite the diplomatic efforts. A presidential source says that hopes for a truce persist even amid the ongoing violence. President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam are continuing their efforts to halt the hostilities. Beirut thinks there is diplomatic momentum, though no change is evident on the ground. Analysts warn that the military situation in Southern Lebanon remains largely unchanged.
Read MBN’s Asrar Chbaro ’s analysis on whether diplomacy can translate into de-escalation.
SCOOP: Arab Powers Explore a New Iran Track
A man stands near a poster of U.S. President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Oct. 13, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan are preparing to start regional diplomatic talks aimed at “reintegrating Iran” into the region, an Arab diplomatic source told MBN. The effort would run alongside U.S.-Iranian talks with the idea of containing Tehran’s influence, including in Lebanon. The initiative follows a burst of regional diplomacy involving Iranian, Saudi, Egyptian, and Pakistani officials. The source cautioned against expecting quick results, given the complexity of the U.S.-Iranian negotiations.
Read the exclusive here
Iraq’s Militias in the Shadow of a U.S.–Iran Deal
Members of an Iraqi Shi’ite armed group sit in a vehicle after an attack by a drone strike on an Iran-backed militia headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, January 4, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
In light of a possible U.S.-Iran agreement, MBN’s Ghassan Taqi delves into the uncertain future of Iraq’s Iran-backed armed factions and the pressure now facing Baghdad to bring their weapons under state control. Even if the militias are not directly named in any deal, their fate remains closely tied to the relationship between Washington and Tehran. Experts say Iran is unlikely to abandon its regional proxies easily, while any period of calm could give Iraqi factions room to regroup. Ultimately, the militia question will depend not only on diplomacy but also on the balance of power inside Iraq and the direction of the wider regional conflict.
Read the article here.
Israel: The Region Must Pick a Side
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen says Israel will keep striking Iran if it believes its security is at risk, regardless of the memorandum of understanding signed this week by Washington and Tehran. In an exclusive interview, Cohen tells MBN’s Yehia Qasim that peace with Lebanon could unlock cooperation on gas, electricity, and water—but only if Hezbollah is disarmed. He criticizes Turkey and Qatar and urges Gulf states to deepen ties with Israel. Cohen’s message is simple: the Middle East is entering a new phase, and every country will have to decide which camp it wants to be in.
Read the article here and watch the video here
Washington Pushes Baghdad on Militias
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets U.S. envoy Tom Barrack in Baghdad on Tuesday, accompanied by Iraqi and U.S. officials, in this image released by the Iraqi News Agency.
In exclusive information to MBN, Mustafa Saadoon reports that Washington is pressing Iraq to set a real deadline for disarming militias outside state control. The message came during U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s visit to Baghdad. The big question is whether Iran-backed factions will actually give up their weapons. A U.S. – Iran deal could either help Baghdad — or make the militias dig in harder.
Read the article here
The Cost of Political Certainty
Anti-Hezbollah activists protest in Beirut, Lebanon, June 9, 2013. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Lebanese poet and activist Joumana Haddad examines the fractures within Lebanon’s left through the lens of a friendship strained by war. In MBN Magazine this week, she argues that some secular progressives have excused Hezbollah’s authoritarianism in the name of Palestine. The article challenges selective opposition to foreign influence and the class politics of parts of the contemporary left. At its core, Haddad’s article makes a case for doubt, self-criticism, and the refusal to turn any cause into dogma.
Read the article here
The World’s Game Meets the Home Court
What happens when the world’s game meets New York’s home court? In a vibrant dispatch from Times Square, MBN’s Ezzat Wagdi captures a rare cultural collision as international football fans gathering for the World Cup cross paths with local crowds celebrating an historic New York Knicks NBA championship. The result is “the other match”—a high-energy look at the evolution of soccer in America, where global fandom and raw, homegrown euphoria share the same pavement.
Watch the video here
Quote of the Week
Had Israel and the United States not acted against Iran, Iran would have acquired a nuclear weapon that would have posed a threat, first and foremost, to Saudi Arabia…The king of Saudi Arabia owes a thousand thanks to both Trump and Israel, because they ultimately intervened and helped protect the kingdom.
–Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen
