Middle East Crisis

New Defense Pact
Turkey: Egypt also on the way to joining defense cooperation

Turkey now expects Egypt to also join the joint defense pact that is to stabilize the Middle East, according to the country's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. On Friday, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed the agreement.

Fidan says that some technicalities remain, but that the countries already treat each other as allies. He adds that the goal is for more countries in the region to come "under this umbrella" and that the agreement is not aimed at any specific enemy, writes AFP.

Pakistan has described the defense cooperation in words that bring to mind NATO and its article five: an attack on one member state is considered an attack on all.

Iran War
Pentagon to Industry: Send More Weapons Quickly

The US arms and ammunition stockpiles are rapidly dwindling in the Iran war, and now the Pentagon is urging the defense industry to quickly manufacture and deliver more, according to a letter seen by the Washington Post.

The letter was sent by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg to several top defense industry officials on Wednesday. He gives them three weeks to submit action plans for “significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production of critical capabilities.”

“Years-long processes are not acceptable. We must dramatically accelerate our schedules and expand production capabilities now,” he writes.

The White House vehemently denies there is any shortage of weapons and ammunition.

Gaza War
Netanyahu Rejects Trump's Gaza Plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not as big a fan of the plan for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as Donald Trump is, several media outlets report.

The plan was developed by the US president's so-called peace council and consists of 15 points.

- Israel rejects the 15-point document. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas has truly disarmed and will continue to repel threats to our forces and our citizens, Netanyahu said at a government meeting.

Strait of Hormuz
New long list of demands from Iran to open the strait

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, chairman of Iran's Security Council, has presented a long list of demands for the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Wall Street Journal reports.

The demands are that the US permanently end the war, lift its naval blockade, withdraw all forces, lift all sanctions, release frozen Iranian assets, pay war reparations, cease “threats and insults” and end military operations against Iran’s allies.

The council is made up of hardline regime supporters and reports directly to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. The list of demands came after they read a draft agreement between Iran and Oman on maritime traffic through the strait.

Both Iranian and Omani negotiators are expressing positive views about the negotiations, but the Iranian side is clear that US actions will determine whether the strait is reopened or not.