⚡️🇸🇾🇺🇸 — Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani held a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss bilateral relations and ways to strengthen cooperation. Al-Shibani expressed Syria's appreciation for Washington's steps toward lifting sanctions, emphasizing the need for continued technical and executive coordination to ensure these political decisions yield practical benefits for the Syrian economic and banking sectors. Both sides agreed on the necessity of sustained support for the country's economic growth and stabilization — Syrian MFA / US Department of State.

The call also addressed regional developments and Syria's role in fostering stability. Rubio underscored the critical need to integrate all of Syria's minority groups and lauded the country's ongoing progress with the IAEA.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇺🇦🇺🇸 — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy:

most strongest. But we wanted to have independent country, we have it. So we have to trust to each other, Ukraine and Americans. And America has to defend democracies if the democracy is asking. It's about the world. It's about the normal rules. It's like one people, some big nation has to defend small nations.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇺🇸🇿🇦 — Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a new visa restriction policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act targeting foreign nationals responsible for or complicit in the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, and/or the incitement of imminent violence against members of minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa.

➡️ He said the United States remains gravely concerned about racially motivated crime and government-sponsored discrimination against Afrikaners and other minority populations, including race-based discriminatory legislation, threats of land expropriation without compensation, and incitement of racial violence through dehumanizing chants and slogans, as stated in President Trump’s Executive Order 14204.

➡️ Rubio said the South African government has not adequately addressed these previously laid out concerns. He stated that the United States will not allow such behavior to go unchecked, adding that these actions directly undermine peace, economic stability, and the rule of law and are incompatible with the pillars of America’s foreign policy. He once again strongly urged the South African government to quickly address these actions.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇦🇪🇸🇾 — UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa earlier today met in Abu Dhabi, discussing bilateral relations and cooperation, particularly in developmental and economic fields, to serve mutual interests. The Syrian President was on a working visit during which he participated in the 24th Arab Media Summit 2026 in Dubai — WAM.

They noted the importance of the recent visit of a UAE economic delegation to Syria in enhancing cooperation, supporting economic recovery, and developing strategic projects through sustainable development partnerships. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues, especially Middle East developments and their implications for the region's future, security, and stability.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇺🇸🇮🇷 — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in a report released Tuesday that the war with Iran could cost approximately $2 billion to $3 billion per month for as long as it continues. Costs could rise during exchanges of fire. The office estimated the war between Feb. 28 and Aug. 1 has directly cost the U.S. about $38 billion, a figure that does not include repairing U.S. bases in the region damaged during the conflict. It also projected that inflation during the first quarter of 2027 could be 0.5% higher than pre-war projections because of rising energy prices — CBS.

➡️ Replacing munitions accounts for the majority of costs incurred, and the CBO said the large expenditure of interceptor missiles used to defend against incoming missiles leaves behind a "reduced inventory of interceptors for several years." It warned the shortfall would become especially problematic if a conflict arose with an opponent whose arsenal included large numbers of ballistic and cruise missiles, noting China maintains such an arsenal and could employ it in a conflict over Taiwan. A comparison of reported interceptor use with Pentagon purchases indicates the U.S. has "probably used between one-half and two-thirds of its inventory of those munitions since June 2025," including Patriot and THAAD interceptors and the Navy's Standard Missiles 3 and 6.

The CBO estimates it will cost $21.7 billion to replace munitions used through Aug. 1: $7.3 billion for land-attack cruise missiles, $13.1 billion for missile-defense interceptors, and $1.2 billion for other munitions. It will also cost about $1.9 billion to replace lost equipment, including a THAAD air defense radar destroyed by Iran, which can cost roughly $500 million and is essential for the battery to take down missiles.

➡️ If the Pentagon requests supplemental appropriations to replace lost aircraft with newer versions, the total could rise from $1.9 billion to $3.3 billion. The report said monthly costs could rise if there is an escalation similar to the one in July, which saw repeated tit-for-tat strikes and cost about $3 billion.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

🚨🇾🇪🇸🇦 — Hizam al-Assad, a member of Ansar Allah's political bureau, publicly highlighted unconfirmed reports claiming that Yemeni defenses downed a Saudi F-15 fighter jet in the skies over Marib.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇺🇸🇷🇺🇮🇷 — The House passed H.Res. 1530 by 214-211 a procedural rule clearing the way for the House to take up the Senate-passed Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (Senate amendments to H.R. 5334). The vote did not enact sanctions.

Two Democrats, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA) and Jared Golden (ME), voted with Republicans; without them the rule would have failed, marking the second time this month they broke with their party on a rules vote. The Senate approved the Graham bill 86-11 in August.

➡️ The House text under consideration would impose mandatory sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, banks, state energy projects, and the shadow fleet; raise tariffs on goods from Russia by up to 500%; raise tariffs by up to 100% on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas and from leading facilitators of sanctions evasion; extend the Iran Sanctions Act through 2031; and allow the president to waive sanctions or tariffs after certifying to Congress that the waiver is in the U.S. national interest. Gluesenkamp Perez said the vote moved the House closer to cutting off Russian oil revenue, while Golden’s office said he did not want a Senate-passed Ukraine sanctions bill to die on a procedural vote.

➡️ The same rule also makes in order two fraud bills and two resolutions disapproving EPA vessel-emissions rules for California, secondary to the sanctions package. A final House vote on the Senate text is expected September 16; if the House concurs without changes, the bill goes to the president. The House then recesses after Thursday and returns November 9.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇺🇸🇩🇪 — The U.S. military hosted senior military representatives from eight nations at a conference in Germany last week, where participants discussed ways to strengthen security cooperation in the Middle East, a U.S. government official said Tuesday. Further details, including the scope and location of the meeting, were initially unclear — Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

➡️ Axios had earlier reported, citing Israeli sources, that senior military commanders from the United States, Israel and several Arab countries met in Germany to discuss the Iran war and ongoing regional tensions. CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper, who reportedly invited the participants, is said to have insisted that the U.S. military would not withdraw its troops from the Middle East despite Iranian attacks on U.S. bases. Alongside Cooper, the chiefs of staff of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt took part.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️⚛️🇰🇵 — The IAEA said in an August 28 report that North Korea has built a new uranium enrichment facility at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, identifying a new two-storey building as the site’s second such facility by comparing state media photographs of a June visit by Kim Jong Un with satellite images taken during construction, with gas centrifuge cascades installed on both floors and capacity for up to 28 cascades.

The agency, which has had no inspectors in North Korea since 2009 and relied on satellite imagery and open-source material including North Korean state media photographs, also said there were indications that operations began in January at a uranium enrichment facility in Kangson, near Pyongyang, within an annex constructed in 2024, and that the developments violated UN Security Council resolutions.

➡️ IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement to the Board of Governors in Vienna:

“The ongoing operation of enrichment facilities at Kangson and Yongbyon and the reported further expansion of the DPRK’s production of weapons-grade nuclear material is a cause for serious concern.”

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇺🇸🇮🇷 — US Vice President JD Vance said in an exclusive interview with The Post that the war with Iran would conclude “right after” the midterms, agreeing with the president, following months of tit-for-tat strikes between Washington and Tehran. He said the Iranian leadership would continue to lose control over the Strait of Hormuz until the election, now that the critical global energy chokepoint has “returned to well over 50% of normal traffic.”

“We can’t predict the future, but I think the president is right to say that this thing will enter a much different phase in a couple of months. He’s also the commander in chief, so he’s the person who determines … when conflicts start and when they stop.”

➡️ He acknowledged impatience among the American people but said the United States is not engaged in aggressive operations, while Iranians occasionally shoot at commercial shipping, usually unsuccessfully. Vance described two phases: the first, now done, was to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, conventional military, and power projection; the second is to ensure Iran cannot rebuild and to maintain global stability in the wake of that — New York Post.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇺🇸🇮🇷🇯🇴 — The U.S. military fired up to 70 or more of its high-end air defense interceptors last week when Iran launched a missile attack on Jordan, U.S. and regional officials said, a heavy expenditure that underscores Iran’s improved ability to target U.S. forces and challenge American air defenses — WSJ.

➡️ U.S. forces fired 60 to 70 Patriot interceptors to counter the attack, which consisted of about 20 ballistic missiles, some officials said, and also fired more than a dozen Thaad interceptors, according to one official. The expenditure is about what the U.S. has used in a full week at other times in the war, another official said.

➡️ The nature of the attack made it more difficult to counter: Iran targeted American troops with warheads that separate into more numerous projectiles as they close in on their target. The defenses did not stop everything. While no troops were killed, Iran managed to hit jet fighters and other aircraft at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, one official said.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

🇮🇷❌🇺🇸 — The IRGC says it intercepted and destroyed a U.S. MQ-9 drone over Qeshm Island at this morning, marking the 52nd such downing.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦 — Operators of attack drones belonging to the Fostok group thwarted an enemy attempt to reinforce its positions and destroy support points of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporizhzhia region, — Russian Ministry of Defense.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel

🚨🇷🇺🇺🇦 — A Shahed drone crashed onto a train traveling from Kyiv to Mykolaiv, causing a massive fire, — Ukrainian media.

⭐️ Follow @MaxOsintIntel