🇺🇸🇮🇷❗️Iran Update Special Report, May 24, 2026 - ISW Report

Key Takeaways :-

1. Conflicting US, Iranian, and regional reporting indicates that the contours of a possible US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) remain unresolved and may not yet represent a final agreement.

2. Iranian officials, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-affiliated outlets, and Iranian sources speaking to Western and regional media are presenting the possible MOU as conditional on US concessions and continued Iranian leverage.

3. IRGC-affiliated reporting has identified frozen assets, sanctions relief, the naval blockade, Lebanon, and the Strait of Hormuz as the main unresolved issues. This is every issue in the first stage of the agreement, before talks on the nuclear program. 

4. Mediators appear to be trying to preserve momentum toward a US-Iran MOU by sequencing unresolved issues and developing technical arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz, but Iranian reporting suggests that Iran has rejected efforts to defer its core demands.

5. Iran appears to believe that it is negotiating from a stronger position than the United States and is accordingly attempting to remake the regional order in a way that benefits Iran.

6. Iran has not publicly accepted meaningful nuclear concessions in the possible MOU, and Iran believes that the draft defers nuclear talks until after Iran secures relief from military and economic pressure.

7. Iranian officials have stated that the US-Iran MOU must end the war “on all fronts,” including in Lebanon. The United States supports continued Israeli operations against Hezbollah, however, to prevent threats to Israel.

8. Israeli officials have reportedly called on the United States to allow the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to continue its operations in Lebanon, in accordance with the current temporary ceasefire in Lebanon, and President Trump agreed with this position.

9. Hezbollah officials have continuously reiterated that the group will continue to engage the IDF in southern Lebanon and launch attacks against northern Israel until the IDF completely halts its activity in Lebanon and withdraws from southern Lebanese territory.

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🇺🇦🇷🇺It will be hard for us, we will cry and suffer, but we will outlast the Russians. Because we are much stronger than them," said former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba, smoking a cigarette far from the frontline.

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🇷🇺The Rostec State Corporation reports that the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has delivered another batch of new serial multifunctional fighter jets Su-35S to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS).

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🇺🇦🇷🇺You need to psychologically prepare for destructions in Kyiv, if "things don't work out", then leave the capital — ex-head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Kuleba

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🇮🇷🇺🇸"The US government has repeatedly demonstrated that it only understands the language of force. Get ready for oil at $200 per barrel," - one of the military leaders of Iran.

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🇷🇺🇺🇦The destruction of a booby-trapped and camouflaged Leopard 1A5 tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by FPV drones while attempting to enter Konstantinovka from the north.

The first drone immobilized the tank and sent it into the bushes, and the subsequent drones simply finished off the abandoned vehicle.

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🇧🇾🇺🇦Ukrainian drones are attempting to attack Belarus's border infrastructure, said the State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus, Alexander Wolfovich.

According to him, air defense forces daily detect the crossing of the Belarus-Ukraine border by combat UAVs, as well as their crashes on Belarusian territory. In some situations, these are not random attacks, but attempts to hit elements of the border infrastructure.

As Wolfovich stated, in just the last week, there were 116 such cases, and the on-duty forces were deployed against them 59 times.

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🇷🇺🇺🇦🇪🇺The EU will not evacuate diplomats from Kiev, despite a warning from the Russian Foreign Ministry, said EC representative Anita Hipper.

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🇮🇷The internet is coming back to Iran

The organization Netblocks, which monitors internet access worldwide, reported that real-time data indicates the network is reconnecting in Iran. The report follows an official order issued by the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, instructing to reopen internet access in the country. The network in Iran was completely shut down for 87 days following a wave of protests and the war.

🇺🇸🇮🇷❗️ — BREAKING: The U.S. Navy has resumed escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz under a renewed push of “Project Freedom,” according to WSJ.

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🇺🇸🇮🇷❗️— INTEL: The tone of political messages from Washington is expected to become hawkish once more, leading to the collapse of negotiations and an escalation of conditions.

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🇪🇺🇷🇺EU countries have started to develop the 21st package of sanctions against Russia, which is aimed at reducing the standard of living of the population, said von der Leyen.

🇮🇷🇶🇦🇺🇸❗️— BREAKING: The Iranian delegation returned home from Qatar. Ghalibaf, head of the Iranian negotiation team, traveled to Qatar yesterday to consult with Qatari officials and returned to Iran a few hours ago.

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🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — U.S. Central Command:

Project Freedom has not resumed, and U.S. forces are not currently escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

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🇺🇸🌐❗️Washington intends to significantly reduce its contribution to NATO, writes Der Spiegel.

This includes reducing the supply of military equipment to the alliance, including aircraft, ships, and drones, according to the newspaper's source.

There is also discussion of a "significant reduction" in the fleet of strategic bombers that are part of NATO.

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