I. Legislative Branch
1) Legislation
Senators Announce Resolution Seeking Answers on Occupied West Bank Violence. On August 27, Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced plans to introduce a privileged resolution that would require the Department of State to report to Congress on violence by Israeli settlers and security forces in the occupied West Bank. The report would include information on investigations into the killings of US citizens and an assessment of the human rights situation, including the detention of Palestinian children.
2) Personnel and Correspondence
Bicameral Lawmakers Urge Rubio to Secure Release of US Citizen Held by Israel. On August 25, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) led 34 other House Democrats and six senators in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding the immediate release of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old Birzeit University student and US citizen held in Israeli military detention since June 2. The lawmakers said that Safi had a severe chronic medical condition and had received her medication inconsistently in detention. They urged Rubio to use every tool available to secure her release. Israel arrested Safi over allegations of terrorist activity, linking her to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
House Democrats Demand Answers on the Board of Peace. On August 25, House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) sent a letter to Secretary Rubio demanding records on the structure, funding, and oversight of the Board of Peace, including who controls its funds, how its expenditures are approved, the Department of State’s rescinded plan to transfer $50 million to the body, and the legal authority for US participation.
Pro-Israel Lawmaker Named Top Democrat on HFAC Middle East Subcommittee. On August 25, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) announced that Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), a staunch supporter of Israel, will serve as ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC)’s Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee. Moskowitz vowed to strengthen US ties with Israel and Gulf allies. He previously said that he positioned himself to the right of Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Iran policy, noting that he aligns more closely with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). If Democrats retake the House in November, Moskowitz could become chair of the subcommittee.
Meeks also announced that Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Wesley Bell (D-MO), both strong supporters of Israel, would join HFAC and serve on the Oversight and Intelligence and Western Hemisphere subcommittees, respectively. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), a pro-Palestinian lawmaker, was appointed to the Africa Subcommittee.
The appointments of Bell, Moskowitz, and Wasserman Schultz drew criticism from within the Democratic Party and came amid declining US public support for Israel.
Senate Democrats Urge Netanyahu to Address Settler Violence in the Occupied West Bank.
On August 26, Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) led 42 other senators in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging his government to curb settler violence in the occupied West Bank and ensure accountability for attacks against Palestinians. The senators also called on Israel to complete investigations into the killings of nine US citizens by settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank in recent years and to halt approval of additional settlements and construction of illegal outposts.
II. Executive Branch
1) White House
Trump Says Strait of Hormuz Has Been Demined. On August 25, President Donald Trump said that all mines had been removed or detonated from international waters in the Strait of Hormuz and warned that any ship or boat laying new mines would be destroyed.
Trump Submits Saudi Nuclear Cooperation Agreement to Congress. On August 24, President Trump submitted a 30-year nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress that could open a path to uranium enrichment in the kingdom and would give US companies a central role in developing its civilian nuclear program. The agreement, first announced in July, remains contingent on Saudi normalization with Israel.
Its submission begins a congressional review period of 90 days of continuous session under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, after which it can take effect unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval.
2) Department of State
Rubio Speaks with German Foreign Minister. On August 24, Secretary Rubio spoke with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul about the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to ensure that Iran never develops or acquires a nuclear weapon.
Deputy Secretary Landau Meets with Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister. On August 27, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau met with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Funakoshi Takehiro to discuss the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, among other issues.
3) Department of War
US Forces Strike Rocket Launchers on Iran’s Larak Island. On August 30, US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. A US official said that the strike followed observations of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the waterway.
The strike came days after the Trump administration said that it was shifting its focus from military action to increasing economic pressure on Iran.
4) Department of the Treasury
Treasury Launches Sweeping New Economic Campaign Against Iran. On August 24, the Department of the Treasury launched a new sanctions campaign, dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast,” aimed at further isolating Iran economically. The Treasury sanctioned nearly 60 individuals, entities, and vessels linked to Iranian oil revenues, nuclear and missile procurement, and cyber operations, while expanding the sectors of Iran’s economy in which foreign persons could face US sanctions for operating to include digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping.
Notably, the administration did not target major Chinese entities involved in oil trade with Iran, despite China receiving at least 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports. Asked why such entities were not immediately sanctioned, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said, “why would I want to blow up the global financial system?”
The campaign came as Secretary Rubio reportedly told several foreign counterparts that the United States did not currently expect to launch new offensive strikes on Iran as the administration shifted its focus toward economic pressure.
United States Removes Syria From Its List of Terrorism Sponsors. On August 24, the Department of State removed Syria from its list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and revoked Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS or the “Organization for the Liberation of the Levant”) designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization. Concurrently, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed HTS from its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.
Syria had been on the list since 1979, when the United States accused the government of former President Hafez al-Assad of supporting armed groups opposed to Israel.
Treasury Sanctions Palestine Action and Other Left-Wing Groups. On August 26, OFAC imposed counterterrorism sanctions on the British activist group Palestine Action, the pro-Palestine international movement Masar Badil, and Autistici Inventati, an Italy-based group that supplies digital services to left-wing organizations, including pro-Palestine groups.
OFAC said that Masar Badil operated as a front for the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which the United States and Canada jointly sanctioned in October 2024 over its alleged role as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Treasury Targets Egyptian Bank Branches over Iran Ties. On August 28, as part of “Operation Economic Outcast,” the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a rule that would revoke correspondent banking access for the UAE branches of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, cutting them off from US dollar transactions and the US financial system. The Treasury alleged that Banque Misr UAE processed around $1.8 billion between January 2024 and June 2026 for 103 companies potentially linked to Iranian shadow banking networks.
OFAC also sanctioned the general manager of the Dubai branch of Iran’s Bank Melli under a counterterrorism authority, as well as a Hong Kong-based company accused of helping sanctioned Iranian individuals and entities access the international financial system.
III. Judicial Branch
Judge Rules Against Deportations of Pro-Palestinian Students. On August 28, a federal judge in California ruled that laws used by the Trump administration to revoke visas and pursue the deportation of noncitizen students over Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Israel were unconstitutional when applied to protected speech, violating the First and Fifth Amendments.
The ruling follows the administration’s campaign to strip visas from and deport foreign students active in pro-Palestinian advocacy. Those targeted for deportation included Columbia University students Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, and Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri.
