Lisa Daftari

Last night on CNN: The Iran regime doesn’t want an off-ramp. They don’t want diplomacy. They want escalation. Every missile, every proxy — Houthis in Saudi Arabia, the Strait of Hormuz — is designed to keep this going. They’re calculating they can outlast Washington. Again. The threat isn’t going away. Do we have the staying power? On CNN The Story is with Elex Michaelson

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Ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, I wrote a new piece for The Foreign Desk on whether America is becoming less clear-eyed about Islamist ideology, terrorism, and the national-security lessons of that day. The broader conversation is timely: what we learned after 9/11, what we have forgotten, and why historical amnesia—particularly in academia and elite institutions—matters as the U.S. continues to confront Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and jihadist threats. Article: 25 Years After 9/11, Mid East Scholars Deeply Concerned About Bias in Academia https://lnkd.in/g5jTZBDW

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Iranian regime is becoming ‘more bold’ with its rhetoric: The Foreign Desk editor-in-chief Lisa Daftari https://lnkd.in/eDgDKWu3 #FoxNews #FoxNewsLive

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12 years ago I started The Foreign Desk because the foreign-policy stories that mattered most — Iran, the regime's influence operations, antisemitism on campus, the Abraham Accords, the threats to journalists and dissidents — were being undercovered or covered badly. We've stayed independent the whole way. No corporate parent. No foreign backer with an agenda. Just reporting that's accountable to readers, not advertisers. That model only works if readers keep us going. This week we're asking the people who care about this work to step up. Donate $250 or more and we'll send you the official Foreign Desk mug — a small thank-you for keeping the lights on. If you've been reading, listening, or sharing our work, this is the moment to make it count. foreigndesknews.com/donate Independent. Unbought. Unafraid. *The Foreign Desk is a 501c3 non-profit news platform. All contributions are tax-deductible.

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12 years ago I started The Foreign Desk because the foreign-policy stories that mattered most — Iran, the regime's influence operations, antisemitism on campus, the Abraham Accords, the threats to journalists and dissidents — were being undercovered or covered badly. We've stayed independent the whole way. No corporate parent. No foreign backer with an agenda. Just reporting that's accountable to readers, not advertisers. That model only works if readers keep us going. This week we're asking the people who care about this work to step up. Donate $250 or more and we'll send you the official Foreign Desk mug — a small thank-you for keeping the lights on. If you've been reading, listening, or sharing our work, this is the moment to make it count. foreigndesknews.com/donate Independent. Unbought. Unafraid. *The Foreign Desk is a 501c3 non-profit news platform. All contributions are tax-deductible.

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US-Iran conflict escalates with new strikes on Hezbollah targets - reporting from colleague Trey Yingst, analysis from Lisa Daftari https://lnkd.in/eKkUTkg5 #FoxNews #FoxNewsLive

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I joined Fox News today with Bryan Llenas for a full segment on where the Iran negotiation actually stands — and why the framing in Washington keeps missing the point. A few things I argued: → The regime has succeeded in shifting the arena of war from our strategic imperative (no nuclear weapon) to the Strait of Hormuz. That is not our focus. It is their lever. → They are now trying to separate the conclusion of this war from the conclusion of their nuclear program. We cannot let that happen. → The “third option” — neither letting them get the bomb nor bombing them alone — is the Iranian people. Trump opened that door on day one of this war. It remains the most underused strategic asset we have. → The JCPOA’s conclusion was eventual nuclearization with sunset clauses. Trump’s conclusion has to be no enrichment, no uranium, no bomb. Those are not the same deal. → Every dollar, every sanctions relief package this regime has ever received, it has used to rearm, regroup, and rebrand. Reward before behavioral change is the JCPOA mistake. We do not repeat it. Peace through strength — not through stupidity. #ForeignPolicy #Iran #NationalSecurity #JCPOA #TheForeignDesk #LisaDaftari #FoxNews #MiddleEast

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My latest oped in the New York Post this morning. The Iranian regime has always understood that the surest way to weaken the United States is not to defeat our military — it is to erode the American public's will to support its own. Three months into Operation Epic Fury, the regime has found its sharpest tool: a significant portion of the Western media. Tune into most major U.S. networks and you will hear nearly identical narratives to those being pushed by Press TV and the Tehran Times: → The U.S. is "failing" → Trump has "no strategy" → The strikes have been "unsuccessful" → $4.50 gas is evidence the whole thing was a mistake → Israel "dragged us into" this → The regime cannot be overthrown, so negotiation is the only path This is not analysis. It is information warfare — and it is working. The Soufan Center documented in April that Tehran is running one of the most successful influence campaigns in recent history: viral Instagram clips, AI-generated combat footage, embassy troll accounts, IRGC accounts impersonating Texans and Americans to inject regime narratives into our discourse. The same regime that funds Hamas and Hezbollah is also funding the campus protests that have rocked American universities since October 7. When journalists treat the IRGC as a legitimate negotiating partner, they sanitize decades of violence against Americans. When commentators suggest "leaving the regime in place" is a reasonable compromise, they hand Tehran a lifeline. Lenin had a term for those who advance a hostile agenda without compensation. He called them useful idiots. Read the full column 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gtaYtuz7 #ForeignPolicy #Iran #NationalSecurity #MediaCriticism #TheForeignDesk #NYPost

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The Foreign Desk is asking today. For over a decade, I've run an independent 501(c)(3) news platform focused on Iran, Israel, and U.S. national security — without a paywall, a corporate parent, or foreign funding. The model is simple: patrons fund the work, and the work stays free for the policymakers, producers, congressional staff, diplomats, and Americans who need it. The moment we're in is unlike any other on this beat. Iran. Russia. China. Cuba. The war on Israel. The Abraham Accords realignment. Antisemitism mainstream again on American campuses and in American institutions. An information war waged against the United States on every platform. And on every one of these stories, the lane for serious, independent, source-driven journalism is narrower than it has ever been. The Foreign Desk is one of the only outlets standing in that lane. The daily email reaches policymakers across Washington, New York, Jerusalem, and the Persian Gulf. The podcast has featured former heads of state, intelligence officials, dissidents, journalists, and senior military leaders. The TV and radio appearances carry the work into millions of American homes every week. All of it is independent. All of it is built on patrons. All of it is tax-deductible. If the work has mattered to you, today is the day to keep the desk open. Independent. Unbought. Unafraid.

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Iran nuclear deal faces roadblocks as Trump warns negotiators - analysis from Lisa Daftari, The Foreign Desk https://lnkd.in/eEZVqrWT #FoxNews #FoxNewsLive

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On @FoxNews last tonight, breaking down the central problem with the U.S.-Iran negotiation playbook: → Six weeks in, we have no nuclear deal, no end to proxy aggression, no resolution on Hormuz tolls → “Baghdad Bob”-style spokesmen are buying time while the regime builds leverage → Iran’s regime cannot defend the country — but it can stall, and stalling is the strategy → The Islamic Republic was never designed to be reformed. It was designed to use a deadly ideology to stay in power, suppress its people, dominate a region, and export that ideology globally → This isn’t a diplomatic problem — it’s an ideological one. And it is, as I said, our one chance to hopefully stop them. Full segment on YouTube. Link in comments. #ForeignPolicy #Iran #NationalSecurity #MiddleEast #FoxNews #TheForeignDesk

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