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U.S. Says Ball in Iran's Court as Push Grows to End War

The United States said "the ball is in the Iranian court" on ending the Mideast war, as diplomats accelerated efforts on Tuesday towards a new round of peace talks after weekend negotiations failed to produce a deal. US Vice President JD Vance had left talks hosted by Pakistan on Sunday, saying he had handed Tehran the "final and best offer".Iran ...

Can Lebanon's Military Court Break Free of Hezbollah's Shadow?

Lebanon’s Military Court has drawn scrutiny for its handling of detainees linked to Hezbollah, reigniting long-standing criticism over its politicization and expansive legal authority. On March 9, the Military Court controversially ordered the release of three individuals arrested by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) on charges of illegally ...

PM Salam: Lebanon Trapped in a War It Did Not Choose, Reasserts State Authority

Lebanon’s government moved to reassert its authority in a cabinet meeting on Thursday, as Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that the country is being dragged into a war it neither chose nor controls amid growing concerns over the role Hezbollah is playing to escalate the conflict. Speaking after a cabinet session at the Grand Serail, Salam ...

Decapitation of Iranian Military and Intelligence Leadership: Timeline and Structure

Since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran on February 28, a series of coordinated strikes by both countries has dramatically reshaped Iran’s military and political command structure. The U.S.-led Operation Epic Fury and Israel’s Operation Roaring Lion have systematically targeted senior Iranian officials, top advisors, ...

Hezbollah Emerged from Iran’s Revolution, Not “Resistance” to Israel

A false claim, now common in Western media and academia, portrays Hezbollah as having emerged in response to Israel’s 1982 invasion and subsequent occupation of Lebanon. In reality, Hezbollah arose in the wake of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution as part of an effort to establish an Islamic state in a Lebanon fractured by warring militias. Since ...

Defiant Iran Ramps up Attacks After Trump Warning

Iran launched fresh attacks across the Middle East on Monday and threatened "devastating" retaliation, after US President Donald Trump's expletive-laced warning that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates reported a barrage of missile and drone strikes early Monday. The attacks came as Tehran ramped ...

U.S.-Iran Truce Hangs in Balance as War Flares in Lebanon

The fragile two-week truce between Iran and the United States was hanging in the balance on Wednesday, with Tehran threatening to resume hostilities as Israel launched a major bombardment of Lebanon. Washington and Tehran both claimed victory after agreeing to a two-week ceasefire and negotiations aimed at ending a war that has killed thousands ...

Blurring the Lines: How Hezbollah Obscures Civilian and Combatant Deaths

Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 1,268 dead in Israeli strikes as of March 31, but offers no breakdown between civilians and Hezbollah fighters, leaving the real human toll shrouded in uncertainty. Dr. Joseph Helou, head of the Medical Care Directorate at the Ministry of Public ...

Panic in Lebanon as Israel Carries Out Most Violent Strikes on Capital

Israeli strikes on Lebanon Wednesday killed 182 people and wounded 890, according to an initial toll from authorities, with the capital Beirut hit by the most violent bombardment since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel announced Wednesday it did not consider Lebanon covered by the Iran-US truce announced ...

New Strikes in Tehran as Deadline Looms for Trump Threat to Infrastructure

New strikes rocked Tehran on Tuesday, with Iran showing no sign of backing down as a U.S. deadline loomed for it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or have its civilian infrastructure "decimated," according to President Donald Trump. The U.S. leader has warned that unless Tehran allows free passage through the strategic oil chokepoint by midnight ...

Lebanon’s Last Chance: A Turning Point or the Point of No Return?

Caught in the escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanon faces a critical turning point. The Lebanese state can no longer claim sovereignty while tolerating an armed militia that unilaterally dictates war and peace. President Joseph Aoun’s assertion that Hezbollah seeks the “collapse of the Lebanese state” and the ...

What Went Wrong for the Shia

The Shia have a problem. While many Sunni-majority states, from the Gulf states to Turkey, have achieved varying degrees of governance success and economic growth, Shia-led political projects have little to show for themselves. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, they have been at the center of wars, terrorist networks, and state failure even as ...

Stocks Rally, Oil Dives as Trump Says War to End 'Very Soon'

Equities rallied and oil tumbled Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said the Middle East war would be over in up to three weeks and his Iranian counterpart said Tehran had "the necessary will" to bring it to an end. The remarks came as the economic impact of the conflict worsens, with average US gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon for the ...

Amid Hezbollah’s War, Lebanon Faces a Test of Sovereignty

Hezbollah plunging Lebanon into yet another war with Israel came as no surprise. For years, Lebanese officials and international partners have warned that Hezbollah’s unchecked militarization in the south was an invitation to catastrophe. Those warnings have become reality as Israel deepens its ground invasion to neutralize what it sees as an ...

How the Iran War Can Help Reorient Shia Identity

As the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran nears the limits of its original target bank, the contours of a new phase are beginning to emerge, one defined by the search for a political exit from the war. Discussions are no longer confined to closed-door deliberations but are now unfolding in public. Fundamental questions are emerging about ...

On the Streets of Tehran: Teenagers Armed With Machine Guns

In the security crackdown ordered by Iranian authorities since the start of the war, an unsettling new sight on the streets of Tehran has put residents on edge: teenagers armed with machine guns. During the first weeks of the war against the United States and Israel, checkpoints sprang up around the capital, often comprising police or military ...

Iran Sacrifices Lebanon on the Altar of Its Own Interests

The U.S. and Israel have entered a two-week ceasefire, an arrangement that paves the way for negotiations aimed at resolving a wide range of complex and contentious issues. Yet Lebanon, despite Iran’s rhetoric, appears to remain a marginal concern in the talks for Tehran, which has shown little care for the suffering of Lebanese Shia. Despite ...

Why Lebanon–Israel Diplomacy Remains Frozen

As the U.S. signals readiness for a negotiated settlement to the regional war with Iran, a key question is resurfacing: could a broader diplomatic reset in the region revive the prospect of talks between Lebanon and Israel? Since Hezbollah plunged Lebanon into war with Israel on March 2, Beirut has reiterated its willingness to enter direct talks ...

U.S. Vice President JD Vance: ‘We Were Unable to Reach an Agreement’ With Iran

On Sunday morning, U.S. Vice President JD Vance held a press conference following 21 hours of negotiations with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, announcing that “we were unable to reach an agreement.” He emphasized that “Iran decided not to accept our terms” as U.S. negotiators sought to adhere to the agenda and demands it set ...

Hezbollah's Fallback Strategy as the Resistance Axis Unravels

Hezbollah is coming under immense pressure on all fronts. Its regional backer Iran stands on the threshold of a new political phase that points to a retreat from its regional strategy, with profound implications for Hezbollah in Lebanon. There, Israel is escalating its military efforts against Hezbollah, with the campaign likely to intensify ...

The WhatsApp War: How Hezbollah Manufactures Reality

In Lebanon today, the battlefield is no longer confined to the south; it has also moved to WhatsApp, where closed, encrypted groups spread information without scrutiny, and most importantly, without accountability. This is where Hezbollah has quietly built one of its most effective influence machines—not on television, where narratives can be ...

Trump Sends Peace Plan as Iran Opens to 'Non-Hostile' Oil Vessels

US President Donald Trump sent a peace plan to Iran as he voiced optimism Tuesday at ending nearly a month of warfare, with Tehran announcing that it will let "non-hostile" oil vessels go through the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The tentative signs of a diplomatic solution came despite new violence, with an Iranian missile causing injuries ...

Trump Threatens to Restart War if Iran Fails to Honor Ceasefire Terms

Donald Trump warned that the United States is prepared to resume full-scale military operations against Iran if Tehran fails to comply with what he described as a “real agreement,” casting new doubt on the durability of the recently announced ceasefire. In a late-night statement, Trump said all U.S. military assets, including ships, aircraft, ...

Iran Claims Aluminium Plant Attacks in Gulf as Houthis Join War

Iran claimed on Sunday attacks on two major aluminium plants in the Gulf, further raising the economic stakes of the Middle East war after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis joined the conflict. The war that began on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran has mushroomed throughout the region, sending world energy markets into a tailspin and ...

Israel Strikes Litani Bridges to Pressure Lebanese Government

As Israel presses its ground invasion of south Lebanon, it has destroyed several bridges spanning the Litani River, saying Hezbollah was using the crossings for military purposes. Analysts told This Is Beirut that the strikes also form part of a broader pressure campaign on the Lebanese state. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the bridges ...

Is Israel Shifting from Containing Hezbollah to a Resolution in Lebanon?

A historical examination of Israel’s military campaigns in Lebanon against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Hezbollah reveals striking parallels and key differences, while raising the question of whether Jerusalem is moving toward a more decisive strategy against Hezbollah. Israel has regarded both the PLO in the 1970s and 80s ...

After Islamabad

Whatever different people may think about the Trump Administration's approach to Iran, 21 hours of talks led by the American vice president demonstrated a seriousness of diplomatic purpose.  However, it was never likely that the wide gap between the goals of Washington and those of Tehran would be bridged in a day.  Eight American presidents ...

Vance Arrives in Pakistan for Iran Talks

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad on Saturday for talks with Iran that the Pakistani premier hosting the warring sides called a "make or break" effort to permanently halt weeks of fighting in the Middle East. An Iranian delegation led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is also in the city, having arrived ...