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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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Israel Strikes Tehran as Trump Says Iran Deal May be Reached 'Soon'

Israel said Monday it was striking military targets across Tehran, a day after US President Donald Trump insisted a deal could "soon" be reached, while not ruling out ground operations. Iran also launched fresh strikes on Israel, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia after its electrical facilities came under attack at the weekend, cutting power to parts of ...

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 ...

Displacement Fuels Fears of Hezbollah Infiltration Across Lebanon

From Beirut’s suburbs to the Beqaa valley, to Druze strongholds in the eastern Chouf and Aley, and north across the Christian belt from the mountain resorts to the coast, fears are rising that Hezbollah operatives may be among the growing numbers of displaced Shia families. Israeli assassination strikes in historically-neutral parts of ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Breaking the Crowdfunding Myth: The Digital Architecture Funding Iran’s Proxy Wars

For years, Iran’s use of cryptocurrency was written off as pocket-change militant fundraising. A slew of enforcement actions now shows something far more consequential: Tehran and its terror allies have woven digital assets into the core financial architecture that bankrolls their war machines. By integrating crypto into their control of ...

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 ...

Lebanon Says Israel Talks Set for Tuesday in U.S.

Lebanon's presidency said Friday that a meeting would be held with Israel in Washington next week to discuss a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war and the start of negotiations between the neighbours. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has repeatedly expressed readiness for direct talks with Israel since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle ...

Trump Threatens More Strikes on Iran’s Main Oil Export Hub

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened additional strikes on Iran’s key oil export hub at Kharg Island as the war between Iran and the U.S.–Israeli alliance entered its third week, underscoring the growing risk of a prolonged conflict that is already disrupting global energy markets and destabilizing the Gulf region. Speaking to NBC News, ...

Israel’s New Manual for Fighting Terrorist Militias

From the ruins of Gaza to the depopulated villages south of Lebanon’s Litani River, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is testing a new doctrine that breaks with decades of conventional wisdom on combating terrorist actors. Rather than applying military pressure to bend governments or populations to its political will, Israel is now waging a war ...

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 ...

Lebanon Plea: A Peace Initiative or a Lifeline for Hezbollah?

Lebanon’s call for direct negotiations with Israel and its pledge to disarm Hezbollah are being framed in Beirut as historic. But it may instead be a delayed response, too late to stop the war, too weak to change its course, and potentially giving Hezbollah room to maneuver. On Monday, President Joseph Aoun urged an immediate ceasefire and ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...