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Inside the High-Risk U.S.-CIA Operation to Rescue a Downed Airman in Iran

The United States carried out a high-risk, coordinated operation involving both the U.S. military and the Central Intelligence Agency to rescue a missing crew member of a fighter jet shot down over Iran. The mission, described as both dramatic and politically sensitive, successfully brought the serviceman home, marking the end of a tense episode ...

Israeli Forces Will Occupy Swathe of South Lebanon After War: Defense Minister

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday said Israel's military would occupy a swathe of southern Lebanon even after the end of the current war against the Hezbollah armed group. "At the end of the operation, the IDF will establish itself in a security zone inside Lebanon, on a defensive line against anti-tank missiles, and will maintain security ...

White House: U.S. Ready to Sustain Indefinite Naval Blockade on Iran

The White House said Thursday that the United States is prepared to maintain its naval blockade on Iran indefinitely, signaling a sharp escalation in economic pressure despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach a broader agreement. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller confirmed that all options remain on the table in dealing with ...

Hezbollah Signals Openness to Indirect Talks with Israel

In a notable shift in tone, Hezbollah’s Secretary General Naim Qassem signaled for the first time openness to indirect negotiations with Israel, framing diplomacy as a viable path—while firmly rejecting any form of direct talks. “We support diplomacy that stops the aggression and enforces agreements,” Qassem said in a statement on Monday, ...

Iran Executes Man Over Membership of Jihadist Group, Armed Rebellion

Iran on Sunday executed a man convicted of membership in the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl and involvement in attacks on security forces in the southeast, the judiciary said. Amer Ramesh was arrested during a counterterrorism operation in the Pirsahrab area of Chabahar county in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the judiciary's Mizan Online ...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “We Are Strangling the Regime”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on Sunday that Washington has intensified its crackdown on all entities attempting to financially support Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He stressed that the United States is “strangling the Iranian regime” economically, claiming that Tehran is now struggling to pay its ...

Fresh Strike on Base in Western Iraq Kills Seven

A new strike in western Iraq killed seven security personnel, the defence ministry said Wednesday, a day after a deadly attack on the same base targeted the former paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi. Iraq has been unwillingly pulled into the war sparked by US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28, and which has since engulfed much of the ...

Five Sentenced to Life in Bahrain for Plotting 'Terrorist' Acts With Iran

Five people were sentenced to life in Bahrain on Tuesday for plotting "terrorist and hostile acts" with Iran, which bombarded the tiny Gulf state during the Middle East war. Two Afghans and three Bahrainis were convicted, and a fourth Bahraini was acquitted by the High Criminal Court, the public prosecution said. They were accused of monitoring ...

MP Makhzoumi Backs State Sovereignty and Direct Talks with Israel

Parliamentarian and founder of the National Dialogue Party Fouad Makhzoumi on Saturday stressed the primacy of state sovereignty and endorsed direct negotiations with Israel as key to ending the country’s current crisis, saying “the exclusive right of the state to decide on war and peace” must be upheld.  Speaking at a ...

Tanker Hit by 'Unknown Projectiles' off UAE Coast: UK Maritime Agency

A tanker was hit by unidentified projectiles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a British maritime agency reported Monday, as the United States said it would escort ships through the blocked Strait of Hormuz. "A tanker has reported being hit by unknown projectiles," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, ...

Israel Strikes Iran’s Caspian Supply Routes, Targeting Russian-Linked Arms Corridor

Israel has expanded the geographic scope of its war against Iran, carrying out a rare strike in the Caspian Sea region targeting what officials describe as a critical maritime corridor used to transport Russian-supplied weapons to Tehran. According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, the operation struck facilities at Iran’s Bandar ...

Israel Maintains High Pressure in West Bank Amid Iran War

As war with Iran and its proxies touches most of the region, Israel maintains pressure in the West Bank as violence mounts, while the Knesset approved a bill setting the death penalty on charges of deadly acts of terrorism.  On Monday, 2 Palestinians in the West Bank were killed by Israeli soldiers in separate incidents, according to ...

Amal Boycotts Hezbollah-Backed Protests Amid Rising Tensions in Lebanon

Following a wave of protests by supporters of Hezbollah throughout the week, culminating on Saturday, the Amal Movement announced it would not participate in the demonstrations and urged its supporters to boycott them. In a statement, Amal warned that insults directed at state leadership risk fueling internal unrest, stressing that political ...

Israel Says to Use 'Full Force' in Lebanon Despite Truce if Soldiers Face Threat

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that the military had been instructed to use "full force" in Lebanon—even during the ongoing ceasefire—should Israeli troops face any threat. Under the U.S.-brokered 10-day ceasefire, Israel agreed to halt “offensive” military operations against Lebanese targets ...

Mideast Prepares for More Fighting as Talks Fail

A sense of dread spread across the Middle East after talks between the US and Iran collapsed, as fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region with Donald Trump ordering a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Following more than 20 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, US Vice President JD Vance admitted the yawning ...

Trump Signals Push for Broader Middle East Deal After Announcing 10-Day Israel–Hezbollah Ceasefire

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in a series of Truth Social posts set to take effect at 5 p.m. EST, following what he described as “excellent conversations” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump presented the deal as an initial step ...

Senior U.S. Official to TIB: 'Next Week's Talks in Washington... A Critical Moment For Lebanese Government to Assert Control'

A senior U.S. official confirmed to This is Beirut that “next week’s talks in Washington will be a critical moment for the Lebanese government to assert control, take responsibility, and move toward the disarmament of Hezbollah,” refering to upcoming direct, civilian negotiations between Israel and Lebanon. The official ...

Hezbollah’s War Role Challenged as Ministers Cite Legal, Constitutional Violations

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, along with Ministers Joseph Saddy, Joe Issa El Khoury, and Kamal Shehadeh submitted a legal memorandum to the Council of Ministers of Lebanon, signed on Wednesday ahead of the Cabinet meeting, calling for immediate action to restore state authority and hold accountable those responsible for involving the ...

Netanyahu Conditions Talks on 'Real Peace Agreement' With Lebanon

In a statement to the press on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military campaign has reshaped the regional landscape, revealing that Beirut had approached Israel in recent weeks to pursue direct negotiations, something he described as unprecedented. He confirmed approving the talks but set clear conditions, ...

Turkey Hosts Latest Diplomatic Push on Middle East War

Turkey hosts a high-stakes forum Friday bringing together the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as Islamabad pushes diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East war. Pakistan's powerful army chief met senior negotiators in Tehran on Thursday as Washington and Iran considered a fresh round of talks to end the six-week ...

Foreign Fighters Alongside Hezbollah: What Do We Know?

An Israeli drone strike near Naqoura in southern Lebanon last week raised fresh questions about whether foreign combatants, apart from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are fighting alongside Hezbollah. While Hezbollah announced that the fighters killed in the airstrike were from southern Lebanon, the Israeli military identified ...

Trump Announces U.S. Naval Blockade on Hormuz Strait, Says Iran 'Unyielding' on Nuclear Ambitions

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the imposition of a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, saying that in 20 hours of direct negotiations yesterday, Iran proved it was “UNWILLING TO GIVE UP ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS!” His lengthy post on Truth Social comes on the heels of the first direct U.S.-Iran negotiations since the war ...

Iran Attacks Civilian Infrastructure Across Gulf States

Critical infrastructure across the Gulf came under attack from Iran on Sunday, with damage reported at civilian facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. Gulf countries have faced repeated drone and missile salvos from Iran in response to US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic that began at the end of February. Iran has ...

Parking Dispute Involving Shia Residents Escalates into North Beirut Church Incident

According to Lebanese media reports, a confrontation broke out Saturday in Fanar’s Ras el-Rouissat area in north Beirut between a municipal police officer and two individuals from the Shia neighborhood of el-Rouissat over a parking dispute. A local witness, identified as M. Hanna, told This is Beirut that the two men assaulted the officer ...

IDF Says It Has Encircled Bint Jbeil, Expands Ground Offensive in Southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said over the past week its troops “completed the encirclement and began an offensive in the town of Bint Jbeil,” a locality long considered a stronghold of Hezbollah. The IDF announced on Monday that its forces have intensified ground operations in southern Lebanon, particularly around ...

UN Peacekeeper Dies Weeks After Injury in Southern Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Friday announced the death of an Indonesian peacekeeper who was critically injured last month following a projectile explosion at a UN position in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of peacekeepers killed in the war to six. Corporal Rico Pramudia, 31, succumbed to his injuries on 24 April ...