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Hezbollah Radwan Commander Killed Amid Widening Israeli Military Operations

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it has significantly expanded operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire began on April 16, claiming it has killed more than 220 operatives and commanders during ongoing strikes and ground activity in the area. According to the Israeli army, the campaign targets individuals and ...

Why Iran’s Influence in Lebanon Persists Despite Hezbollah’s Losses

Israel’s military blows to Hezbollah and its seizure of a strip of territory in southern Lebanon have not changed Tehran’s strategic calculus. The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to regard its influence in Lebanon as a strategic priority, despite the scale of casualties among Lebanon’s Shia population, the waves of displacement, and the ...

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 ...

Iran Says Final Deal Still Far Off as Hormuz Strait Shuttered

The strategic Strait of Hormuz was again closed on Sunday in the stand-off between Iran and the United States, with Iran's powerful parliament speaker signalling a final peace deal remained "far" off despite some movement in negotiations. As mediation efforts continued following high-level talks in Pakistan that failed to reach a deal, Iran said ...

Israel Announces Killing of Senior Hamas Commander Izz al-Din al-Haddad

The Israeli military and Shin Bet security agency announced on Saturday that they had killed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, a senior commander in Hamas’s military wing whom Israeli officials described as one of the last high-ranking leaders involved in the October 7, 2023 attacks. In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet ...

Rubio: Lebanese State Must Be Empowered to Confront Hezbollah

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered sharp remarks from Rome on Friday, accusing Hezbollah of acting as an Iranian proxy and stressing that Washington’s priority is strengthening the Lebanese state rather than engaging with the group.  Rubio said Washington will not negotiate with Hezbollah, describing the group as “an Iranian ...

Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem Rejects Direct Talks, Vows to Maintain Armed Resistance

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Monday rejected direct negotiations with Israel, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to armed resistance, and sharply criticized the Lebanese government’s recent political course in a statement addressing the latest developments in the country. In a written statement, Qassem said Hezbollah ...

Trump Weighs Military Options on Iran as U.S. Drafts Strike Plans and Hormuz Strategy

Senior U.S. military commanders will brief President Donald Trump on Thursday on potential military action against Iran, including strike scenarios and options related to the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official told Reuters. The briefing, expected at the White House, will include Central Command chief Brad Cooper, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, ...

Lebanon Army Says Israeli Strike in South Kills Two Including Soldier

Lebanon's army said Wednesday that one of its soldiers was among two people killed in an Israeli strike in the country's south, the latest deadly raid despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war. "A soldier and his brother were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted them in the town of Khirbet Selm in Bint Jbeil (district) while they were ...

U.S. Downs Iran Missiles and Drones, Destroys Six of Tehran's Boats

The United States shot down multiple Iranian missiles and drones fired at U.S. Navy and commercial vessels and destroyed six of Tehran's small boats, a top U.S. admiral said on Monday. The hostilities occurred as American forces sought to facilitate the transit of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in an effort dubbed "Project ...

Israel Intensifies Strikes in Lebanon on Eve of Washington Talks

Israeli forces escalated their military operations in southern Lebanon on the eve of anticipated diplomatic discussions in Washington, striking dozens of targets linked to Hezbollah, according to the Israeli military. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that more than 40 infrastructure sites belonging to Hezbollah were targeted over the ...

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 ...

Third Round of U.S.-Brokered Lebanon-Israel Talks Targets Long-Term Security Framework

The U.S. Department of State announced on Friday that it will facilitate two days of intensive talks between Lebanon and Israel on May 14 and 15, as Washington seeks to advance negotiations toward what it described as a broader peace and security framework between the two countries. In a statement issued on May 8, U.S. State Department ...

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 ...

Vessel Off UAE Coast 'Taken', Now Bound for Iran Waters: UK Maritime Agency

A ship off the UAE coast near the Strait of Hormuz has been taken by unknown people and is now headed towards Iranian waters, a UK maritime agency said on Thursday. The vessel was "taken by unauthorised personnel whilst at anchor" 38 nautical miles (70 kilometres) northeast of Fujairah, and "is now bound for Iranian territorial ...

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 ...

Reports Point to Expanding Israeli-UAE Security Coordination During Iran Conflict

Cooperation between Israel and the United Arab Emirates reportedly deepened during the recent conflict involving Iran, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg detailing high-level intelligence coordination and joint security measures between the two countries. According to The Wall Street Journal, David Barnea, the head of ...

Pakistani Minister Arrives in Tehran to 'Facilitate' U.S.-Iran Peace Talks: Media

Pakistan's Minister of Interior arrived in Tehran on Saturday "to facilitate" the peace talks between Iran and the United States that have stalled despite a fragile ceasefire, Iranian media reported. "Mohsin Naqvi arrived today in the Islamic Republic of Iran on an official two-day visit as part of Pakistan's ongoing ...

Hezbollah-Linked Suspect Extradited to Panama in Long-Running Terror Investigation

The U.S. Embassy in Panama announced a major breakthrough in the decades-long investigation into the 1994 bombing of Alas Chiricanas Flight 901, stating that suspected Hezbollah-linked operative Ali Zaki Hage Jalil has been extradited to Panama to face trial. The announcement described the move as the result of coordinated efforts between the ...

Israel Political Unity on Iran War Fractures, Opposition Warns of 'Security Disaster'

Israel's opposition on Thursday signalled an end to the political consensus over the war against Iran — a conflict the military now says requires far more combat troops, particularly on the Lebanese front. "I want to warn the citizens of Israel. We are facing another security disaster," the country's main opposition leader and head of the ...

Iranian Attacks on UAE Continue Amid Hormuz Crisis

The United Arab Emirates said Friday that Iranian missile and drone attacks targeting the country injured three people, marking another serious escalation despite the ceasefire that took effect last month between Iran, the United States, and Israel. In a statement posted on X, the UAE Ministry of Defense said its air defense systems intercepted ...

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 ...

U.S. Authorities Uncover Migrant Smuggling Network Tied to IRGC-Linked Individual

An Iranian national living in New York pleaded guilty Tuesday to running a migrant smuggling operation that brought people into the U.S., including at least one person tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), federal prosecutors said. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Sharon Gohari, a naturalized American citizen ...