Donald Trump

South Korea Reviews Phased Support for Strait of Hormuz Security

South Korea is considering a phased contribution to international efforts aimed at ensuring safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said Wednesday, signaling support measures that would stop short of direct military involvement. Speaking at a press conference with South Korean reporters in Washington, Ahn said ...

Trump Warns Iran of Decisive Action, Signals No Need for Chinese Mediation Ahead of Beijing Visit

Answering questions from the press before departing for China, U.S. President Donald Trump outlined a series of strong positions regarding Iran, its nuclear program, and the ongoing regional tensions. Trump said he intends to hold an extended discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping concerning the war involving Iran, suggesting that the issue ...

Iran's Guards hold military drills in capital as ceasefire teeters

Iran's Revolutionary Guards held military exercises in the capital, Tehran, to prepare for any confrontation, state media reported Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump warned a ceasefire in the Middle East war was on the brink of collapse. The drills involved the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC, the ideological arm of Iran's ...

Aoun’s Anticipated Washington Visit a Rare Opportunity for Lebanon

As Lebanon prepares to continue U.S.-mediated talks with Israel later this week, a potential trip by President Joseph Aoun to Washington is increasingly being viewed in Beirut as a rare opportunity that cannot be missed. “President Aoun should absolutely go to Washington,” Lebanese Forces MP Ghayyath Yazbeck told This is Beirut.  “He ...

Hezbollah’s Disarmament Takes Center Stage Ahead of Lebanon-Israel Talks

With the U.S. set to mediate a third round of Lebanon-Israel talks on May 14 and 15, Washington has made clear that Hezbollah’s disarmament will be central to efforts to reach a broader security and peace arrangement between the two countries. “Comprehensive peace is contingent on the full restoration of Lebanese state authority and the ...

Netanyahu: Lebanon Held ‘Hostage’ by Hezbollah and Iran

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel seeks peace with Lebanon but argued that Hezbollah, backed by Iran, has effectively taken control of the country and holds the Lebanese people “hostage.” Netanyahu claimed Hezbollah had planned an October 7-style attack on Israel’s Galilee ...

Trump Says U.S. Is Monitoring Iran’s Nuclear Sites and Still Considering Further Strikes

U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday on Full Measure that enriched uranium believed to remain buried beneath rubble at Iranian nuclear sites is under close U.S. surveillance. He added Washington is monitoring the area continuously and would detect any attempt to move material from the ...

Lebanon Says Two Paramedics Affiliated With Hezbollah Killed By Israeli Strikes in South

Lebanon's health ministry said two paramedics from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee were killed and five others wounded on Sunday in Israeli strikes on the country's south despite a ceasefire. A ministry statement said that Israel "directly targeted, with two strikes, two Health Committee sites", killing one paramedic and ...

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 ...

U.S. Expands Massive Arms Package to Israel and Gulf States

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved $25.8 billion in missile interceptors and other weapons sales to Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates last week, according to a Bloomberg report, significantly expanding a package that Washington had publicly described days earlier as worth roughly $8.6 billion. The sales ...