This is Beirut

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

This is Beirut, 15:20 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

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 ...

Trump Says U.S. ‘Close to Finishing the Job’ in Iran War, Says More Strikes Ahead

This is Beirut, 09:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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Israel said it came under Iranian missile fire on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb the Islamic republic into the "Stone Ages" with heavy strikes in the next two to three weeks. In a speech from the White House, Trump sought to reassure war-weary Americans that the military campaign that began on February 28 was coming ...

On the Streets of Tehran: Teenagers Armed With Machine Guns

This is Beirut, 01/04 14:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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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 ...

Erdogan Warns of Regional Spillover Risk as War Enters Second Month

This is Beirut, 01/04 14:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Wednesday that the ongoing war involving Iran, the United States, and Israel risks expanding into a broader regional conflict, as tensions continue to escalate across multiple fronts. “We are facing the danger of the war spreading and widening,” Erdoğan said during a parliamentary ...

Yemen Claims Joint Strike with Iran and Hezbollah on Southern Israel

This is Beirut, 01/04 11:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Yemen’s armed forces on Wednesday announced a new round of attacks targeting what they described as “sensitive Israeli positions” in southern Israel in coordination with Iran and Hezbollah. The operation, described as the third phase of an ongoing military campaign, involved the launch of ballistic missiles, according to a ...

Rubio Signals War Endgame as U.S. Pressure Mounts on Weakened Iran

This is Beirut, 01/04 10:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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The United States is increasingly signaling that the war with Iran is entering its final phase, even as military operations and diplomatic maneuvering continue in parallel. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington now sees “the finish line” in a conflict that has entered its fifth week, describing an Iranian state that is, ...

Israel Approves 2026 Budget with Increased Defense Spending

This is Beirut, 30/03 06:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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Israel's parliament approved the 2026 budget early Monday, providing for a significant increase in military spending as the country remains engaged in wars on multiple fronts. Lawmakers passed the budget with 62 votes in favour and 55 against. The vote averted an automatic government collapse and snap election that would have followed failure to ...

Oil Jumps, Stocks Drop on Uncertainty Over U.S.-Iran Talks

This is Beirut, 26/03 14:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Oil prices jumped and equities slid Thursday as hopes for a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran wavered after Tehran rejected Washington's bid to wind down the nearly four-week war. Markets had been buoyed this week by U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that strikes targeting Iran's energy infrastructure would be postponed, adding that ...

Turkey Relays Messages Between Washington and Tehran

This is Beirut, 26/03 11:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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A senior official in the party of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday that Turkey is relaying messages between the United States and Iran, as efforts intensify behind the scenes to contain a widening regional war. Harun Armagan, deputy head of foreign affairs in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), confirmed that Ankara ...

Hezbollah Leader Urges National Unity to Confront “Israeli-American Aggression”

This is Beirut, 25/03 15:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem called for “national unity” in Lebanon on Wednesday, framing it as essential in confronting what he described as a year-long campaign of Israeli-American aggression. In his address, Qassem presented Lebanon as facing a stark choice between “surrender” and ...

Reports of Ghalibaf–Trump Channel Trigger Political Turmoil in Tehran

This is Beirut, 25/03 12:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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Reports suggesting potential backchannel contacts between U.S. officials and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf have ignited a political storm in Tehran, exposing deep sensitivities within Iran’s leadership as the war continues. The controversy followed remarks by former U.S. President Donald Trump and subsequent ...

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

This is Beirut, 25/03 10:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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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 ...

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