This is Beirut, 29/01 19:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Iran has sent out warnings to passing ships of live-fire naval exercises expected to be conducted next week near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Associated Press. The Strait of Hormuz is a significant bottleneck in global energy supply chains, seeing 20% of global oil shipments, and would be vulnerable in the event of a conflict with ...
This is Beirut, 29/01 14:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
United Nations Houthi Palestine United States
The World Food Programme is ending the contracts of all 365 staff in Houthi-controlled Yemen, a UN official told AFP on Thursday, effectively ending operations in a zone gravely afflicted by hunger. The United Nations agency suspended work in rebel-held areas in late August after the Iran-backed Houthis detained 38 employees in a series of raids, ...
This is Beirut, 29/01 03:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
As a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group “armada” approaches the Gulf and rhetoric intensifies between the Trump administration and Iranian officials, U.S. and European officials outline three demands to Iran, according to a New York Times report on Wednesday. The Nuclear Issue One demand is to reach an agreement on the nuclear issue; ...
This is Beirut, 28/01 18:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
United States Iran Donald Trump
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced that Iran would respond strongly to any U.S. attack on the country on Wednesday in a post on X as the U.S. “armada” arrives in the Gulf. “Our brave armed forces are prepared—with their fingers on the trigger—to immediately and powerfully respond to any ...
This is Beirut, 28/01 14:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Donald Trump United States Washington
Iraq's main candidate for the premiership Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday denounced Washington's "blatant interference", after President Donald Trump threatened to end all support to the country if Maliki took the post. The US has held significant sway over Iraqi politics since leading the 2003 invasion that ousted long-time ruler ...
This is Beirut, 28/01 11:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Turkey Donald Trump Gulf Tehran United States
Turkey's foreign minister on Wednesday urged the U.S. to resolve its disputes with Iran "one by one" instead of through a sweeping deal, saying this would avoid humiliating Iranian officials, and added that Tehran was ready for talks on its nuclear programme. "If you put them as a package all of them, it will be very difficult for our Iranian ...
This is Beirut, 27/01 23:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Iraq United States Elections Nouri al-Maliki
President Trump expressed on Truth Social on Tuesday that the U.S. will cease helping Iraq if former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returns to power. Trump asserted that “because of [Nouri al-Maliki’s] insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq.” Al-Maliki was ...
Amal Chmouny, 24/01 19:40 - Reading : 7 minute(s)
United States Middle East Iran
The newly released 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) marks a dramatic pivot in American foreign policy, embracing what officials call “pragmatic realism” while fundamentally redefining U.S. engagement in the Middle East. Under an “America First” framework, the strategy moves away from large-scale military interventions in favor of ...
This is Beirut, 23/01 20:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
United States Iran Sanctions Protests
On Friday, the U.S. announced that it had imposed sanctions on nine vessels and eight entities that are part of Iran’s shadow fleet, according to a press statement from State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott. The imposition of sanctions on Iranian shadow fleet vessels is a move of U.S. escalation against the Iranian ...
This is Beirut, 23/01 09:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus Turkey United States USA
Syria said early Friday that government forces had begun transferring Kurdish fighters from a prison in the north where they had been holding Islamic State group detainees, as part of a weekend agreement. An AFP correspondent in Raqa saw buses and cars heading away from the Al-Aqtan prison on the city's outskirts overnight, escorted by ...
This is Beirut, 22/01 19:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Iran United States Trump Protests
President Donald Trump signaled a willingness to engage in dialogue with Iran in remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, while reiterating his opposition to Iran’s nuclear program. These comments came as Trump was speaking about the Gaza ‘Board of Peace,’ as he highlighted the U.S. strikes against ...
This is Beirut, 22/01 15:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The commander of US forces in the Middle East has called on Syria's president to support the transfer of thousands of jihadist prisoners from Syria to Iraq, the US military said. In a phone call on Wednesday, Admiral Brad Cooper urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to "avoid any actions that could interfere" with the process. The United States ...