This is Beirut

How Venezuela Became America’s Next Battleground — And Why Iran Is in the Room

Salam El Zaatari, 11:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Venezuela Iran United States Hezbollah Colombia

There has been no formal declaration of war, no vote in Congress, and no rousing call to liberate a people from tyranny. Yet one of the largest U.S. military build-ups in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War is sitting a few miles off Venezuela’s coastline. Washington calls it a counter-narcotics mission. Caracas fears it is a slow-motion ...

European Intelligence: Iran Rebuilding Missile Program

This is Beirut, 29/10 21:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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Western intelligence agencies have revealed that Iran is actively rebuilding its ballistic missile program in defiance of renewed UN sanctions, with significant assistance from China, according to a CNN report. European intelligence sources said that several shipments of sodium perchlorate, a key ingredient in the solid fuel used to power ...

Iran Declares Major Private Bank Ayandeh Bankrupt Amid Mounting Debt and Sanctions

This is Beirut, 25/10 17:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Bank Ayandeh

Iran declared one of the country's largest private banks bankrupt, with its assets absorbed by the state, official media reported Saturday, in a rare move in the country grappling with international sanctions. Founded in 2012, Ayandeh Bank had a network of 270 branches across the country, including 150 in the capital, Tehran, alone. But it had ...

Assassination Casts Dark Cloud over Iraqi Elections

Seth J. Frantzman , 23/10 15:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Iran Iraq Hezbollah Baghdad

In the early hours of October 15, an IED tore through a Chevy Tahoe in Baghdad’s northern outskirts, killing Safaa al-Mashhadani, a candidate in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections. Three days later, gunmen opened fire on the office of another candidate, Muthanna al-Azzawi, 25 kilometers south of the Iraqi ...

The Shamkhani Wedding Scandal: How a Leaked Wedding Became Iran’s Mirror of Moral Collapse

Salam El Zaatari, 23/10 11:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Iran wedding Islamic Republic of Iran

In mid-October 2025, a leaked video from a private wedding set Iran ablaze, digitally, politically and morally. It wasn’t just any celebration. The footage showed the daughter of Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, one of Iran’s most powerful men and a close confidant of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, parading in a strapless white gown at the ...

One Year After Nasrallah’s Death, Hezbollah Struggles to Rebuild

This is Beirut, 20/10 13:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah Hamas Israel Hashem Safieddine lebanon Iran

A year after the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike on Beirut on September 27, 2024, Hezbollah is quietly attempting to rebuild its shattered leadership and reassert its influence. According to a detailed report by Le Figaro correspondent Georges Malbrunot, the Shia militia now operates in a state of ...

Man in Iran Executed for Spying for Israel

This is Beirut, 19/10 16:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Israel Espionnage Qom Prison

Iran executed a man convicted of spying for Israel, the Islamic Republic's arch-enemy, the judiciary's press agency announced Sunday, marking the latest in a series of such cases since a war broke out between the two countries in June. "The death penalty, imposed on a Mossad spy, was carried out Saturday morning in Qom prison," south of the ...

Art and Faith Unite in Tehran’s Virgin Mary Station

This is Beirut, 19/10 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Tehran Art Culture

Shiite Islam may be the official religion in Iran, but entering Tehran's brand-new Maryam Moghaddas metro station, you could be forgiven for feeling as if you're stepping inside a Christian church. Maryam Moghaddas in Persian translates as "Holy Mary." And the station's vaulted and arched concourse, with a dome decorated with Persian motifs, ...

Iran Says No Longer Bound by 'Restrictions' on Its Nuclear Program

This is Beirut, 18/10 13:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Iran IAEA Iran Nuclear Program

Iran said on Saturday that it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear program as a landmark 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, though Tehran reiterated its "commitment to diplomacy." The 2015 deal, signed in Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States, saw the lifting of international ...

Iran Hands Down Prison Sentences to Two French Nationals for Spying

This is Beirut, 14/10 16:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran France

Iranian authorities on Tuesday handed down lengthy prison sentences to two French nationals after convicting them on multiple charges, including spying for Israel, the judiciary said. The two unidentified French nationals were arrested in March 2023, according to the judiciary's Mizan Online website, which did not provide details on the ...

Nasser Taghvai, Iranian Cinema Pioneer and Longtime Regime Critic, Passes Away

This is Beirut, 14/10 12:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Filmmaker Nasser Taghvai Obituary Anti-censorship Iran Culture

Prominent Iranian filmmaker Nasser Taghvai, widely known for his long struggle against censorship, Taghvai has died at the age of 84, his wife said Tuesday. "Nasser Taghvai, an artist who chose the difficulty of living freely, has earned his liberation," his wife, actor Marzieh Vafamehr, wrote on Instagram. Taghvai was born on July 13, 1941 in ...

After Gaza’s Deal, A Momentum in the Region for More Peace Stability in Syria, Lebanon?

Seth J. Frantzman , 13/10 20:00 - Reading : 7 minute(s)

Lebanon Syria Gaza Hezbollah Iran Donald Trump United States

U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a peace deal to end the Gaza war has proven to be initially successful. He was able to bring together delegations from Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, and Hamas in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh in mid-October. In the wake of the deal, Trump flew to Israel and Egypt and chaired a peace summit ...

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