This is Beirut 14:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday acknowledged the economic demands of protesters in Iran, where demonstrations have spread to more than two dozen cities, even as he warned there would be no quarter for "rioters." But Khamenei nonetheless warned that while "authorities must have dialogue with protesters, it is useless to have ...
This Is Beirut 00:05 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Syria Lebanon AssadRegime AhmadAl-Sharaa
As Syria tries to stabilize after years of devastating war, a new and unsettling narrative has emerged: claims that remnants of Bashar al-Assad’s former regime command an armed force of up to 168,000 fighters, allegedly preparing for renewed confrontation. The figure, revealed through leaked documents and intercepted communications obtained ...
Natasha Metni Torbey 02/01 17:35 - Reading : 7 minute(s)
Iran economic crisis protests Mullahs Donald Trump Islamic Republic
In Iran, today’s protests are no longer a part of a long series of crises that the Islamic Republic has, over decades, contained through repression, intimidation, or external distraction. This is different: a deep, gradual, but now unmistakably visible erosion of the regime’s symbolic, ideological, and psychological foundations. This ...
This is Beirut 02/01 16:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Saudi Arabia Yemen Houthis United Arab Emirates
Yemen's UAE-backed separatists said they were fighting a critical war against Islamists and Al-Qaeda extremists supported by Saudi Arabia, their military spokesman said on Friday. "This war is decisive and existential," Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Al-Naqib said in a statement, after the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes and ...
This is Beirut 02/01 15:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Seven separatist fighters died in air strikes Friday as the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen hit back against a sweeping advance by the UAE-backed Southern Transition Council that threatens to spiral into a major confrontation. The deaths are the first from coalition fire since the secessionist STC seized swathes of Hadramawt and Mahra provinces last ...
This is Beirut 02/01 11:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Trump Iran Protests IranProtests USPolitics
President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States is "locked and loaded" to respond if Iran kills protesters, after cost-of-living demonstrations in the country turned deadly. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that "if Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come ...
This is Beirut 02/01 11:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Hezbollah Turkey Nawaf Salam Donald Trump Lebanese Army
Lebanese ministerial officials say Hezbollah on Wednesday received “last-chance advice” from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey to hand over its weapons to Lebanon’s government, according to the Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. According to the sources, the countries warned the militant group that failing to disarm would isolate ...
This is Beirut 02/01 09:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Iran’s official defense export agency is offering to sell ballistic missiles, drones, and other advanced weapons systems to foreign governments in exchange for cryptocurrency and barter, Financial Times reported on Thursday. The Ministry of Defense Export Center (Mindex) is the export arm of Iran’s defense ministry. The site offers ...
This is Beirut 02/01 09:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Europe Tehran United States USA
Protesters and security forces clashed in several Iranian cities on Thursday, with six reported killed, the first deaths since the cost-of-living demonstrations broke out. The protests began on Sunday in Tehran, where shopkeepers went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, and have since spread to other parts of the country. On ...
Bassam Abou Zeid 2025-12-31 19:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Hezbollah Lebanese Army Disarmament United States
By the last day of 2025, the Lebanese government was expected to have completed the disarmament of Hezbollah nationwide, following a decision made at a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace on August 5. The official statement tasked the Lebanese Army with drawing up an operational plan to restore the monopoly of weapons exclusively to the ...
Amal Chmouny 2025-12-31 17:10 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Lebanon Washington Donald Trump Lebanese Army Amal
Heading into 2026, U.S. engagement in Lebanon has become explicitly conditioned on measurable progress toward Hezbollah’s disarmament, marking a clear break from the strategic ambiguity that long defined Washington’s approach. The aftermath of the 2024 Israel–Hezbollah conflict, alongside Lebanon’s deepening economic and political crises, ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-31 15:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Israel European Union Hamas United Nations Gaza NGO
Israel has said that 37 aid organizations will be banned from operating in Gaza starting on Thursday unless they comply with its new guidelines requiring detailed information on Palestinian staff. "They refuse to provide lists of their Palestinian employees because they know, just as we know, that some of them are involved in terrorism or linked ...