Middle East

U.S. Says Iran Deployed Foreign Militias to Quell Protests
U.S. Says Iran Deployed Foreign Militias to Quell Protests

The United States said on Saturday it was concerned by reports that the Iranian regime had resorted to foreign fighters to suppress peaceful protests inside the country. In a message published in Persian on X, the U.S. State Department said that members of Hezbollah and Iraqi militias had allegedly been deployed against demonstrators. Washington ...

New Rallies in Iran as Son Of Shah Calls for City Centers to be Seized
New Rallies in Iran as Son Of Shah Calls for City Centers to be Seized

Major Iranian cities were gripped overnight by new mass rallies denouncing the Islamic republic, as the son of the ousted Shah urged protesters on Saturday to plan to seize city centers. The two weeks of protests have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although ...

Syrian Army Says Controls Aleppo District, Kurdish Forces Deny Claim
Syrian Army Says Controls Aleppo District, Kurdish Forces Deny Claim

Syria's army said it had completed a "security sweep" on Saturday of a neighborhood in Aleppo where it clashed with Kurdish forces, who denied losing control of the area after defying calls to surrender. Government forces began striking the Sheikh Maqsud district overnight after a deadline elapsed for Kurdish fighters to withdraw during a ...

Syria Army Warns Will Strike Kurdish District of Aleppo: State Media
Syria Army Warns Will Strike Kurdish District of Aleppo: State Media

Syria's army warned on Friday it would renew attacks against a Kurdish-majority district of Aleppo and urged residents to evacuate, state media reported, hours after a ceasefire was announced. The army said it would target military sites used by Kurdish fighters in the Sheikh Maqsud district, in statements published by state news agency SANA ...

Qassem: Hezbollah to Continue \
Qassem: Hezbollah to Continue "Cooperation" With LAF to Expel "Occupation"

Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday in Lebanon, where the two discussed cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces “to expel the occupation” and reconstruction efforts.  According to a statement by Hezbollah, Qassem talked about “the continuation of the ...

Iran FM Says US, Israel 'Directly Intervening' in Protests
Iran FM Says US, Israel 'Directly Intervening' in Protests

Iran's foreign minister accused the United States and Israel on Friday of fueling a growing protest movement in the country, while dismissing the possibility of direct foreign military intervention after US warnings over crackdowns on demonstrators. "This is what the Americans and Israelis have stated, that they are directly intervening ...

Egypt-Lebanon Gas Deal: Israeli Gas at the Heart of the Agreement
Egypt-Lebanon Gas Deal: Israeli Gas at the Heart of the Agreement

Two eastern Mediterranean natural gas deals announced twelve days apart highlight shifting energy dynamics amid dramatic geopolitical transformations in the region, with Lebanon aiming to benefit.  On December 17, 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a $35 billion gas deal with Egypt, describing the agreement as ...

Khamenei Says \
Khamenei Says "Arrogant" Trump Will be "Overthrown"

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday insisted that the Islamic republic would "not back down" in the face of protesters who he called "vandals" and "saboteurs", in a speech broadcast on state TV. Speaking to supporters in his first comments on the escalating protests since January 3, Khamenei said U.S. President Donald Trump's ...

Syrian President Sharaa Meets With EU Chief von der Leyen: State Media
Syrian President Sharaa Meets With EU Chief von der Leyen: State Media

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Friday, state media said, as she became the highest ranking EU official to visit since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted. After the meeting, Ursula von der Leyen said Europe would do everything possible to assist Syria's recovery and ...

Syrian Government Announces Ceasefire in Aleppo
Syrian Government Announces Ceasefire in Aleppo

Syria's defence ministry announced a ceasefire in Aleppo on Friday after days of deadly clashes between the army and Kurdish fighters forced thousands of civilians to flee. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack on Friday welcomed a ceasefire in the city of Aleppo after days of deadly fighting between the army and Kurdish fighters forced thousands of ...

Iran at the Edge: Uprising, Exhaustion, and the Fate of the Islamic Republic
AnalysisIran at the Edge: Uprising, Exhaustion, and the Fate of the Islamic Republic

Amid growing protests, Iran’s rulers face one of their most dangerous moments since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with the pillars that have long sustained the regime now visibly cracking. Protests that erupted in late December 2025 over imploded living conditions have evolved into a nationwide revolt against the ruling system itself, fueled by ...

Trump Says US Will Hit Iran 'Very Hard' if Protesters Are Killed
Trump Says US Will Hit Iran 'Very Hard' if Protesters Are Killed

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to take severe action against Iran if its authorities "start killing people" who are protesting in the country, where an economic crisis has led to mounting civil unrest, according to AFP.  "I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during ...