Browsing: Region
Talks to reach a final deal between Tehran and Washington won’t start if U.S. threats continue, Iran’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, following U.S.President Donald Trump’s threat to “finish the job” if a deal is not made.”Negotiations on final deal will not commence if threats continue. Honor your signature,” Abbas Araqchi wrote in a post on X.Araqchi’s post was referring to an interim deal signed last month by Iran and the U.S. that calls upon both sides to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. Related Story Source link
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired at least two missiles at commercial ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night, Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials.Two commercial ships suffered significant damage but had no casualties, the report said, citing a U.S. official.U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said early on Tuesday that a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile on its port side while traveling southbound about 8 nautical miles (15 km) east of Oman’s Limah, causing a fire; no casualties or environmental impact had been reported.The development comes after indirect U.S.-Iran talks ended last week without any public sign of headway toward a lasting peace, despite a 60-day ceasefire intended to create space for diplomacy following the U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered the conflict. President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States would either reach a deal with Iran or “finish the job,” renewing his threat of military action as Tehran projects defiance following the funeral of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.”Our missiles and drones are ready to fire at you,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned ships via maritime radio over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, quoting from a recording it obtained. The vessel was at the mouth of the strait, in the Gulf of Oman, when it was attacked, the WSJ said. Investors have been keeping a close eye on talks between the U.S. and Iran over the fate of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz while tracking the recovery in Gulf oil exports. Related Story Source link
Three of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s sons made a rare public appearance at his funeral Sunday, but there was still no sign of his successor and other son, Mojtaba Khamenei.Crowds of thousands filled the Grand Mosalla religious complex in Tehran for a second day to attend the ceremonies for Khamenei and four family members killed on February 28 in Israeli airstrikes based on US intelligence.As well as laying to rest the man who ruled Iran for over three-and-a-half decades, the funerals are a chance for the authorities to burnish their resilience after five weeks at war with Israel and the US.The ceremonies were marked by the appearance of Khamenei’s eldest son Mostafa and younger siblings Masoud and Meysam, all clerics. But their presence highlighted the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, named supreme leader shortly after his father’s killing but yet to appear in public.Officials have said he was wounded in the airstrikes, though the severity of his injuries remains unclear. So far he has communicated only through written statements, amid speculation he is too badly hurt or too concerned over the risks of being targeted to emerge.A funeral procession is planned for Monday in Tehran, followed by events in Qom Tuesday and in Iraq’s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, culminating in Khamenei’s burial in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday. The burial will be closely watched to see if Mojtaba Khamenei appears.The Middle East war is on hold following a ceasefire and an initial accord with the US, but both sides have warned they are ready to resume action. Vengeance was a major theme at the funerals, with mourners demanding punishment for those behind the killings. Related Story Source link
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country’s south Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. The Israeli military said Monday that it identified “four suspects” approaching the area its forces occupy in southern Lebanon who posed a threat and so “conducted a precise strike in order to remove the threat”. Israel has kept up intermittent strikes on south Lebanon, particularly in the Nabatieh area, despite the two-week-old truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives. Both sides accuse the other of violating the ceasefire. A lawmaker for Hezbollah, Ihab Hamade, denounced Monday’s strike as “a heinous crime against civilians” and blamed it “first and foremost” on the Lebanese state. His movement has been highly critical of an agreement signed last month by Lebanon and Israel aiming to pave the way for a permanent end to hostilities. The framework agreement followed an earlier deal between the United States and Iran aimed at ending the wider regional war that also established a ceasefire in Lebanon, in effect since June 21. The Israeli-Lebanese deal calls for the disarmament of the Iran-backed group, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army there, starting with two “pilot” areas, but without specifying a timeline for the pull-out. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said Monday that Israel’s occupation was preventing the Lebanese army’s deployment to the south.A statement from his office said he emphasised the need to pressure Israel to withdraw because “the occupation undermines the legitimacy of the (Lebanese) state and prevents the army from deploying, and the laying of foundations for achieving a just and lasting peace”. Source link
Iran’s ambassador to China insisted Saturday that new fees would be charged to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz an idea rejected by Washington while assuring that “friendly” nations would receive special treatment. The initial deal struck between Iran and the United States to end their war stipulated that commercial ships would transit the strait free of charge for 60 days, but it remains unclear what will be in place after that period. Iranian Ambassador Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told the World Peace Forum in Beijing that his country was working in “collaboration and cooperation” with Oman on “new arrangements” for the vital waterway. “As a country where the Hormuz is part of its territorial waters, we will definitely charge service fees,” Azli said in translated remarks, while insisting such fees would not be a “toll.” “These new arrangements will be concerning guaranteeing the security of passage through the Straits of Hormuz, supervision of the passage of the vessels… and also guaranteeing and dealing with the environmental consequences of the massive number of ships,” he said. “We will definitely consider special treatment for the countries that were friendly to us and specially stood by us during the hard times,” he added.The strait normally carries one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas, but it was all but closed by Iran during the Middle East war, sending energy prices soaring. Iran lifted its blockade of the Hormuz after it struck an initial deal with the US to end the Middle East war, and negotiations on a permanent settlement of the conflict are ongoing. Related Story Source link
Palestinian Mohammad Salameh was building a home for his family in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where his recently engaged son was meant to start married life. Instead, before construction was complete, a group of Israeli settlers seized the property.Video filmed earlier in the week and verified by Reuters showed at least six settlers moving around on the roof of the two-storey house, which sits below a nearby hill.Salameh said appeals to the Israeli military and police brought no help. Now he fears his home, which like many others in the Palestinian territory is surrounded by Israeli settlements and smaller outposts, is lost forever. Other houses in the area could suffer the same fate, he said. Israeli soldiers prevent Palestinians from returning to their homes and lands in the village of Qabalan, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, on…
In this handout photograph released by the Lebanese presidency’s press office, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (L) meets veteran Lebanese diplomat Simon Karam at the Baabda Presidential…
The Gaza war was the spark that touched off years of Middle East conflict culminating in the US-Israeli war with Iran, but as Washington and Tehran wrangle over terms for peace, the devastated territory’s fate seems largely out of mind.”Ever since the US went to war with Iran, the whole world has forgotten Gaza and its tragedy. We no longer have anyone standing by us,” Palestinian Ahmed Jamali, 53, told AFP from the displacement camp in Gaza where he lives.”We are weak and oppressed, and Israel is doing whatever it wants: killing, destroying and occupying Gaza, while no one in the world lifts a finger.”The apparent inattention paid to the Palestinian territory is all the more striking because it sits at the heart of the chain of events that plunged the region into its most dangerous confrontation in decades.Hamas’ storming of Israel triggered a devastating military response in Gaza, drawing in Tehran-backed allies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — and eventually Iran itself.What began as a local war between Israel and Hamas evolved into a regional conflict and, in turn, a direct confrontation between arch-foes Tehran and Washington.More than two-and-a-half years later, Gaza remains mired in a severe humanitarian crisis, and despite a fragile ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October 2025, efforts to bring the war to a definitive end have stalled for months.Although Iranian officials initially spoke of an agreement to end the Middle East war that would encompass the entire region, the preliminary text endorsed by Tehran and Washington last month contains no mention of Gaza.For analysts, that shows a shift in regional priorities.”It reflects Hamas’s declining strategic value in Iran’s eyes,” Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.Iran has long armed and financed Hamas as part of its “axis of resistance” — an array of regional forces opposed to Israel and the US — but the October 2023 attack appears to have fundamentally altered that relationship.”Iranians do not really care about Gaza. Hamas was an ally, not an Iranian tool,” said Israeli military expert Eado Hecht.”It betrayed them. They did not want war in autumn 2023, it was too early for them.”Michael Milshtein, another Israeli military analyst, argued that Tehran’s calculations have shifted elsewhere.”It places greater value on preserving Hezbollah as a pillar of the regional balance,” he said.The diplomatic focus has also shifted, with a growing sense of international fatigue over Gaza.”Gaza is gradually fading from international attention,” said Lovatt.One diplomat involved in negotiations described a widespread belief among governments that “most actors see the issue as insoluble in the short to medium term”.Another veteran diplomat based in Jerusalem told AFP that Gaza’s absence from the discussions reflected political paralysis rather than progress.”Gaza is absent from the agreement not because the war is over, but because no credible political framework exists for the day after,” he said.Israel insists that Hamas must fully disarm before any political transition can begin, while Hamas refuses to surrender its weapons without guarantees that an alternative Palestinian governing authority will replace it.Neither an international stabilisation force nor a credible transitional mechanism has emerged in the months since the ceasefire took effect, both of which were called for in the US-brokered framework that halted the fighting.Behind the scenes, negotiations over Gaza’s future continue in Cairo.The talks bring together Palestinian factions, including Hamas, alongside the Board of Peace set up by US President Donald Trump and regional players including Qatar and Turkey.”Trump may want to give this process a chance,” said a source close to the negotiations.”Whether it succeeds remains to be seen.”Although few details have emerged publicly, diplomatic and security sources told AFP that negotiators are working on a roadmap combining the gradual disarmament of Hamas with the creation of transitional governing authorities for Gaza.Israeli media has reported that the government would reject such a framework.”For now, this diplomatic process exists only around the negotiating table,” Lovatt said.”There has been progress, but reconstruction remains a distant prospect, and nothing is changing for the people on the ground.”With diplomacy stalled, concerns are mounting that the fighting could yet resume.Israeli media have reported military preparations for a possible summer 2026 offensive against Hamas should political negotiations fail.But military expert Hecht cautioned against assuming that contingency planning meant another war was inevitable.”Having the military opportunities is not the same as having the political opportunity,” he said.”Preparations are not the same as implementation.”Analyst Milshtein argued that Israel had little leverage left.In his view, Washington could ultimately pressure Israel to accept a phased disarmament of Hamas alongside a transitional political framework — or even to withdraw from Gaza.”Alternatively, Israel could embark on another military adventure. Given this government’s record… (it) cannot be ruled out,” Milshtein said, adding that Israeli leaders still lacked a coherent long-term strategy. Related Story Source link
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned in the strongest terms the bombing that targeted a cafe in the city of Damascus in Syria, which resulted in a number of innocent civilian casualties and left many others injured.In a statement, GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi underlined the GCC’s full solidarity with Syria in maintaining its security and stability. He reiterated the GCC’s unwavering stance rejecting all forms of violence, terrorism, and acts aimed at undermining security, peace, and stability. Source link
Syrian security forces gather at the site of an explosion at a cafe in Damascus. AFP A bomb blast at a crowded cafe in central Damascus killed at least six people and wounded 22 others Thursday, Syrian state media reported.There was no immediate claim of responsibility.An AFP correspondent saw ambulances weaving through traffic with their sirens blaring as they headed to the site, and security forces cordoned off the area of the blast.Syrian state television said an explosive device had been planted at the cafe, near the Palace of Justice in the centre of the capital.Damascus Governor Maher Idlibi said the blast was caused by a crudely made improvised explosive device (IED), according to Syrian state media.”Those responsible for this bloodshed will be punished,” he said. “Each time the country sees a period of stability, malicious parties try to destabilise it.”Videos that circulated on social media showed wounded people and blood on the floors of a cafe, purportedly the site of the blast.Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.Nour Khayyat, 40, who owns a shop selling batteries for solar panels near the site, told AFP that “at about 3pm (1200 GMT), I heard a powerful blast and the storefront shook”.”People rushed to the cafe and called ambulances,” he added.Mohammed al-Dahabi, the owner of a glasses shop next to the targeted cafe, was trembling as he described the explosion, telling AFP: “I felt strong pressure, and the whole place shook.””I ran to the place and saw people lying on the floor with blood pooled around them everywhere,” he added, saying the scenes recalled the bombings Damascus experienced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war.The attack presents another security challenge to the Syrian government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who took control after overthrowing former president Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.Assad’s ouster effectively ended more than 14 years of civil war.Damascus has witnessed a handful of security incidents since then, including a car bomb that killed one Syrian soldier and wounded at least 18 people outside the defence ministry in May.Although no group claimed responsibility for Thursday’s blast, Islamic State has sought to exploit the security vacuum created by Assad’s ouster by reactivating sleeper cells, recruiting fighters and moving weapons as the new government extends its authority across the country, security officials had said.The militant group announced earlier this year what it described as a new phase of operations against al-Sharaa’s government.The group is far weaker than when it controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq before the collapse of its self-declared caliphate in 2019.It remains, however, capable of carrying out deadly insurgency-style attacks and is viewed by Syrian, Iraqi and Western officials as one of the biggest threats to Syria’s transition.Al-Sharaa’s other opponents include Assad-era officers and soldiers.In 2025, Syria was rocked by fighting between the new government forces and insurgents from Syria’s Alawite minority, and separately between government forces and Druze gunmen. Related Story Source link