Middle Orient

Hezbollah and Amal are already manipulating where donor funding goes and who gets credit for reconstruction, so Washington and its partners should coordinate ways to bypass them before the country’s wider reconstruction effort begins in earnest—starting with the first batch of “pilot zones.” In recent weeks, U.S. policy toward Lebanon …

Key Takeaways Iran has launched a concerted effort in recent days to more aggressively target US naval forces, likely to degrade the United States’ willingness and ability to continue enforcing the US naval blockade on Iranian ports. US officials warned that Iran may be using “more sophisticated weapons” to target …

Grand Mufti Hassoun’s life sentence has opened the book on religious co-option. Will anyone turn the page?In sentencing Ahmad Hassoun to life imprisonment, the judges cited his abuse of office for personal enrichment and incitement to violence. But Hassoun was not a black sheep. He was part of a system …

Ben Sales, du Times of Israel, évoque le «moment d’Israël en Amérique latine»1. Il soutient que «Jérusalem capitale d’Israël est une idée accueillie avec enthousiasme par des dirigeants latinos de droite (sic), désireux de suivre l’exemple de la Maison Blanche, de gagner le soutien des électeurs évangéliques (mégasic !) et …

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said the nuclear reactor in Syria was close to completing in 2007, before Israeli fighter jets destroyed it, was the type of reactor capable of rapidly producing fissile material that could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons. Grossi said on Monday, September …

The escalation on the ground between the internationally recognized Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, and the Tehran-backed Ansar Allah (Houthi) group continues. The state-run Saba news agency reported on Monday, September 7, that the Yemeni army was able to control advanced strategic sites and areas where Houthi forces …

Le conflit entre la Turquie et Israël s’intensifie, passant du plan diplomatique et économique au domaine judiciaire. À l’heure actuelle, la Turquie a non seulement bloqué tous les canaux commerciaux et économiques avec Israël, mais elle a également engagé des poursuites contre Netanyahou et 35 autres hauts responsables israéliens devant …

Dans ce qui subsiste de la bande de Gaza, après qu’Israël a pris le contrôle de vastes étendues de territoire et contraint des centaines de milliers de personnes à des déplacements répétés, on craint de plus en plus que la crise humanitaire n’entre dans une phase encore plus dangereuse. La …

Key Takeaways: Trump and Treasury Secretary Bessent say Hormuz could be “worthless” in about two years as oil moves by land—pipelines and, for now, thousands of trucks on a 1,500 km Iraq–Syria run to Baniyas. Analysts call that rhetoric. Energy Aspects’ Richard Bronze and former NSC official Robert McNally: extra …

Key Takeaways: On 6 September Mohsen Rezaei said Iran will soon declare a new “exclusion zone” in the Gulf and Gulf of Oman: ships heading toward Hormuz without coordinating with Tehran could be blacklisted, hitting insurance and future passage. No map, date, or legal definition yet. He claims the strait …