The profound geopolitical implications of Iran’s strikes on Israel
By Trita Parsi | June 7, 2026
The magnitude of what just happened may take some time to sink in.
This is the first time Iran has struck Israel after Israel struck another country’s territory (that is, not Iran).
This means that the battle lines have been moved.
Iran’s deterrence had already been restored in the sense that Israel knew that any strike on it would be responded to.
But now, Iran has proven that it will also respond to Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
This is the first time in decades that a regional power has the means, capacity, and willingness to put hard power against Israeli military maneuvers or aggression against a third party.
This will be particularly significant since Trump has signalled that he seeks to restrain Israel from continuing the escalation.
Trump reportedly told Israeli journalist Barak Ravid that “Hopefully Israel is not going to retaliate. If Bibi strikes them back it’s just gonna keep going like the last 47 years, or the last 3000 years.” Trump also added: “We are very close to a final deal with Iran. It is going to be a good deal. I don’t want it to blow up because of what is happening now.”
Whether this would extend to Palestine is uncertain, but if it does, it may prove a game-changer.
Israel has been able to annex territory, commit genocide and war crimes without any real consequences because the West has refused to, and no regional power has had the hard power to impose costs on Israel.
If this equation changes, the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will likely take a significant turn.
Which is why Israel will do everything it can to disallow any shift.
From a US perspective, supporting Israel at this point recommits the US to its decades-long policy of seeking to sustain a balance in the region that allows for near-complete Israeli dominance.
That policy has been extremely costly to US interests, has destabilized the region, and enabled the Israelis to get increasingly aggressive and reckless (since they face no consequences for it).
However problematic it has been, it will become far more challenging and destabilizing going forward since sustaining Israel’s dominance will necessitate continued war with Iran. This clearly contradicts US interests.
If US interests were at the center of US policy, getting out of the Middle East and its regional rivalries would be a no-brainer.
Iran fires missiles at Israel, Trump pleads for restraint
RT | June 7, 2026
Iran has fired a missile barrage at Israel in retaliation for its continuing campaign in Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group.
The attack occurred late on Sunday, following days of bombing and ground operations in southern Lebanon by the IDF, including intensive aerial bombardment of the capital, Beirut. The Israeli onslaught has continued despite the truce declared more than six weeks ago, with the attacks intensifying over the past week. Tehran has repeatedly demanded that West Jerusalem stop, making its own negotiations with the US conditional on a working ceasefire in Lebanon.
The IDF said that it identified multiple incoming projectiles and activated anti-aircraft defenses at multiple locations. Footage circulating online purports to show Iranian missiles soaring over eastern Lebanon, while some projectiles were observed from the Lebanese capital.
Iran stated that the attack was merely a “warning” to Israel and more “crushing blows” would follow should it continue with the attacks on Lebanon.
“If it expands its attacks in that region or responds to Iran’s action, it will be met with even more crushing and regrettable blows, and devastating attacks will be launched against the regime and its supporters,” Iran’s Khatim Al-Anbiya operational headquarters said in a statement circulated by local media.
Multiple media reports indicated Israel scrambled to retaliate for the attack, with some outlets suggesting it has sought greenlight from the US to strike Iran’s energy facilities. While no official reaction to the development has been provided, multiple senior Israeli officials have vowed revenge for the strikes.
“Tonight Tehran must burn!” Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on X.
US President Donald Trump has called on both sides to show restraint, telling Fox News that the Israeli attacks on Beirut were not coordinated with Washington. At the same time, he urged Tehran to stop and get back to negotiations and to strike a “deal.”
Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X that Trump told him he was calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “right now and telling him not to attack Iran in response.”
Earlier in the day, Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs without the warning usually issued by the IDF prior to attacking densely populated areas. At least two people were killed and 20 wounded in the strike on a residential building, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
After Israel strikes Beirut, Iran strikes Israel. What’s Trump’s next move?
By Trita Parsi | June 7, 2026
A fragile arrangement had been reached in Lebanon. Iran had made clear that if Israel continued to strike Lebanon, it would strike at Israel.
The US/Israeli side says that overnight, Hezbollah killed 15 Israeli soldiers. A violation of the arrangement in their view, and a sign that Iran either didn’t or couldn’t control Hezbollah.
At the same time, Israel knew that renewed attacks on Beirut, particularly Dahieh, would either force Tehran to attack or back down, while having the added benefit of further weakening US-Iran diplomacy.
Iran did not back down. An attack on Dahieh, according to the Iranians, is designed to kill as many senior Hezbollah and Iranian officials as possible. So a response was inevitable, in their view.
By now, four waves of missiles have been fired at northern Israel, Haifa, and other areas. Some of the missiles are of higher quality than the ones Iran used during the war.
Israel will strike Iran within the next few hours, and the Iranians don’t have any other expectation.
Whether the US enters the fighting actively as well, or only provides support for Israel, is the big question mark right now.
The US side is deeply frustrated that the MOU has not been signed yet and accuses the Iranians of either playing for time, overnegotiating, or being incapable of getting to yes.
The Iranians, in turn, accuse the US of constantly changing the parameters while being unwilling to release a portion of Iran’s frozen assets at the outset of the MOU as a way to prove their seriousness.
If Trump doesn’t enter the war, he will be accused of abandoning Israel. If he enters the war, he will validate that Israel has an effective veto on the negotiations and on whether the US is at war or not.
A true America First policy would have worked to extricate the US from the Israeli-Iranian rivalry.
Now more than ever, it should be clear why such an exit serves US interest.
Thomas Massie Won’t Back Down
A primary loss to the Israel Lobby seems to have only emboldened the Kentucky congressman
By Jack Hunter | The American Conservative | June 6, 2026
Thomas Massie isn’t acting like a defeated man.
After losing the most expensive primary race in American history last month, largely thanks to pro-Israel figures and groups spending millions to defeat him (according to the Federal Election Commission, Massie received donations from 1,119 individuals actually living in Kentucky, compared to only 98 for his opponent Ed Gallrein), Massie announced just days later, “I filed with FEC for the 2028 House race.”
He explained, “This allows me to raise funds to continue my political operations supporting my position as a current office holder and as a potential candidate for federal office.”
A run for the White House isn’t out of the question. “I haven’t made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run,” Massie teased.
As one of the most antiwar congressional Republicans in history this side of Ron Paul, Massie has offered consistent and vocal opposition to foreign aid including to Israel. His opposition to U.S. backing and participation in Israel’s wars in Gaza and Iran was seen as a significant factor in why he lost his primary, angering President Donald Trump and, of course, one of the country’s most powerful foreign lobbying groups.
Rather than backing down, Massie is calling these people out more than ever.
On Sunday, after the head of the Republican Jewish Coalition boasted of the $5 million his group had spent to unseat Massie, the Kentucky congressman replied, “Matt Brooks bragging that the Republican Jewish Coalition spent millions to buy a congressional seat in Kentucky… but if you observe the same thing, you’re antisemitic.”
Massie was noting that any opposition to—or mere acknowledgement of—Israel’s outsized influence in American politics is almost always labeled as antisemitism by pro-Israel advocates. Yet here was Brooks openly touting it. Neoconservative veteran John Podhoretz even celebrated the role of “Jewish money” in defeating Massie.
When Axios reported this week that Trump had reportedly unloaded on Netanyahu in an expletive-laden call, Massie weighed in with his own reality check, writing,
It’s all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month and they’ll stop bombing their neighbors—instant peace, the Strait of Hormuz can be opened, and gas drops $2 a gallon. Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest welfare recipient from American tax payers.
The libertarian-leaning Kentuckian added on Tuesday, “The more Netanyahu prevents the war with Iran from ending, the more obvious it becomes that he convinced Trump to start it.”
Massie isn’t the only prominent conservative who has stuck his neck out by vocally opposing the Iran War. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh launched a tirade against it this week, writing on Monday, “This whole sh—show has been an enormous waste of time and resources and our country has not benefited from it at all.”
Of course, the Daily Wire is home to Ben Shapiro, one of the most pro-Israel voices on the American right. Replying to Walsh, Massie chimed in, “I hope you get to keep your job after this post.”
When talk host and rabid Zionist Mark Levin insisted on Sunday, “I make NO apologies for my support of Israel, the Persian people, Ukraine, and Taiwan! Period!”, America First Massie had this response: “Great! Write a personal check. Americans are tired of sending them tax dollars while our own infrastructure crumbles and prices soar.”
This kind of banter with neocons is nothing new for Massie, but there does seem to be something extra in his standard fearlessness now, including with regard to his efforts to declassify the controversial files of the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, files which the administration would strongly prefer to bury. The president, under intense pressure, signed off on their release in November.
After the podcaster and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly asked podcaster Shawn Ryan what “core MAGA” was now, Ryan replied, “I have no idea. Pedophiles Supporting Israeli Lobby?”
Massie shared that clip, asking “What’s MAGA now?”
He’s not just striking a new pose online. After Responsible Statecraft last Friday revealed a shocking plan to integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries, Massie and his frequent Democratic ally Rep. Ro Khanna of California pounced. Massie posted, “If the provision in the NDAA to integrate/synchronize the U.S. and Israeli militaries (section 224) makes it out of committee, I’ll offer an amendment to strip it from the bill on the floor.”
“We are a sovereign country,” Massie insisted.
Khanna shared Massie’s post, writing, “And I will be offering an amendment in the committee itself to strip section 224 out.” The California congressman added, “Trump can’t kill the Massie/Khanna partnership no matter how much he posts on Truth Social.”
Two weeks since a Trump-endorsed and AIPAC-backed candidate defeated Massie, the president still seems obsessed with him—and with former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Tucker Carlson, and other America Firsters—something that could get even more interesting given that Massie still has seven more months in office. Greene was pressured out of her Georgia House seat by the president, but in retirement has remained a force in politics, arguably even a greater one than she was in office.
Massie, for his part, is using his remaining time in Congress to advance an America First agenda. He even introduced legislation to block U.S. bombs from being sent to Israel. “Israel has used American-supplied munitions to kill tens of thousands of innocent civilians,” Massie observed. “America is morally obligated to end support of Israel’s devastation of Gaza and its people. I’m cosponsoring the Block the Bombs Act to limit the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel.”
As if that wasn’t enough, on Wednesday Massie again broke party ranks, along with three other Republicans, by joining Democrats to pass the Iran War Powers Resolution, which he cosponsored. “The People’s House is sending a message: end this war,” he wrote.
The hits keep coming. On Thursday, Massie announced that he will address a controversial attack by Israeli forces on an American ship on the event’s 59th anniversary. Massie wrote, “On June 8, 2026, I’ll speak on the floor of the House to honor and memorialize the brave crew of the USS Liberty who died and were wounded in an unprovoked attack by Israel on June 8, 1967.”
He’s obviously not cowering or giving an inch to the figures and groups that worked so hard and spent so much to beat him.
Megyn Kelly has reported that an estimated $30 million was spent by pro-Israel forces to defeat Massie. What dollar amount would that lobby be willing to cough up should Massie decide to run for president?
Again, Thomas Massie doesn’t look or talk like someone who just lost. He acts more like someone who’s just getting started.
He just might be.
At which point will we begin to call Bibi president of the U.S.?
By Martin Jay | Strategic Culture Foundation | June 6, 2026
How will the Trump years in office play out in the history books? Recently, a number of unthinkable scenarios have taken place which will mark Trump and 2026 out as a seismic watershed moment in America’s history which will change the country’s identity and standing in the world forever. The decision by Trump to strike Iran on February 28th was remarkable in that it was a decision that Trump more or less took while disregarding his chief of staff and most of the cabal of decision makers around him, in preference for what Israel was insisting was a quick, winnable weekend war.
If we are to believe the explosive expletives though which were delivered by Trump to Netanyahu in a telephone call, it would appear that the greatest nightmare the world has about America – that it is run entirely these days by Israel – has come true. The anger and frustration by Trump might be real, even though what was reported might have been exaggerated for political purposes but the reality is that Israel is blocking any deal that Trump might believe he can pull off with Iran. And worse than just blocking it, based on Netanyahu’s statement about Lebanon, Bibi has not “turned back” IDF troops from making the south of Lebanon a new Gaza. The killing goes on, the systematic destruction of property and the war with Hezbollah has not been halted which puts Trump in an even tighter corner than he might have imagined he was in just a couple of weeks ago. He himself is unable to strike Iran as GCC partners have critically denied his military the support it would need, but in reality those governments and their elites – in particular MbS of Saudi Arabia – have played the safety lever role on Trump’s madness that Washington couldn’t pull off itself. Trump’s firing of all chiefs of staff from Biden’s days and surrounding himself with under qualified yes men has resulted in Trump himself being able to cultivate the maddest ideas and it is only leaders of the middle east who can tell him no. Enough is enough.
Presently, what we are witnessing in the region is the division of GCC countries – those who are allied to Israel via the Abraham Accords – and those who have formed a new anti Israel alliance with its own nuclear deterrent, a group made up of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan which doesn’t have a name but is now an informal pact.
And in the middle of all this madness, comes more. Now we are hearing plans for Israel to move ahead with plans which would guarantee its annual 3.8 bn USD military gift from the U.S. for the next 20 years, shrouded in even more secrecy through a bill in congress which would essentially merge the Israeli government with the Washington apparatus making the IDF one with the U.S. military.
This fusion of the IDF and U.S. forces comes when Israel is sensing that future governments and congress will demand more accountability of how the annual defence gratuity is spent and Israel’s intentions in future wars. It also comes when public opinion seems to be against America’s support for Israel and its regional goals.
For example, according to Al Jazeera, a survey this month from The New York Times and Siena College found that 57 percent of U.S. voters opposed providing Israel with additional economic and military support.
Moreover, 62 percent said they disapproved of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza, which started in 2023, has killed more than 75,000 people, prompting widespread condemnation, Al Jazeera claims.
There is some kickback from both houses against the so called Section 244 although those who have opposed it have predictably been called ‘anti semitic’.
But the very fact that Israel is using its leverage with congressmen which it has on its payroll to push through a bill which would ‘co-ordinate’ all military action that both the U.S. and Israel are involved in shows just how advanced Israel is with its absolute control of Washington. We’ve reached a new high-water mark of servility and it’s the Trump second term which has been a catalyst to this new world order which is going to make any deal with Iran even harder – first of all to get signed, but more importantly to implement, which of course the Iranians know, which explains their lethargic pace in the negotiations compared to Trump’s panicky buffoonery.
To Trump’s credit, he at least presented some resistance to U.S. forces being sent to their deaths when Israel turned up the heat and insisted on getting dug into a longer, drawn out deeper conflict with Iran. Sceptics rush to point out that Israel will only use a closer union to sell on the open market all of America’s military secrets, the bigger point is being over looked. If this article 244 gets through, it will only be a matter of time before an Israeli PM can simply order U.S. troops to fight any battle it wants. The days of heated arguments, threats or even blackmail will be looked back upon almost nostalgically as a golden era where a U.S. president still had the final call on whether to send in American troops. Netanyahu’s identity for three decades has been built on him bragging that he and Israel have been running America but the claim has been largely uncontested until now. Are we now about to enter a new phase?
US Military: Who’s Pulling the Strings? /Lt Col Daniel Davis
Daniel Davis / Deep Dive – June 4, 2026
Trump’s call to Bibi probably didn’t happen
By Martin Jay | Strategic Culture Foundation | June 4, 2026
Donald Trump’s explosive telephone call to Benjamin Netanyahu has taken the internet by storm. But can we really believe it’s true?
Can we believe what we have just witnessed with the explosive telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu? According to Washington insiders who provide no concrete evidence of the call, Trump exploded with rage over the telephone with Bibi shortly after Iran pulled out entirely from the so-called peace talks – after Israel continued its bombing and illegal invasion of Lebanon.
Indeed, it was reported that Israel had actually cancelled air strikes on Lebanon at the request of Trump, as he tries to bring Iran back to the negotiating table – or so the British pro-Israel broadsheet The Telegraph presents it.
According to The Telegraph, the U.S. president phoned Benjamin Netanyahu on the evening of June 1st after Iran walked away from peace talks and said it would return only if Israel ceased its attacks on Lebanon and Gaza.
Apparently, the call was so heated that a number of swear words were used by Trump, followed by threats – indicating, if we are to believe the call took place, that Trump is really desperate to get out of the Iran war, a war he started because he was talked into it by Israel’s intelligence chiefs.
One U.S. official told Axios that Mr Trump told Mr Netanyahu that following through on his plans to bomb Lebanon would further isolate Israel on the global stage, adding that he thought Netanyahu was “crazy”. Two sources went further and recalled how Trump claimed that he had helped keep the Israeli prime minister out of jail – a reference to Mr Netanyahu’s ongoing graft trial.
Summarising the U.S. president’s remarks, a Washington official said: “You’re f—ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your a–. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
A second source briefed on the call said Trump was “p—-” and at one point yelled at Mr Netanyahu: “What the f— are you doing?”
Yet was any of what was reported the truth? Given that the outlets reporting on the call are Zionist, it begs the question: why would they report on something which is so damaging to the Israeli prime minister and hardly paints Trump in a good light either?
One answer might be that the whole call was staged and leaked to the press in a bid to regain the confidence of the Iranians, who lack motivation to move forward in the talks as they trust nothing that comes from the American side. Another possibility is that Western consumers of media are being prepared for a huge false flag attack, and the architects of such a plan believe that reasserting Trump over Netanyahu is a good move. Of course, a third scenario is that it really did happen, and it was a tactic for Trump to leak the essence of the call to the press in a desperate bid to claw back some credibility, given that he is looking so foolish and very much under the thumb of Netanyahu. In this last scenario, it doesn’t necessarily ring true that the dog and its tail have been restored to their correct positions, in terms of who tells whom what to do on the foreign stage.
However, we cannot ignore the fact that Israel has stopped bombing Lebanon for the moment, which would indicate that Trump is trying his best to get a deal with Iran. Lebanon for the time being seems to be playing a pivotal role in the entire Iran war, although it is likely that most of the information Trump is being given is tailored to what he wants to hear, rather than the truth. In the Oval Office, he announced that no ships are getting through the blockade when, on the same day, 24 ships got through escorted by the Iranians – as well as announcing that nearly all of Iran’s missile production had been taken out (which couldn’t be further from the truth). Given the amount of lies and fantasies being produced on Trump’s side, it’s not hard to not take the Bibi telephone call seriously. The only real test of whether Trump is really calling the shots now is whether Israel will continue to disrupt any deals that he tries to put together. Whether the call was genuine or not is less important than what those who presented it to the press are attempting to pull off: a recalibration of the working relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
For the moment, the internet has gone into overdrive with the creativity you might expect, even animating the call itself with AI. While it is true that Trump in many ways has saved Netanyahu, for the moment, from being netted by the judiciary on corruption charges, it seems far-fetched that Trump would tell him everyone hates him. If only that were true. If you struggle to doubt the authenticity of the call, then simply ask yourself: if Trump were to call Bibi and give him a real piece of his mind, how would you fantasize that call might go?
Iran moved to change the US-Iran equation yesterday
By Trita Parsi | June 3, 2026
Over the past eight or so days, the US has targeted Iranian vessels as well as targets on the Iranian mainland. This included non-Iranian oil vessels. In essence, this was the US seeking to escalate the blockade of the blockade.
At first, Iran’s response was proportional. The US could tolerate that response.
In fact, it was beneficial to the US to continue the exchange of blows but keep them relatively limited, as it would slowly but surely erode Iran’s deterrence without imposing intolerable costs on the US.
But yesterday, Iran moved to change that equation.
After the US struck a Botswana-flagged tanker as part of Trump’s blockade, the Iranians counter-escalated disproportionally.
Tehran struck Kuwait International Airport as well as a US base in Kuwait, Ali Al-Salem.
It struck the 5th Fleet facilities in Bahrain. (Full extent of damage unknown.)
It struck Jordan. (Full extent of damage unknown.)
It struck northern Iraq. (Full extent of damage unknown.)
It struck the UAE. (Full extent of damage unknown.)
It struck the Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. (Full extent of damage unknown.)
It was a demonstration – and reminder – that Tehran retains escalation dominance.
Whereas the US is comfortable with either a possible deal or a low-level exchange of fire, but not a return to full-scale war, Tehran is comfortable with a possible deal or a full-scale war, but not with a low-level exchange of fire that erodes Iran’s deterrence and allows for Trump’s “blockade of the blockade” to become effective.
The area where both can actually be comfortable is some sort of a deal. Reaching it, however, is a different story.
Persian Gulf Strait Authority says it processed 300+ transit requests since May
Press TV – June 1, 2026
More than 300 non-Iranian vessels, mostly oil tankers, have submitted their information to secure a safe passage permit from the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) since the entity began its operations in early May, the PGSA announced in a post on X on Tuesday.
The majority of these requests came from outbound ships, which accounted for 77 percent of the total applications. Inbound ships made up the remaining 23 percent.
The PGSA noted that the primary destinations for outbound vessels have been Asian countries, particularly China and India, while the main destination for inbound ships has been the United Arab Emirates.
Iran established the PGSA following the imposition of its sovereign regulatory framework for maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
According to the PGSA, the authority does not have the power to issue permits for ships from hostile countries.
The move comes as Washington has attempted to prevent Iran from exercising its sovereign rights in the strait.
On May 27, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the PGSA, accusing the body of funnelling revenue from a toll system to the IRGC.
The PGSA has dismissed the sanctions as an extension of Washington’s “failed” attempts to dominate the waterway, stating that it “considers being sanctioned by a country whose president boasts about piracy to be a sign of its positive performance”.
IRGC Navy strikes US-Israeli cargo ship MSC Sariska in retaliation for attack on Iranian vessel
Press TV – June 2, 2026
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has struck the giant cargo ship MSC Sariska, affiliated with the American‑Zionist enemy, with a cruise missile in a reciprocal operation after a US attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Sea of Oman.
The IRGC Navy’s public relations department announced on Tuesday that the strike was a direct response to the “aggressive and treacherous attack” by the US military on the Iranian bulk carrier Lian Star.
“In response to the aggressive attack by the terrorist and child‑killing US army on the Iranian vessel Lian Star in the Sea of Oman, the IRGC Navy conducted a reciprocal operation and struck the MSC Sariska with a cruise missile,” the statement said, as carried by Sepah News.
The MSC Sariska, a Panamanian‑flagged vessel, was targeted near Iraqi waters and sustained a major explosion.
The IRGC Navy warned that any further aggression by the US army in the region will be met with a decisive response.
On Friday, a US aircraft fired an AGM‑114 Hellfire missile at the engine room of the bulk carrier Lian Star, disabling the vessel.
The Lian Star is a commercial vessel that was operating in international waters when it was targeted.
Iran has accused the United States of an act of state‑sponsored maritime terrorism.
The exchange comes amid heightened tensions in the strategic waters of the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
The United States and Israel launched a war of aggression against Iran on February 28, assassinating the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and striking civilian and military infrastructure.
A Pakistan‑brokered ceasefire has been in place since early April, but Washington has continued to enforce a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran has repeatedly stated that it will not tolerate any violation of its sovereignty and that any act of aggression will be met with a proportionate and forceful response.
The IRGC Navy has maintained full control over the Strait of Hormuz and has warned that any interference by foreign military forces will be met with immediate retaliation.
Iran halts talks with US – media
RT | June 1, 2026
Iran has halted negotiations with the US over the ongoing Israeli offensive in Lebanon, moving to block maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim news agency has reported, citing sources.
Israel has intensified its bombing campaign in Lebanon in recent days, against what it describes as sites used by the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli military has pushed deeper into the country’s south, seizing Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old Crusader fortress and a key vantage point in the region.
While Iran made an end to the war in Lebanon a condition for its Pakistani-mediated negotiations with the US, the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued despite a supposed ceasefire announced in mid-April.
In response to the escalation in Lebanon, Tehran is stopping the “negotiations and exchange of messages through a mediator,” according to Tasnim.
Iran has reportedly demanded an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in the country, as well as in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, making it a condition for continuing the contacts with the US.
Tehran and its regional allied groups have also expressed readiness to seal off the Strait of Hormuz, as well as to “activate other fronts,” including disrupting maritime traffic in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to the agency.
