By Wesam Bahrani 

Rafah crossing: Symbolic gesture or start of a new era? 

TEHRAN – After two years of closure, the Rafah land crossing has once again come into the spotlight. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

When survival becomes a target: Lebanon faces U.S.–backed Israeli aggression

BEIRUT— As tensions continue to rise across West Asia, Lebanon’s political scene is increasingly shaped not by its internal files, but by the shadow of a wider regional confrontation. 

By staff writer 

Olmert’s belated confession: When ‘ethnic cleansing’ enters Israel’s political vocabulary

TEHRAN – Ehud Olmert’s recent article describing a “violent and criminal attempt at ethnic cleansing” in the occupied West Bank reads less like a revelation than a confession delivered far too late. What makes his words notable is not that they uncover a hidden reality, but that they strip away the last remnants of plausible deniability from within Israel’s own political establishment. Palestinians, human rights organizations, and international observers have documented these crimes for decades. Olmert’s intervention matters only because it confirms that those at the very center of Israeli power have long known exactly what was happening.

Israel’s post-ceasefire strategy: Systematic obstruction of reconstruction in Southern Lebanon

TEHRAN – Since the November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israel has repeatedly violated the truce, turning what was meant to be a moment of relief for southern Lebanon into yet another chapter of fear, uncertainty, and displacement. What should have been the beginning of reconstruction has instead become a continuation of destruction.

The gap between ceasefire claims and reality in Gaza

TEHRAN – For many Palestinians, the word “ceasefire” has become little more than a diplomatic illusion amid Israel’s unrelenting strikes in the Gaza Strip. Since a truce was announced in October, Israeli attacks have killed more than 500 Palestinians in Gaza.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Israel’s multi-front war on Lebanese lives, health, and economic survival

BEIRUT — Lebanon has been moving through one of its most sensitive moments in recent months, where military diplomacy, Israeli escalation, and internal fragility intersect dangerously. 

By Wesam Bahrani 

U.S. opposition to al-Maliki: Political and economic pressure on Iraq

TEHRAN – President Donald Trump’s warning to withhold U.S. support if Nouri al-Maliki returns as Iraq’s prime minister goes beyond personal criticism.

By Sondoss Al Asaad

Women as currency: Epstein files and the moral fraud of the Western order

BEIRUT — The renewed release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein has been framed in Western corporate media as a triumph of transparency and accountability.

The choreography of cruelty: Rafah's ‘trial’ reopening and the performance of siege

TEHRAN – The Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt reopened on Sunday “on a trial basis” after being nearly completely sealed for more than two years under the Israeli blockade. The limited reopening, announced by Israeli authorities, underscores the ongoing control Israel exercises over Palestinian life, even amid a so-called ceasefire.

Trump’s tower of deceit: Epstein’s files pull back the curtain

Over three million pages of DOJ files fuel critical allegations, placing the U.S. president at the heart of Epstein's elite sex scandal network

TEHRAN – The newest release of the Epstein files has once again pulled U.S. President Donald Trump, along with a long list of powerful figures, into the center of a story that refuses to fade. The U.S. Department of Justice — the federal agency responsible for enforcing the law and overseeing the FBI — published more than three million pages of documents, along with thousands of images and videos, on Friday. What emerged is a portrait of Epstein’s world that is both familiar and newly disturbing: a network of wealth, secrecy, and influence that stretched across politics, entertainment, business, and even intelligence circles.

By Wesam Bahrani 

Rafah border crossing: What the reopening reveals about Israel’s next moves

TEHRAN – The scheduled opening of the Rafah border crossing on Sunday is another sign of the Israeli regime’s larger scheme. 

Self-defense or slaughter: U.S. arms drive Israel’s Gaza carnage

TEHRAN – The United States has approved more than $6.6 billion in new arms sales to Israel even as Israeli forces continue to violate a Washington-brokered ceasefire announced in October last year. The State Department confirmed that Israel will receive 30 Apache attack helicopters and other U.S.-made military vehicles, despite the fact that these same systems have been repeatedly used against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

How is Washington’s oil-first strategy redrawing Libya’s geopolitical map?

BEIRUT — The recent visits of Massad Boulos, adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump for the Middle East and African affairs, to Tripoli and Benghazi have ignited intense debate inside Libya.

‘Horrific massacres against civilians’: Israel kills dozens of Palestinians in a single day

TEHRAN – Israeli warplanes launched a new wave of air raids across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing dozens of Palestinians in yet another blatant violation of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. 

By Shahrokh Saei 

China leads the agenda: Xi–Starmer talks highlight the limits of US unilateralism

TEHRAN — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to China has highlighted a broader shift in global diplomacy, showcasing the contrast between nations willing to engage Beijing and the unilateral approach pursued by US President Donald Trump. 

By Wesam Bahrani 

Trump’s threats against Iraq could backfire

TEHRAN – The U.S. president’s aggressive rhetoric about Iraq’s political future may ultimately produce the opposite of its intended effect.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Lebanon’s 2026 budget: A state between social anger, political confusion, and regional fire

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Parliament has approved the 2026 state budget by 59 votes in favor, 34 against, and 11 abstentions, closing three turbulent days of debate that exposed far more than fiscal disagreements.