By Shahrokh Saei 

Peace on paper, fire on the ground: Trump’s seven-nation strikes in 2025

TEHRAN – Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Donald Trump has tried to cast himself as a peacemaker, insisting that his second term has brought an end to conflicts that long tied down the United States abroad. He has spoken of breaking with what he calls America’s era of “endless wars,” presenting his foreign policy as restraint, not intervention.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Lebanon in 2025: A nation adrift in chaos and defiance

BEIRUT —2025 offered no respite for Lebanon. Fleeting moments of calm only exposed deeper rot gnawing at the state’s foundations. Institutions crumble under chronic mismanagement, while political forces wallow in disarray. 

By staff writer 

Saudi ‘red line’ and UAE’s adventurism in Yemen

TEHRAN – Saudi Arabia has framed its national security as a “red line,” warning it will act decisively against any foreign military support for separatist groups in Yemen.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Detention of Jordanian journalist Mohammad Faraj and erosion of free expression

BEIRUT—As 2025 draws to a close, the continued detention of Jordanian journalist and political writer Mohammad Faraj remains unresolved and deeply troubling.

By Garsha Vazirian

Six countries, three seas, one voracious war machine

A year of Tel Aviv’s fear doctrine—sovereignty dismantled across six nations, maritime terror targeting humanitarian aid

TEHRAN – In 2025, Israel acted as a borderless war machine, unleashing over 10,631 military attacks across six nations—Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Qatar—while extending its brutality to maritime terrorism against aid ships in the waters of Malta, Greece, and Tunisia.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Yemen and mirage of Somaliland: Sovereignty, deterrence, and battle over the Red Sea

BEIRUT—The renewed focus on the so-called “Somaliland” is not an isolated African issue but a deliberate geopolitical maneuver tied to the security of the Red Sea and the balance of power in West Asia.

By staff writer 

Al-Houthi’s warning: A red line for Israel in Somaliland

TEHRAN – The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah has declared that any Israeli presence in Somaliland will be treated as a “military target,” framing Israel’s recent recognition of the breakaway region as an act of aggression against Somalia, Yemen, and the wider Red Sea corridor. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s remarks underscore the seriousness with which Yemen’s resistance movement views Tel Aviv’s latest geopolitical maneuver, and highlight the broader struggle over sovereignty and control in one of the world’s most strategic maritime zones.

By staff writer 

The masked voice lives on: Abu Obaida and Gaza’s unyielding resistance

TEHRAN – The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has confirmed that its armed wing spokesperson, Abu Obaida, and then Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar were martyred in Israel’s genocidal war earlier this year. The announcement came in a prerecorded address by the newly appointed spokesman of the Izz al Din al Qassam Brigades, who vowed that the blood of the martyrs would only strengthen the resolve of the resistance.

By Shahrokh Saei 

Fanning the flames: How US arms sales destabilize Taiwan and violate China’s sovereignty

TEHRAN – China’s decision to impose countermeasures on U.S. military-linked companies and senior executives is neither impulsive nor symbolic. It is a calibrated response to Washington’s latest and most provocative escalation on the Taiwan question: an unprecedented $11.1 billion arms package to China’s Taiwan region. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

How a technical committee has turned into a strategic threat to Lebanon

BEIRUT—What was introduced after the November 27, 2024 ceasefire as a purely technical arrangement has gradually evolved into a mechanism with political and security implications that extend far beyond its stated purpose. 

By staff writer

Is the UAE sailing Israel’s ship in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea?

TEHRAN – The United Arab Emirates has long sought to project itself as a modern, pragmatic power, striking a balance between economic dynamism and regional influence. Yet its deepening partnership with Israel reveals a trajectory that is less about stability and more about embedding Israeli interests into fragile states. From southern Yemen to Somaliland and Sudan, Abu Dhabi’s actions increasingly resemble those of a proxy, enabling Israel’s ambitions in one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors.

By Somaye Morovati

Strategic significance of Bin Zayed’s visit to Pakistan

TEHRAN - The official visit of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on December 26, 2025, may at first glance be interpreted as a ceremonial bilateral engagement between two countries bound by longstanding and “brotherly” relations.

By Shahrokh Saei 

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland: Power play or Gaza expulsion plot?

TEHRAN – Israel’s recognition of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland has triggered fierce backlash across Africa, the Arab world, and beyond. At the same time, the move has brought Israel’s underlying motives into sharper focus, raising questions about regional security, international law, and the fate of Palestinians in Gaza.

By Sondoss Al Asaad

Gradual erosion of Christian presence in post-war Syria

BEIRUT—In the aftermath of Syria’s prolonged conflict, the question facing the country’s Christian communities is no longer one of political alignment, but of survival itself. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Kidnapping of Lebanese officer: Growing suspicions and unanswered questions

BEIRUT — Political and media discourse surrounding the abduction of former General Security officer Ahmad Shukr has intensified claims that he was forcibly taken into the occupied Palestinian territories.

By staff writer 

Syria under the weight of Israel’s occupation

TEHRAN – Israel continues its military strikes in southern Syria nearly a year after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Western-backed interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.

By Shahrokh Saei

Trump’s Nigeria attack: Evangelical politics weaponized against reality

TEHRAN – The United States carried out strikes in northwestern Nigeria on Christmas Day, nearly two months after President Donald Trump warned he might intervene militarily, accusing the West African nation of failing to stop attacks against Christian communities.

By Wesam Bahrani 

Gaza truce turns to strategic impasse

TEHRAN – The resistance in Gaza is fighting a battle guided by a logic of achievable deterrence. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad

Implications for Yemen’s prisoner exchange

BEIRUT—A historic breakthrough has emerged in Yemen’s humanitarian landscape with the signing of an agreement to release 1,700 prisoners from the army and popular committees in exchange for 1,200 detainees from the opposite side, including seven Saudis and 23 Sudanese.

By Shahrokh Saei 

Greenland: Trump’s empire dream in the Arctic

TEHRAN – Diplomatic tensions between Europe and the United States have flared once again, this time over President Donald Trump’s renewed desire to take over Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory. His words— “We must have it”—echo less like policy and more like possession, as though the Arctic island were a prize to be claimed rather than a people with rights and sovereignty.

By Wesam Bahrani 

The fragility of Israeli security 

TEHRAN – The reality of the Israeli regime’s security doctrine is that it has long remained fragile and vulnerable.

By staff writer 

A ceasefire that bleeds: Gaza war repackaged as peace

TEHRAN – The October 10 ceasefire in Gaza was sold to the world to signal that Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave had finally stopped. In reality, it may be one of the most effective political tools yet devised to keep the machinery of destruction running while convincing the international community that peace has arrived. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Lebanon’s phantom prince: A political scandal beyond ordinary fraud

How a fraudulent Saudi envoy swindled Lebanon’s elite

BEIRUT—Lebanon is no stranger to political scandal, but few incidents rival the intrigue of the case now known locally as the “Phantom Saudi Prince” affair.