By Sondoss Al Asaad 

From ceasefire to coercion: How Lebanon is dragged into a surrender framework

BEIRUT — What is unfolding around Lebanon’s so–called “ceasefire oversight mechanism” is not a misunderstanding nor a technical dispute—it is a deliberate campaign of pressure. 

By Shahrokh Saei 

Trump’s second term: Thunder at home, flames abroad

TEHRAN — One year after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the national mood is uneasy. Polls show that half of Americans believe the economy has worsened under Trump’s leadership, and his approval rating remains stubbornly low.

By staff writer 

Davos showdown over Greenland: Europe confronts Trump, faces its costly US reliance 

TEHRAN — Europe and the United States remain locked in a tense political standoff. That tension was on full display at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, where European leaders openly criticized President Donald Trump’s push to take control of Greenland and his threats to impose new tariffs on European countries. Their remarks underscored a growing sense of frustration in Europe over Washington’s increasingly confrontational approach.

By staff writer 

From occupation to expulsion: How Iraq’s withdrawal accord laid bare US failures

TEHRAN — The Iraqi government’s announcement of a full U.S. withdrawal from its federal territory is more than a procedural update; it is the culmination of years of public anger, political pressure, and a growing national conviction that the American military presence was never truly about Iraq’s security. For many Iraqis, the U.S. presence was a revolving door of justifications — each one crafted to replace the last whenever it became too discredited to sustain.

By staff writer 

Syria’s shifting northeast: A new step on ground long shaped by foreign powers

TEHRAN — The main Kurdish fighting force in northeast Syria — commonly known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — has reached a centralization agreement with the government under Ahmed al-Sharaa, reflecting a shift in how several key areas in the northeast will be managed following recent developments on the ground.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Hezbollah’s rational sovereignty in the face of imperial subjugation

BEIRUT — Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem's speech on Saturday, addressed to Israel’s and America’s tools in Lebanon under the striking declaration, “We are the most rational,” was not a rhetorical flourish, but rather a political indictment. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Northern Syria at a crossroads: Deir Hafir and the Kurdish question

BEIRUT — The announcement by the army of the de facto authority in Damascus on Saturday, January 17, 2026, that it had fully taken control of the city of Deir Hafir in eastern Aleppo countryside marks a significant turning point in the evolving Syrian conflict. 

By Ranjan Solomon

The new mandate of recolonizing Gaza: ‘Peace’ boards and the architecture of erasure

GOA — In the lexicon of modern geopolitics, language is rarely used to describe reality; more often, it is used to camouflage it. The emergence of proposals such as a "Gaza Board of Peace" represents a sophisticated linguistic pivot—a transition from the raw violence of military occupation to the sterile, bureaucratic violence of recolonization. By framing the administration of Gaza as a "peace-building" initiative, proponents are attempting to revive the Mandate System of the early 20th century, effectively stripping a population of its agency under the guise of humanitarian necessity.

By staff writer 

Hostage to the hegemon: How Trump's Greenland tariff exposes Europe's strategic impotence

TEHRAN — The tariff threat issued by US President Donald Trump over Greenland represents a profound rupture in the logic of the transatlantic relationship. It is not merely an economic measure, nor even a diplomatic provocation, but a demonstration of how far Washington is willing to go to impose its will on its closest allies.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Hybrid warfare on Iran and intensified squeezing of Hezbollah 

BEIRUT—As regional and international powers escalate what can only be described as a sustained hybrid war against the Iranian people, Lebanon finds itself perilously exposed—trapped in a web of pressures it neither commands nor can evade.

Naim Qassem on Hezbollah’s arms: Israel has no right to intervene

Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a speech on Saturday that Lebanon has entered a “new stage in the conflict” and a “new era,” as Israel continues its attacks on Lebanese territory despite the late 2024 ceasefire.

By staff writer 

Trump's ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza: A blueprint for annexation and erasure

TEHRAN — US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a so‑called ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza — featuring figures such as Tony Blair, Marco Rubio, and Jared Kushner — does not represent a genuine plan for peace. It is a detailed proposal for the international management of Gaza that ignores the core realities of the conflict and the people it claims to help. When scrutinized, the plan reveals itself as an attempt to impose a solution that serves the interests of the United States, Israel, and their allies, while sidelining Palestinian rights and agency.

U.S. hegemonic ambitions: Trump threatens Mexico with land incursion

US President Donald Trump’s threat to carry out ground attacks in Mexico, under the pretext of fighting drug cartels, suggests that there may be no end in sight to his imperial ambitions in 2026. 

Pope Leo warns ‘war is back in vogue’

Roman Catholic Leader Pope Leo XIV has issued a stern warning about the spread of wars across the globe in the wake of the US deadly military strikes in Venezuela — a campaign that culminated in the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro. 

By staff writer

The ‘narco’ smokescreen clears as US demands Venezuelan oil fields

TEHRAN — The smoke from the January 3 airstrikes on Caracas has barely dissipated, but the strategic landscape of the American aggression against Venezuela has already undergone a chilling transformation.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Lebanon at the edge of an imposed escalation?

BEIRUT—Amid escalating Israeli enemy rhetoric about widening the circle of confrontation and Washington’s clear shift toward imposing faits accomplis under the logic of “the law of the jungle,” Lebanon finds itself navigating an exceptionally sensitive political and security moment. 

By Wesam Bahrani 

Syrians gambling with Israel 

TEHRAN – Why are some Syrians betting on the Israeli regime and its risks for Syria’s unity? 

By Shahrokh Saei

Greenland today, Europe tomorrow: Mapping the rise of Trumpland

TEHRAN – President Donald Trump’s imperial ambitions show no sign of slowing, fueled by hubris and the momentum of America’s deadly military strikes in Venezuela — a campaign that culminated in the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro. Trump has now declared that Venezuela “will be turning over” up to 50 million barrels of oil — valued at roughly $2.8 billion — to the United States.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Lebanon’s governance in crisis

Lebanon’s political system is so hollowed out that even a fictitious foreign prince can dictate governance

BEIRUT—Imagine a country where a fictitious foreign prince, armed only with a phone and a fabricated authority, can dictate political appointments, unlock frozen bank accounts, and influence judicial decisions—all without leaving his home. 

By Wesam Bahrani 

Catastrophic year for Palestinians in 2025 

TEHRAN – An official Palestinian report has documented the catastrophic suffering of Palestinians in 2025 at the hands of the Israeli occupation regime. 

By staff writer 

Israel’s expansionist agenda: Aggression in Syria amid Paris talks

TEHRAN – The persistence of Israeli military aggression in southern Syria, reported on Tuesday even as negotiations were underway in Paris, illustrates the contradiction between declared diplomatic efforts and the reality of the regime’s expansionist policies. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Lebanon between war and ‘neutralization’

BEIRUT—Lebanon is once again being asked to believe in calm—carefully worded, condition-laden calm—at a moment when pressure, not peace, defines the regional landscape. 

By Shahrokh Saei   

Trump’s imperial reach: From Latin America to Greenland 

TEHRAN – U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats against other countries, issued after the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation that included deadly strikes inside the Latin American nation, are not merely reckless—they are a brazen display of imperial arrogance. 

By staff writer

Worldwide anger at state-run abduction

The U.S. government’s unlawful abduction of Venezuela’s elected president has ignited protests and fierce condemnations across continents

TEHRAN – The United States has crossed a dangerous line with its military assault on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. What Washington presents as justice is, in reality, a blatant violation of international law and Venezuela's sovereignty. By abducting a sitting head of state and declaring that the U.S. will "run the country," President Donald Trump has revived the darkest traditions of imperialism in Latin America.

By staff writer 

Machado as pawn: Venezuela on Washington’s imperial chessboard

TEHRAN – María Corina Machado’s role in Venezuela’s crisis shows how powerful nations use local leaders for their own goals. For years she was seen as the face of the opposition, someone who could stand against Nicolás Maduro.