By Wesam Bahrani

Sudani scores “major victory” in Iraq elections

TEHRAN – A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani reportedly comes first in Iraq’s parliamentary elections.

By Shahrokh Saei

Imperial ambitions at sea: U.S. military escalation against Venezuela

TEHRAN – The deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Caribbean has marked a dangerous escalation in U.S. military activity and sharply heightened tensions with Venezuela. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Israel escalating assault on Lebanon’s environmental security

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s forests, farmland, and green expanses are once again under siege. The recent wave of wildfires sweeping across the country recalls the devastation of 2010, when hundreds of hectares of pine and oak vanished in smoke and ash.

By Shahab Sarmadi 

Sharaa–Trump summit: U.S.–Israeli interests at play

TEHRAN – Monday’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Syrian leader Ahmed alSharaa in Washington has been described as a milestone and historic. For the first time since Syria gained independence from France in 1946, a Syrian head of state was welcomed into the Oval Office with full honors.

By Sondoss Al Asaad

Lebanon and secret side of Egypt’s initiative

BEIRUT — The so-called initiative presented by Egypt’s head of general intelligence agency, Major General Hassan Rashad, has been framed as an Arab-international attempt to stabilize southern Lebanon. 

By Shahab Sarmadi

Confessions of carnage: Israeli soldiers admit to war crimes in Gaza

TEHRAN – The war in Gaza, which erupted on October 7, 2023, has become a defining crisis of our time — not only for its staggering human toll, but for what it reveals about the erosion of ethical boundaries in modern warfare. More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed, many of them women and children. Despite a ceasefire announced last month, Israeli military operations have continued unabated. What began as a response to a Hamas attack has evolved into a campaign that many international observers now describe as genocidal.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

US putting pressure on Lebanon’s politics and economy

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s future is increasingly dictated by external powers, particularly the United States, as its embassy in Beirut and visiting delegations from its Treasury and State Departments are exerting decisive political, financial, and diplomatic influence. 

By Wesam Bahrani 

Promising high turnout in Iraqi election

TEHRAN – The first phase of Iraq’s 2025 parliamentary elections officially ended, marking an important milestone ahead of the general vote. With a participation rate exceeding 82%, the process witnessed smooth operations and high voter engagement among members of the security forces and displaced persons.

By Shahab Sarmadi

Ceasefire as camouflage: Israel’s continued assault on Gaza

TEHRAN – The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States and officially put into effect on October 10, was intended to pause the violence in Gaza. However, recent developments suggest the truce may have served as a strategic cover for Israel to continue its military operations with reduced international scrutiny.

By Layla Saad 

Rising tensions in Syria’s northeast: What is driving US military activity?

BEIRUT – More than seven months after the March 10 agreement between Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmad al-Sharaa (al-Jolani) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi, the deal lies in tatters.

By Wesam Bahrani 

Iraqis to vote amid tension with Washington 

TEHRAN – Iraq’s November 11 election will test whether a new government will challenge U.S. control over oil revenues and sovereignty.

By Shahab Sarmadi

Haaretz details Israel’s costly campaign to reverse declining U.S. public support

TEHRAN – U.S. public support for Israel has been declining in recent years, a trend highlighted by a recent Haaretz report. Surveys show that negative views of Israel among Americans rose from 42 percent in 2022 to 53 percent by 2025. This decline spans political lines: even among young Republicans—traditionally reliable supporters—criticism of Israel is growing. Younger Evangelical Christians, who were once among Israel’s most steadfast allies, are increasingly skeptical, no longer offering automatic support.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

How Washington and its allies are rewriting Lebanon’s future

BEIRUT — Lebanon stands at a decisive juncture. External powers, led by the United States and supported by Israel, are accelerating efforts to reshape the country’s political and military landscape.

By Wesam Bahrani 

Iraq heading for crucial elections 

TEHRAN – Iraq will hold its sixth parliamentary elections on November 11, in what may be the most consequential vote since 2003. 

By Layla Saad

Voices of resistance dominate Beirut forum 

BEIRUT — The 34th session of the Arab National Conference opened in Beirut on Friday with the participation of more than 250 political, intellectual, and academic figures from across the Arab world.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Hezbollah’s open book: No compromise with the enemy

BEIRUT—Amid rising tremors along Lebanon’s southern frontier, Hezbollah unveiled an open letter directed both to the Lebanese people and to the nation’s three top officials: the President of the Republic, the Speaker of Parliament, and the Prime Minister.

By Wesam Bahrani 

Truce with no peace for Palestinians 

TEHRAN – Despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, the Israeli regime continues to trample on the rights of Palestinians in Gaza. 

By Shahrokh Saei 

Mamdani’s win lays bare failure of U.S. capitalism

TEHRAN – Just a year ago, Zohran Mamdani was little known outside Queens, the New York City borough he represents. Now, at just 34 years old, he has made history as the new Mayor of New York City — the largest and most influential city in the United States.

By Wesam Bahrani 

U.S. pressures Iraq ahead of elections

TEHRAN – U.S. pressure to disarm Iraq’s resistance factions is intended to influence elections and thereby undermine the country’s sovereignty and popular security forces.

By Sondoss Al Asaad

Washington’s truce mechanism aimed to turn Lebanon into next Syria

BEIRUT — Political and military developments in Lebanon are accelerating amid increasing U.S.-Israeli pressure and attempts to redraw the rules of engagement in South Lebanon through the five-member committee tasked with monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire between Lebanon and the Zionist entity.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Washington’s pressure and Lebanon’s slide toward forced normalization

BEIRUT — The recent talk of a “negotiation option” announced by President Joseph Aoun has reignited one of Lebanon’s most dangerous debates, that of normalization disguised as pragmatism. 

By Wesam Bahrani 

Gazans still face death, misery and starvation 

Only about 24% of humanitarian aid agreed under the truce has been allowed into Gaza

TEHRAN – Developments in Gaza show that the occupying Israeli regime continues its attacks across the besieged Gaza enclave, despite a fragile truce agreement. The al-Ahli Hospital reported that a Palestinian was killed by the Israeli fire in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. 

By Shahrokh Saei 

From Gaza to Darfur: Mossad’s strategic footprint in Sudan’s genocide

TEHRAN – As the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) consolidate control over western Sudan with the fall of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, questions are growing about the involvement of foreign actors—particularly Israel and the United States—in shaping the trajectory of the country’s civil war.

By Wesam Bahrani 

Israel, U.S. fabricating a plot to justify attack on Iraq

TEHRAN – The American and Israeli regimes fabricate an Iraqi threat to justify aggression and destabilize regional stability.

By Shahrokh Saei

Holy hostility: How Trump weaponizes religion to threaten Nigeria

TEHRAN – U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent threat to launch military strikes against Nigeria under the banner of protecting Christians is not a sudden outburst — it is part of a long-standing pattern. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad

Thomas Barrack’s ‘failed state’ narrative masks Washington’s missteps

BEIRUT— U.S. foreign policy, long celebrated by Washington as a beacon of democracy and human rights, is in reality a carefully engineered system of global corruption and control. 

By Wesam Bahrani

Gaza reels under renewed bombings

TEHRAN – The Israeli regime escalates Gaza strikes as blockade tightens, aid restricted, and casualties rise.

By Garsha Vazirian

Can Iraq navigate November’s vote without succumbing to Washington’s coercion?

TEHRAN – Iraq’s November 11 parliamentary election will be judged less by campaign rhetoric than by the mechanics of participation and the geopolitics that frame them.