By Sheida Sabzehvari

Iran will not fight alone this time

From Baghdad to Beirut, Tehran’s partners signal a wider war if US strikes

TEHRAN – As U.S. naval deployments in the Persian Gulf intensify and Washington hints at the possibility of renewed aggression, a constellation of Iran’s allied forces across West Asia are issuing coordinated warnings that a second war against the country would ignite a region-wide confrontation — one that neither the United States nor Israel, they say, is prepared to contain.

By staff writer 

The ceasefire illusion: Israel’s cover for calculated aggression in Lebanon

TEHRAN — Despite the ceasefire agreement signed with Israel in November 2024, the promised peace remains a distant hope for the people of Lebanon. Israel’s military has effectively transformed a signed truce into a period of controlled aggression, conducting near-daily strikes that have claimed hundreds of innocent lives.

Israel carries out another deadly attack in Lebanon in violation of 2024 ceasefire

TEHRAN – Israel’s airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon on Sunday once again exposed what many in Lebanon describe as the regime’s entrenched disregard for international law and ceasefire agreements. The Lebanese Health Ministry confirmed that one civilian was killed and several others wounded after an Israeli strike hit the area near Kfardounin in the Bint Jbeil District, a region that has endured repeated bombardment despite the 2024 ceasefire.

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 

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 Sondoss Al Asaad 

Leaked doubts and northern disarray: Israel’s fear of an uncontainable war 

BEIRUT — Over the past two days, Israeli media outlets have been saturated with unusually candid leaks and commentaries about a potential war with Lebanon—leaks that betray more anxiety than confidence. 

Araghchi meets top Lebanese officials, visits Nasrallah tomb in Beirut

TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a high-profile visit to Lebanon on Friday, meeting his Lebanese counterpart Youssef Rajji upon his arrival in Beirut.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Lebanese parliament pushes back, breaks boycott

BEIRUT—On Thursday, Lebanon’s parliament sent a decisive signal: political blackmail no longer guarantees paralysis.

By Shahrokh Saei 

Beyond bombs: Israel’s expansionist narrative in Lebanon

TEHRAN – Israel is waging a hybrid war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, weaving continued military strikes with a propaganda campaign and ongoing occupation. This multi-front assault is not merely tactical; it is a strategic effort to lay the diplomatic and narrative groundwork for a far broader military escalation.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Turkish discontent with Lebanon over the Cyprus maritime agreement

BEIRUT—Turkey’s dissatisfaction with Lebanon has crystallized sharply following Beirut’s decision to sign a maritime border demarcation and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) agreement with Cyprus with coordination with Ankara or Damascus.

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Israel’s aggressive blueprint: A rebuttal to Lebanon’s pro-Israel propaganda

BEIRUT—In early December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again peeled back the last veneer of diplomatic pretence. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Hezbollah’s role in Syria: 10 years that reshaped West Asia 

BEIRUT — On the first anniversary of Syria’s collapse, Hezbollah’s intervention stands as one of the most consequential, and persistently distorted, events in contemporary regional history. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad

LF outsourcing patriotism to the occupiers: See how it ended in Afghanistan

BEIRUT—No contradiction in Lebanese politics is more glaring than the desire of the Lebanese Forces (LF) to see the Israeli enemy resolve their political dispute inside Lebanon. A party that claims to defend state sovereignty routinely seeks foreign intervention against a Lebanese actor with a proven popular and national base.

By Nabil Mansour

Could the Pope’s Lebanon visit temper Israeli threats and mend political divisions?

BEIRUT - Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in Beirut—his first foreign trip since ascending the papacy—comes at a moment when Lebanon is poised between escalating Israeli threats and a political class locked in chronic division. 

By Sondoss Al Asaad 

Lebanon, one year after a sham “ceasefire”

BEIRUT — A year after the ceasefire was declared between Lebanon and Israel, the country remains suspended in a fragile limbo, caught between persistent security threats, entrenched political fractures, and mounting international pressures.