Renewed US military presence in Afghanistan endangers regional peace: Tehran

TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has blamed two decades of U.S. occupation for Afghanistan’s current crises, warning that any renewed foreign military presence in the country would endanger regional peace and security.

Tony Blair tipped to run Gaza under US-backed transitional scheme

Reports in Haaretz and the Times of Israel reveal that the White House is backing a proposal to install former UK prime minister Tony Blair at the head of a new “Gaza International Transitional Authority” (GITA), which would serve as Gaza’s supreme political and legal authority for as long as five years.

‘Nuclear talks with US won’t serve Iran’s national interests’ 

Leader says negotiations under current circumstances will only bring harm

TEHRAN – In a live address to the Iranian nation on Tuesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Khamenei focused primarily on the trajectory of Iran's nuclear program.

Ahead of Pezeshkian’s New York arrival, Iranians say security is a right, not a privilege

TEHRAN – In a series of remarks on Tuesday, multiple Iranian officials delivered a firm and unified message to the United States: Iran is open to dialogue on its nuclear program, but will not negotiate its core security interests under threat. 

Tom Barrack: US arms Lebanon to ‘fight its own people’

In an interview with the National released Monday, U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack defended Washington’s push to make the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) the agent of Hezbollah’s disarmament — even as he conceded the U.S. will not equip the army to confront Israel.

Iran FM urges return of looted cultural heritage at New York forum

TEHRAN – Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday called for the return of cultural artifacts taken during colonialism, war and illegal excavations, urging stronger international cooperation to protect ancient heritage.

Report: Washington to target entire ICC in major sanctions escalation

The United States is weighing sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) that could be announced this week, Reuters reported Monday, escalating its retaliation over probes into Israeli war crimes and U.S. abuses in Afghanistan.

Lawmakers’ letter asking for reconsideration of Iran's nuclear doctrine resurfaces

TEHRAN – After years of fruitless diplomacy surrounding Tehran's nuclear program, and following a full-scale war imposed on Iran in June, the Iranian public and media appear increasingly to favor a shift in the country's nuclear doctrine.

Iran defers UN draft resolution on nuclear sites attacks after US pressure

TEHRAN – Iran announced on Friday that it has decided to defer consideration of a draft resolution aimed at prohibiting attacks and threats of attack against nuclear facilities, noting that the move was taken to counter the unlawful pressure and intimidation exerted by the United States on the IAEA General Conference.

Iran in no rush to resume relations with Syria: Foreign Ministry

TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Wednesday that Iran is in no rush to resume relations with Syria, emphasizing that any restoration of ties will depend on conditions that genuinely serve the interests of the Syrian nation.

Rubio’s Al-Quds visit sparks Hamas-led regional backlash

Hamas condemned “the performance of Talmudic rituals by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and war criminal Netanyahu, at the Buraq Wall,” calling it “a blatant assault on the sanctity” of Al-Aqsa Mosque and “a flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo in the occupied city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem).”

Netanyahu to reroute US flight as ICC warrant narrows his world

Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to New York next week with a pared-down delegation and a longer route aboard the so-called Wing of Zion, avoiding airspace where ICC politics could complicate overflight—and, in an emergency, force a landing in a state obliged to arrest him.

Venezuela condemns ‘hostile’ US boat boarding; F‑35 deployment fuels regional unease

Venezuela condemned what its foreign ministry called an illegal and “hostile” seizure of a fishing boat by a U.S. destroyer on Saturday, accusing the USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) of intercepting, boarding, and occupying the vessel in Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone and detaining nine “humble” fishermen for eight hours.

By Xavier Villar 

Israel, the United States, and the attack on Qatar

MADRID – The Israeli attack on members of the Hamas delegation in Qatar, gathered to discuss a ceasefire proposal, marks a political turning point that goes beyond the immediate framework of the war in Gaza. It was not a mere military act nor a routine operation: it was a calculated move with broader implications. It called into question the validity of diplomacy, exposed the vulnerability of America’s allies, and laid bare that the regional alliance system rests on subordination, not sovereignty.

By Garsha Vazirian

The widening gyre: Charlie Kirk's assassination and America's spiral into political violence

TEHRAN – In the shattered aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination, America stares into a mirror cracked by its own hand. “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer,” William Butler Yeats intoned in “The Second Coming,” evoking a world where order dissolves into chaos.