Lifting sanctions or providing other forms of economic relief would strengthen repression rather than improve the lives of ordinary Iranians.

By Arvin Khoshnood, Middle East Forum

As Iran’s war with the United States continues, the Islamic Republic faces a threat just as dangerous to its survival: renewed domestic unrest.

Since the 1979 Revolution, the regime has portrayed political opposition as a foreign conspiracy orchestrated by the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel, a narrative the current conflict reinforces.

Beyond helping the regime recover militarily, negotiations and an agreement also would strengthen its machinery of repression.

At the center of this apparatus stand the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the paramilitary Basij, the Ministry of Intelligence, the police, cyber police, the judiciary, and other intelligence and security bodies.

Together, they monitor society, suppress dissent, and preserve the regime’s grip on power.

On March 13, 2026, the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent text messages warning Iranians not to participate in new demonstrations, declaring that future protesters would face “a blow harder than January 8,” the date on which Iranian security forces massacred tens of thousands of protesters.

The message portrayed future demonstrators as a new Islamic State. Regime discourse portrays the Islamic State as a U.S., British, and Israeli proxy.

By labeling protesters as Islamic State, Iranian authorities hope to equate political dissent and state-sponsored terrorism.

The regime’s coercive institutions echo the same narrative.

Police Chief Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Radan stated that anyone acting “at the behest of the enemy” no longer would be viewed as demonstrators but as enemies.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander and Parliamentary National Security Committee member Salar Velayatmadar went further, warning that the regime would hold responsible parents who fail to prevent their children from joining demonstrations or aligning themselves with “the enemy,” with penalties extending to execution.

Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Eje’i pledged harsh punishment for agents and individuals who weaken national unity.

These labels redefine political opposition as treason, espionage, and terrorism, legitimizing violence while reinforcing the regime’s narrative among its supporters.

Action normally follows such statements. According to Amnesty International, the regime has “arbitrarily arrested more than 6,000 people” since the war began, while carrying out “at least 39 political executions,” using forced confessions and lengthy prison sentences.

On July 15, 2026, the regime executed Mohammad Amini Dehaghani, a supporter of former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, after his conviction for “waging war against God” and “corruption on earth.”

Together, these measures illustrate that repression remains central to the regime’s strategy for maintaining power.

The implications extend well beyond Iran’s borders. The regime’s campaign against opponents abroad began months after the 1979 Islamic Revolution with the assassination of Prince Shahriar Shafiq in Paris.

Since then, dissidents have been targeted through assassinations, kidnappings, and surveillance. I survived an assassination plot in Sweden in September 2025, carried out through criminal proxies.

Democratic governments have recently condemned the Islamic Republic’s targeting of dissident Iranians, Jews, Israelis, and Americans.

Strengthening the regime would therefore increase risks both inside and outside Iran.

Nor is there reason to believe that additional economic resources, obtained through an agreement with Washington, would benefit ordinary Iranians.

Poverty persists despite decades of oil revenues and long-term economic growth.

As a rentier state, the regime has consistently prioritized the elite and their families, patronage networks, coercive institutions, and regime survival over meaningful economic reform.

Lifting sanctions or providing other forms of economic relief would strengthen repression rather than improve the lives of ordinary Iranians.

An agreement with the United States that enables the regime to recover while strengthening its coercive institutions will not produce lasting stability.

It would leave the regime better equipped to suppress Iranians at home, intimidate dissidents abroad, and pursue the regional objectives and Islamic mission its leaders continue to reaffirm.

The post How diplomacy could strengthen Iran’s repression appeared first on World Israel News.

Prime Minister Netanyahu says President Trump has final say on Iran war as US launches new wave of strikes.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said President Donald Trump alone will determine the next stage of the war with Iran, rejecting claims that he pressured the US president to resume or expand military operations following their White House meeting.

Speaking to ABC News on Wednesday, Netanyahu described Israel and the US as close allies but acknowledged that Washington holds the dominant position in decisions concerning the conflict.

“The truth is, we’re partners. We’re allies. He’s the senior partner,” Netanyahu said, referring to Trump. He described himself as the junior partner while insisting that he would continue defending Israel’s national interests.

Netanyahu said the two leaders examined three possible approaches during their closed-door meeting Tuesday: reaching a negotiated agreement with Tehran, maintaining the blockade and other forms of economic pressure, or intensifying military action.

“We actually analyzed all three possibilities,” Netanyahu said. He added that the final choice belonged to Trump: “It’s his decision. It’s his decision.”

A senior Israeli official separately described the options as “a deal, continuing the blockade and economic pressures, and a massive strike.” The official said Netanyahu had not advocated one particular course of action and denied that the Israeli leader had urged Trump to order an immediate attack.

The comments appeared intended to counter a growing perception that Netanyahu was attempting to pull Trump deeper into the conflict. US and Israeli officials had previously said Netanyahu planned to present intelligence concerning Iran’s remaining nuclear and missile capabilities during the meeting.

Trump said ahead of the talks that Netanyahu wanted the US to remain involved, contributing to speculation that the Israeli premier would press for a return to large-scale combat operations. Netanyahu dismissed the suggestion that he had manipulated Trump either before the war or during their latest discussions.

Netanyahu also rejected claims that he had misled Trump about the prospects for rapidly defeating Iran or bringing down its government. He said no foreign leader could dictate US policy to the president.

The interview came hours before the US completed a new two-hour wave of strikes against dozens of targets inside Iran. US Central Command said the attacks hit Iranian Revolutionary Guard command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal defenses and maritime capabilities.

CENTCOM described the operation as a “powerful response” to an Iranian ballistic-missile attack against American forces in Jordan a day earlier. The US military said all the incoming missiles were intercepted in what it characterized as an attempted surprise attack. Iran acknowledged firing toward US bases in Jordan.

Trump had promised retaliation shortly before the attack, saying the US would hit Iran “very hard.” The new operation began at 8 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday and ended two hours later, according to CENTCOM.

The renewed strikes demonstrated the difficulty of separating military pressure from diplomacy. Trump has repeatedly alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that an agreement with Iran remains possible.

Netanyahu expressed deep skepticism about whether Tehran could be trusted to uphold a diplomatic settlement. He accused Iranian leaders of repeatedly using negotiations to delay decisions while easing pressure on the regime.

The prime minister nevertheless said the possibility of diplomacy could be tested if negotiations were accompanied by sufficient economic, military and political pressure. He said Israel’s overriding objective remained preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and says it is not seeking an atomic bomb. Israel and the US contend that Tehran’s nuclear work, missile development and underground facilities present an unacceptable threat.

The Strait of Hormuz was also a major subject of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting. Iran has used threats against shipping and energy exports passing through the narrow waterway as a central source of leverage during the war.

Netanyahu argued that Iran’s ability to exert pressure through the strait could eventually be weakened by developing alternative energy routes. He suggested that pipelines could carry oil and gas toward the Red Sea and then through Israel to the Mediterranean, reducing global dependence on the Iranian-controlled passage.

Trump, meanwhile, raised concerns about the effects of the war on oil prices and the broader global economy. The closure or severe disruption of the Strait of Hormuz has increased energy costs and complicated the administration’s calculations as the US approaches the November midterm elections.

Netanyahu said Iran had been substantially weakened during the five-month war but acknowledged that the Islamic Republic’s government had not collapsed. He predicted that the regime would eventually fall, though he offered no timetable.

He also warned Tehran against expanding the fighting by directly attacking Israel. Such an attack would be a “perilous mistake,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would respond “very, very forcefully.”

The interview followed a period of unusually visible friction between Netanyahu and senior members of the Trump administration. Vice President JD Vance recently accused elements in the Israeli government of attempting to shape US public opinion and undermine negotiations with Iran.

Netanyahu said he had spoken with Vance and believed the two had resolved the dispute. He denied that prolonging the war or blocking diplomacy was Israeli government policy.

The prime minister also acknowledged declining support for Israel among parts of the American public. He attributed some of that change to social-media manipulation and foreign-operated bot networks, while stressing that maintaining support from both major US parties remained important to Israel’s security.

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American military commander in the Mideast pushing plan for 10-14 day large-scale air campaign targeting Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of US forces in the Middle East, has developed a plan for up to two weeks of intensive airstrikes intended to severely weaken Iran’s remaining missile capabilities, as President Donald Trump considers how far to escalate the renewed conflict.

The proposal would involve 10 to 14 days of sustained attacks across Iran, significantly expanding on the shorter retaliatory operations carried out since the initial US-Israeli air campaign ended in April, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with internal military deliberations.

Trump has not decided whether to approve Cooper’s full plan or pursue a more limited response that could preserve the possibility of negotiations with Tehran.

US Central Command began a new round of strikes inside Iran on Wednesday night, one day after Iranian forces fired ballistic missiles at American troops in Jordan. CENTCOM called the operation a “powerful response” to the attempted attacks.

A US official said the latest operation would strike more targets across a broader area than previous rounds of retaliation, although officials did not immediately say whether it marked the beginning of Cooper’s proposed two-week campaign.

The debate reflects a broader disagreement over how the US can break the military stalemate without exhausting its shrinking stockpile of air-defense interceptors or becoming trapped in a prolonged war.

Cooper’s position is that limited retaliatory strikes have failed to deter Tehran from attacking American bases, threatening commercial shipping and disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. He believes the US must sharply increase offensive operations to destroy Iranian missiles and launchers before they can be used.

By reducing Iran’s ability to fire, Cooper has argued, the US would also reduce its need to expend scarce Patriot and THAAD interceptors defending troops and regional allies.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has taken a more cautious position, according to the report. Caine has warned the White House about the potential “second and third order consequences” of a larger campaign and the demands that another round of intensive fighting could place on US weapons inventories.

Caine is responsible for assessing threats worldwide, including the possibility that US missiles could also be needed to confront China, North Korea or Russia. Cooper’s responsibilities are concentrated on the Middle East and the immediate Iranian threat.

The dwindling interceptor supply would not necessarily prevent the US from returning to major combat operations, officials said, but it would increase the risks involved. Air defenses could be repositioned to provide greater protection for the most important American bases and facilities if the larger campaign proceeds.

The Pentagon has sought to present the senior commanders as united despite their differing assessments.

“Secretary Hegseth, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Cooper, and Chairman Caine stand completely aligned and are united in mission, strategy, and resolve regarding overseas operations involving Iran,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.

“The Department of War is locked and loaded, ready to execute the President’s directives at a moment’s notice,” he added.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly been supportive of Cooper’s argument for a stronger offensive campaign.

Trump met Cooper, Caine and Hegseth aboard Air Force One last week after attending the dignified transfer of four American service members killed in the Iran war. The impromptu meeting gave Cooper a rare opportunity to present his thinking directly to the president.

Although Cooper has directed the war from CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida, he has generally had less direct access to Trump than Caine and Hegseth, who regularly brief the president at the White House.

Cooper has met Trump in person only a handful of times since the war began, according to the report, and the two have spoken by telephone only occasionally.

Trump indicated Wednesday that he had already decided to retaliate for Iran’s latest missile attack, while leaving the scope and duration of the response unclear.

“We’re going to beat the f—ing sh— out of them,” Trump told Fox News. “We’ll be hitting them hard.”

“We’re going to let them keep talking,” he added, suggesting military action would not necessarily bring diplomatic contacts to an end.

A senior administration official described Trump as being in “an escalatory mood” but said the president was still considering “the depth of that response.”

Iran fired several ballistic missiles toward US forces in Jordan on Tuesday in what CENTCOM described as an “attempted surprise attack.” The military said all the missiles were intercepted and that American forces remained at a high state of readiness.

The attack came less than two weeks after an earlier Iranian missile and drone strike on a base in Jordan killed three US service members. That attack and several subsequent Iranian operations have increased pressure on Trump to resume the large-scale bombing campaign suspended in April.

Cooper had originally calculated that US forces would require at least six weeks to complete their objectives when the joint American-Israeli campaign began on February 28.

By March 31, Cooper believed approximately 20 more days of attacks would still be needed to significantly degrade Iran’s military capabilities.

The campaign was cut short after an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran in early April, triggering a dangerous operation to recover its two crew members. Both airmen were eventually rescued, but the incident contributed to Trump’s decision to seek a ceasefire several days later.

After the fighting stopped, Hegseth said Iran’s missile program had been “functionally destroyed” and described its launchers and missiles as “depleted and decimated.”

Subsequent US intelligence assessments concluded that Iran retained part of its missile arsenal. Trump said in June that Tehran might still possess roughly 21% to 22% of its original missile stockpile, while some independent analysts produced higher estimates.

Iran has since recovered launchers from underground facilities and adjusted its attack methods. Iranian forces have used new flight paths, maneuvering missiles and accompanying drones in attempts to overwhelm or evade American defenses.

Skeptics of Cooper’s proposal argue that the opening phase of the war demonstrated the limitations of air power against a large country with dispersed and heavily fortified weapons sites. The US and Israel repeatedly bombed missile factories, storage complexes and underground launch facilities, but Iran was eventually able to resume attacks.

Critics in Congress have also warned that another open-ended campaign could pull the US deeper into a conflict without a clearly achievable political end.

The pressure on US interceptor supplies has grown as American forces defend bases in the Middle East while continuing to provide military assistance to allies elsewhere. The Pentagon is seeking tens of billions of dollars to rebuild depleted munitions inventories, and the Army announced a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to increase production of Patriot interceptors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Hegseth on Wednesday, one day after discussing Iran with Trump at the White House. Israeli aircraft could participate if Trump authorizes a return to major combat operations, according to officials familiar with the planning.

Netanyahu and Trump reviewed a range of options during their meeting, including renewed military attacks, continued economic pressure and possible diplomatic negotiations. An Israeli official said Netanyahu did not explicitly press Trump to launch an immediate strike.

The Wednesday operation has already gone beyond the previous pause in US attacks. The central decision facing Trump is whether it remains a large but limited act of retaliation or develops into the sustained campaign Cooper believes is necessary to cripple Iran’s ability to continue the war.

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Saudi official confirms Riyadh still open to normalization deal with Israel.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

President Donald Trump assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington views its newly signed civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia as part of a broader effort to establish diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Israel, according to a senior Israeli official.

The assurance came during Netanyahu’s White House meeting with Trump on Tuesday, amid Israeli concerns that the US had granted Saudi Arabia one of its principal demands without securing progress toward normalization in return.

Trump told Netanyahu that he considers the nuclear agreement part of the process through which Saudi Arabia would eventually join the Abraham Accords, the Israeli official said Wednesday.

The comments were followed by a rare indication from a Saudi diplomatic official that normalization had not been abandoned despite the regional war and Riyadh’s continuing disagreements with Israel.

“The Israeli issue, regarding normalization and joining the Abraham Accords, was not taken off the table during the war,” the Saudi official told Israel Hayom.

The official also said Saudi Arabia’s plans for a civilian nuclear program did not conflict with the possibility of establishing relations with Israel, suggesting that Riyadh sees the two diplomatic tracks as compatible.

The remarks do not indicate that Saudi Arabia has dropped its longstanding conditions for normalization. Saudi officials have repeatedly said the kingdom will not establish formal relations with Israel without a credible and irreversible path toward the creation of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has rejected Palestinian statehood, particularly in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, leaving a substantial gap between the Israeli and Saudi positions.

The dispute over the nuclear agreement emerged after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed a civilian nuclear cooperation pact on July 22.

The agreement, known as a Section 123 agreement, creates the legal foundation for US companies to participate in Saudi Arabia’s planned nuclear-energy industry. The Energy Department described it as a decades-long, multibillion-dollar partnership that would support American nuclear exports while maintaining nonproliferation safeguards.

Neither the initial US announcement nor the Saudi government’s statement mentioned normalization with Israel as a condition of the agreement.

That omission alarmed Israeli officials and supporters of the Abraham Accords, who feared Washington had surrendered one of its strongest sources of leverage over Riyadh.

A day later, Trump announced that implementation of the agreement was “totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt subsequently said that unless Saudi Arabia normalized relations with Israel, “the deal is off.”

“We’ll continue to talk with our Saudi counterparts to get the deal finalized and hopefully see them joining Abraham Accords very soon,” Leavitt said.

Trump also insisted that the agreement would not allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium, writing that “there will be no enrichment of material.”

That assertion has not completely resolved questions about the agreement’s terms. The full text has not been released publicly, and reports citing officials familiar with the pact said it could allow the construction of a US-operated enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia if a joint two-year study determines that such a project is necessary.

Uranium enrichment can be used to produce fuel for civilian reactors, but the same technology can also be used to produce weapons-grade material. The possibility of enrichment inside Saudi Arabia has therefore drawn scrutiny from Israeli officials, members of Congress and nuclear-nonproliferation specialists.

The agreement also reportedly does not require Saudi Arabia to adopt the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, which would provide the UN nuclear watchdog with expanded inspection and verification powers.

US officials have maintained that the pact meets high nonproliferation standards and gives Washington greater oversight than Saudi Arabia would receive by working with Russia or China.

“The US is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the deal was announced.

Netanyahu’s office welcomed Trump’s public normalization condition, describing Saudi Arabia’s potential entry into the Abraham Accords as a “historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East.”

The senior Israeli official said Netanyahu could publicly oppose the nuclear agreement if Washington moved ahead with it without corresponding Saudi progress toward normalization.

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US forces bombed dozens of targets in Iran hours after Trump threatened to hit Iran “very hard” following Iranian attacks.

By World Israel News Staff

The US launched a new wave of strikes against Iran overnight Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump promised a forceful response to an Iranian missile attack targeting American forces in Jordan.

US Central Command said the operation began at 8 p.m. Eastern time, describing it as retaliation for Iran’s attempted attacks on US military personnel in the Middle East.

“The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East,” CENTCOM said.

Trump had earlier warned that Iran would face severe consequences for firing ballistic missiles at military installations in Jordan, including Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a major hub for US operations in the region.

“We are going to hit them very hard. I can say that because there is very little they can do about it,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office event Wednesday.

The president said all five incoming projectiles had been intercepted but argued that the failed attack still required a military response.

Trump described the launches as an attempted surprise attack and said US forces had only minutes to respond. He said Iran had unsuccessfully appealed to Washington not to retaliate.

“They know it’s coming. They’re asking us not to do it,” he said.

Although Trump left open the possibility of reaching an agreement with Tehran, he said the US would first respond militarily.

“So it’s our turn,” Trump said, adding that the US was “going to hit them very hard.”

In an earlier interview with Fox News, Trump used more explicit language to describe the planned retaliation.

“We’re going to beat the f***ing s**t out of them,” he said. “We’ll be hitting them hard. They are going to get a beating.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the missile attack, saying it had targeted a US air base and another American military facility in Jordan. Jordan’s armed forces said five Iranian missiles were intercepted and destroyed, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The attack marked the first Iranian missile strike against a US base in the region since Trump paused American attacks against Iran several days earlier amid efforts to revive negotiations.

The new round of US strikes appeared to end that pause and renewed concerns that the conflict could again intensify across several countries.

Before striking Iran directly, US and Saudi fighter aircraft carried out joint attacks against Iran-aligned militias in eastern Iraq. CENTCOM said the aircraft targeted weapons and logistics sites used by groups directed by the IRGC to attack American forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.

The command said the operation followed more than 30 IRGC-directed drone attacks over a 72-hour period. It said the attacks against US forces had failed.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella organization that includes several Iran-backed Shiite militias, said at least 20 of its fighters were killed and 32 others wounded. Iraqi officials condemned the US-Saudi operation as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

CENTCOM said Iran and its allied militias must halt their attacks to prevent further US military action.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said the kingdom was not seeking an expanded confrontation but would respond to attacks against its territory. The joint operation was the first time Riyadh publicly acknowledged directly participating alongside the US in strikes against Iran-backed groups during the current war.

The escalation also spread to Egypt, where fires broke out aboard two natural-gas vessels at the Mediterranean port of Damietta. A British maritime security firm initially assessed that a drone had struck a US-owned floating gas-storage vessel, although Egyptian authorities did not confirm that the fires resulted from an attack.

Trump said he had been briefed on the incident, calling it “a little more of the same,” but did not identify who was responsible.

The renewed fighting followed several days of relative calm and renewed diplomatic activity aimed at ending the months-long conflict. Trump indicated that talks could still take place but suggested that diplomacy would not prevent an immediate response to Iran’s missile launches.

“We’ll see if we get there with an agreement at some point,” Trump said. “But we’re going to hit them very hard.”

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In the past, Lebanese prosecutors issued arrest warrants in similar cases for Lebanese citizens outside the country.

By The Associated Press

More than a dozen Lebanese lawyers filed a complaint at the prosecutor’s office in Beirut on Wednesday against a prominent local banker, saying he violated the country’s laws by meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington this week.

Lebanon and Israel have been holding U.S.-backed direct talks for the first time in decades over the past three months, seeking an end to the latest fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s laws prevent its citizens from having contact with Israelis—the countries have remained in a state of war since Israel was established in 1948—and violators could face prison terms.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted a photo on X of the banker, Antoun Sehnaoui, sitting at a restaurant table with Netanyahu and his wife, Sara.

Ravid wrote that Sehnaoui and former U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus hosted a dinner on Monday in memory of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham that was attended by Netanyahu and U.S. officials.

A Sehnaoui-linked website, This is Beirut, also reported details of what it called the “special dinner.”

Sehnaoui’s lawyer in Beirut did not immediately respond for comment.

The complaint said Sehnaoui committed “the crimes of contacting and dealing with the Israeli enemy, violating the Israel boycott law, and the crimes of treason and state security.”

Two of the Lebanese lawyers who filed the complaint told The Associated Press that the Sehnaoui-Netanyahu meeting came as Israel’s military is still carrying out attacks on Lebanon.

The conflict revived two days after Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran, when Hezbollah fired at Israel and Israel responded with airstrikes and ground forces.

One of the lawyers, Hassan Bazzi, said Sehnaoui violated the law and offended national sentiments. Bazzi said the lawyers hope the prosecutor’s office performs its duties “effectively and swiftly.”

Another lawyer, Mohammed Hajj Hassan, called Sehnaoui’s meeting with Netanyahu “a public offense,” and now the judiciary is expected to investigate the case in what could lead to issuing arrest warrants.

It was not immediately clear how prosecutors would deal with the case. In the past, they issued arrest warrants in similar cases for Lebanese citizens outside the country.

A Lebanese foreign ministry official refused to comment when contacted by the AP.

Sehnaoui, who has been mostly based in the U.S. in recent years, has several businesses in Lebanon and abroad in sectors including banking, media, and the film industry.

Like other senior bankers, Sehnaoui was harshly criticized following Lebanon’s historic economic meltdown in 2019, when most people lost access to their money.

The economic crisis was described by the World Bank as among the worst in the world since the 1850s.

Sehnaoui’s meeting with the Israeli leader occurred as some in Lebanon have called for abolishing a 1955 law that bans dealing with Israel or having contacts with Israelis and punishes offenders with up to 10 years in jail.

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It would be wrong to say Saudi authorities got what they deserve, as no one deserves being the victim of terrorism.

By Michael Rubin, Middle East Forum

On July 22, 2026, Yemeni Houthis hit two Saudi tankers after declaring a blockade on Saudi ports.

The Houthi move appears coordinated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to plug the major hole in Iran’s efforts to stop the flow of Persian Gulf oil.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline to the Red Sea Port of Yanbu can divert about seven million barrels per day of Saudi crude, which, while lower than Saudi Arabia’s potential export, gives Riyadh and broader markets a way to sidestep Iranian pressure.

Importantly, Yanbu also allows crude to bypass the Bab el-Mandeb, at least for tanker traffic heading to Europe, though the Asian market depends more on Saudi oil and so Saudi Arabia cannot fully bypass the Bab el-Mandeb.

In reality, Saudi authorities likely believed they had a free pass. After all, despite public posturing against the Houthis, Riyadh has, after Iran and the Sultanate of Oman, become their biggest supporters.

The chief difference between Tehran and Riyadh is that while Iranian authorities embrace the Houthis out of ideological and sectarian sympathy, Saudi officials do so out of a cynical belief that they can co-opt and appease them.

Saudi Arabia Has a Houthi Problem

It is easy to understand Saudi frustration. The Houthis initially posed as great a danger to Saudi Arabia as they did to Yemen.

While Houthi drone attacks on Israel make headlines, the Houthis launched more than a thousand drone and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia; not only did the United States barely make any mention, but when the Saudis intervened to counter the Houthis, Obama administration progressives took the Houthi side, criticizing the imprecision of Saudi bombing and demanding an end to U.S. intelligence sharing with the Kingdom.

On its face, this made no sense: To deny intelligence in support of Saudi strikes on the Houthis would never force Riyadh to stop countering what it believed to be an existential threat but rather was equivalent to blindfolding a sniper as punishment for missing.

Plan B

Absent consistent and meaningful support, Saudi Arabia went to Plan B: Buying off the Houthis.

Airstrikes on the Houthis stopped, and Saudi forces inside Yemen pulled back. On March 29, 2022, Saudi authorities announced a broad ceasefire in Yemen to facilitate peace talks.

Shortly after, the Saudis created the Presidential Leadership Council to unite the various Yemeni factions that opposed the Houthis into a singular government.

The Presidential Leadership Council, however, was not as anti-Houthi as the international community pretended.

While Aidarous Zubaydi’s Southern Transitional Council and Tareq Saleh’s National Resistance governed territory and thus focused more on the provision of services, the other members of the council became known to Yemenis as the Majlis al-Fanadiq [Council of Hotels] since most lived abroad on the public and international dime in Egypt, Jordan, or Saudi Arabia.

Saudi-backed groups, including Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood faction Islah, collaborated with the Houthis against Zubaydi and Saleh.

So long as the Houthis did not touch Saudi Arabia and Saudi proxies, then Saudi Arabia would stop seeking the Houthis’ destruction.

In Yemen at least, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman prioritized his rivalry with Abu Dhabi over the real threat coming from the Houthis and their Iranian backers.

This culminated in Saudi airstrikes in December 2025 and January 2026 to force Zubaydi and his backers to flee, putting Muslim Brotherhood clients in their place.

While Saudi authorities described this as a blow against southern Yemeni separatism, the empowerment of Saudi proxies was a green light for Iranian weaponry smuggling to the Houthis.

The Appeasement Problem

Appeasing extremists and terror sponsors seldom brings peace.

The Qataris allegedly offered to coordinate production cut-offs with Iran, though Doha denies offering Tehran a $12 billion bribe to avoid Iranian strikes on the Gulf Arab state.

Such denials are necessary because Qatari bribery is so believable to Gulf Arabs. Nevertheless, despite Qatar’s cooperative ties with Tehran, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or its proxies have struck Qatari infrastructure and financial interests.

On April 1, 2026, an Iranian cruise missile struck a Qatari tanker in Qatari waters and, on July 6, the Revolutionary Guards struck a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker off the coast of Oman.

The Sultanate of Oman, too, repeatedly indulged Iran, sought to legitimize the Houthis, and turned a blind eye toward Houthi smuggling through its territory, and yet, Iran has repeatedly launched attacks on Omani ports and industrial trade zones.

Lessons Learned

The Saudis are now learning a similar lesson. Muhammad Bin Salman’s efforts to appease Iran and especially the Houthis were always foolish and never could bring security to Saudi Arabia.

It would be wrong to say Saudi authorities got what they deserve, as no one deserves being the victim of terrorism.

But Bin Salman’s willingness to prioritize his feud with the United Arab Emirates over a growing threat from the Houthis now threatens Saudi interests and security in the Red Sea.

Time to Take on the Houthis

With Red Sea security now under threat, it is time the Saudis stop indulging the Houthis. The Southern Forces in Yemen were the most effective fighting force against the Houthis until the Saudis turned on them.

Likewise, the Saudis must end their indulgence of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Sudan so long as he also works with and empowers the Houthis.

Finally, if Saudi Arabia wants to maintain security in the Red Sea and cease the Houthi stranglehold over the Bab el-Mandeb, it should start working with Somaliland.

If Muhammad Bin Salman chooses to pursue proxy wars with the United Arab Emirates and spread online poison regarding Israel’s recognition of Somaliland over Saudi Arabia’s own security, then Saudi Arabia will lose, a victim of its own short-sightedness.

The post Saudi Arabia bought off the Houthis and now they’re blockading its ports – analysis appeared first on World Israel News.

CENTCOM said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched “multiple” ballistic missiles from Iran.

By JNS

The United States and Saudi Arabia struck “multiple” terror and weapon sites in eastern Iraq, after Iran directed terrorists there to attack American troops and energy infrastructure in the kingdom, U.S. Central Command said on Tuesday.

The American and Saudi strikes were a “strong response to over 30 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours,” CENTCOM said.

“The unwarranted attacks against U.S. forces were not successful.”

CENTCOM said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched “multiple” ballistic missiles from Iran at 5:45 p.m. Eastern Time “in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East.”

“All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted,” CENTCOM said. “U.S. forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness.”

“Surprise Iranian attack on U.S. forces while Trump had frozen U.S. strikes to give talks a chance. This tells us all we need to know about this regime,” stated Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

“The only good Islamic Iranian regime is a dead one.”

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Iran reportedly set to receive hundreds of Chinese shoulder-fired air-defense systems amid simmering tensions with the US.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran is expected to begin receiving hundreds of Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense systems within weeks as Tehran moves to rebuild defenses damaged during months of fighting with Israel and the US, according to a report published Wednesday.

Three sources familiar with the agreement told Reuters that Iran signed a contract for between 300 and 400 man-portable air-defense systems, commonly known as MANPADS. The order reportedly includes Chinese QW-12 and FN-16 missiles and is valued at between $60 million and $70 million.

The first shipment is expected to arrive within weeks, although the sources cautioned that the schedule, quantity and other details could still change.

The agreement was reportedly signed through Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, a Hong Kong-based company said to be serving as an intermediary between Iran and the Chinese supplier.

China denied the report. The Chinese Foreign Ministry described it as “completely groundless” and said Beijing had worked to promote peace and end the conflict.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment, while the parent company of the alleged intermediary did not respond to a request for comment.

Under the reported delivery plan, the systems would initially be flown from Urumqi in western China before traveling through Pakistan to Iran. The sources did not say whether the final portion of the journey would be made by air or over land.

Pakistan’s military denied that it would take part in any transfer, calling the claims “absolutely concocted and false.”

The reported purchase would represent one of Iran’s largest known attempts to strengthen its short-range air defenses since the beginning of the current war. Israeli and US strikes have repeatedly targeted Iranian missile launchers, drone facilities, radar systems and air-defense sites, exposing Tehran’s difficulty protecting fixed military installations and strategic infrastructure.

Unlike larger surface-to-air missile batteries, MANPADS can be operated by small teams and moved rapidly between locations. Their portability makes them harder to locate and destroy before they are used.

The QW-12 and FN-16 are infrared-guided missiles intended primarily for use against helicopters, drones and aircraft flying at relatively low altitudes. The systems could be distributed around military bases, missile facilities, power installations and other sensitive locations.

They would not, however, provide Iran with a comprehensive defense against high-altitude aircraft or long-range precision weapons. Instead, they could add another layer of risk for aircraft, helicopters and drones operating closer to Iranian territory and complicate efforts to strike targets at low altitude.

Western and regional security officials have also reported Iranian interest in more advanced Chinese systems, including the QW-18 and QW-19. A European security source told Reuters that several possible contracts involving QW-series weapons had been under discussion.

Tehran has reportedly examined overland routes to import Chinese military equipment and dual-use components more discreetly and reduce the danger that shipments could be intercepted or disrupted.

Reports that China was preparing to transfer portable air-defense systems to Iran first emerged in April, when US intelligence assessments indicated that Beijing could route the weapons through third countries to conceal their origin.

President Donald Trump warned China at the time that “if China does that, China can have big problems,” but did not specify what action Washington would take.

Trump later said Chinese President Xi Jinping had assured him Beijing was not providing weapons to Iran.

The reported deal follows indications that Chinese-made portable missiles may already have been used during the war. NBC News reported in May that a missile believed to have downed a US F-15 over southwestern Iran was likely manufactured in China, although the circumstances remained under investigation.

Iran has also pursued shoulder-fired systems from Russia. A separate agreement reported earlier this year called for Tehran to receive 500 Russian Verba launchers and 2,500 missiles between 2027 and 2029.

The Chinese systems could therefore provide Iran with a more immediate reinforcement while it waits for larger future deliveries.

China was a major weapons supplier to Iran during the 1980s, but large-scale transfers declined during the following decade under international pressure. More recently, US officials have accused Chinese companies of supplying Iran with missile components and dual-use materials, while Beijing has generally denied providing complete weapons systems.

Iran has simultaneously sought more powerful Chinese weapons. It was reported earlier this year to be negotiating for CM-302 supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, along with anti-ballistic and anti-satellite systems. It remains unclear whether the anti-ship missile agreement was completed.

The latest reported purchase comes as Iran attempts to restore military capabilities damaged by Israeli and US strikes while maintaining its missile and drone attacks on regional targets.

Washington recently paused a new round of attacks, but Trump has said military operations could resume if negotiations fail. The possible arrival of hundreds of portable air-defense systems could make future low-altitude missions over Iran more dangerous without eliminating the broader weaknesses in Tehran’s air-defense network.

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Israel shoots down drones approaching its eastern frontier; attacks also reported in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

By World Israel News Staff

A wave of drone attacks and interceptions was reported across Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq on Monday and Tuesday, despite a temporary halt in direct fighting between the US and Iran.

The Israeli Air Force intercepted an unmanned aircraft near the Jordanian border early Tuesday, marking the second consecutive day that drones were detected in the area, the IDF said.

The drone did not enter Israeli territory, and the military said no warning sirens were activated “in accordance with protocol.” The IDF said it was investigating where the aircraft had been launched.

The incident followed the interception of two additional drones near the Jordanian border on Monday.

“A short while ago, the IDF intercepted two UAVs identified in the area of the Jordan border,” the military said following Monday’s incident.

“The UAVs did not cross into Israeli territory. The origin of the launch is under review.”

Jordanian forces separately shot down two drones that the country’s military said were “targeting the kingdom” on Monday. The Royal Jordanian Air Force reported that the interceptions caused no casualties or material damage.

Jordan intercepted another drone over the eastern part of the country on Tuesday after it entered Jordanian airspace. Jordanian and Israeli officials did not publicly identify the origins of the aircraft involved in the two days of incidents.

The interceptions came as Saudi Arabia reported a more extensive assault on its energy infrastructure.

Saudi air defenses destroyed drones targeting oil facilities in the Eastern Province and the capital, Riyadh, according to the Saudi Defense Ministry. Riyadh said the aircraft had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed armed groups.

Saudi Arabia condemned what it called the “aggression” and said it retained the right to respond against those responsible. The Saudi Foreign Ministry called on Baghdad to take “all necessary measures” to prevent Iraqi territory from being used as a launching point for attacks on the kingdom.

Iraq’s prime minister ordered an investigation and said Iraq would not permit its territory to be used for attacks against neighboring countries.

No Iraqi militia immediately claimed responsibility for the launches.

Satellite imagery and videos circulating after the attack appeared to show smoke rising from the Abqaiq oil-processing facility in eastern Saudi Arabia. The Wall Street Journal reported that the facility sustained minor damage, although Saudi Aramco did not immediately provide a detailed public assessment.

Abqaiq is one of the most important oil-processing installations in the world. An attack on the facility in September 2019 temporarily disrupted a significant portion of Saudi production.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement separately claimed that it had attacked sensitive Saudi oil-transport infrastructure connecting the kingdom’s eastern production areas with the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the operation was retaliation for what the group described as Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace.

It was not immediately clear whether the Houthis were claiming the same attacks Saudi Arabia attributed to Iraqi militias or a separate operation against the east-west oil network.

The pipeline to Yanbu has become increasingly important as Saudi Arabia seeks to move oil to the Red Sea without relying on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has restricted shipping through the strait during its conflict with the US, disrupting a waterway that normally handles roughly one-fifth of global oil traffic.

The Houthis last week threatened to blockade Saudi oil activity in the Red Sea, potentially extending the disruption from the Strait of Hormuz to another critical maritime corridor.

Saudi Arabia has responded to the Houthi escalation with airstrikes against what it described as military installations at Yemen’s Hodeidah port. Riyadh said the operations were intended to protect maritime traffic and the kingdom’s energy infrastructure.

The renewed hostilities threaten to unravel the informal truce that largely halted direct fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis beginning in 2022.

Drone attacks were also reported in northern Iraq, where camps housing Iranian Kurdish opposition organizations came under fire. Iraqi security officials did not initially identify who launched the aircraft.

Additional explosions were reported around Erbil early Tuesday, including in areas northeast of the Kurdistan Region’s capital. Local reports said drones targeted the Khalifan and Soran areas, while explosions were heard near the US Consulate.

The attacks reportedly caused fires, but there was no immediate confirmed casualty toll. The Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah was also reported to have come under attack.

Iran has repeatedly targeted Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in northern Iraq, accusing them of cooperating with Israel and the US and of organizing attacks inside Iranian territory. Tehran has also pressured Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government to disarm the organizations and move them away from the Iranian border.

The regional drone activity continued even as President Donald Trump said the US and Iran were conducting encouraging negotiations following his decision to suspend nearly two weeks of American airstrikes.

“We’re having good talks,” Trump said Monday. “I think there’s a good chance that something could happen.”

Trump warned, however, that US military operations would resume if diplomacy failed.

Iran disputed Trump’s description of the contacts. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei acknowledged that messages were being exchanged through intermediaries but denied reports that Tehran had requested renewed negotiations.

“This is not in our DNA,” Baghaei said.

A senior Iranian official had previously said Tehran would suspend its attacks for as long as the US maintained its pause. Iran has not acknowledged responsibility for the drones intercepted near Israel and Jordan or for the attacks reported in Saudi Arabia.

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Regime-aligned Iranian media outlet publishes video calling for the murder of First Lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

An Iranian media outlet controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has published a video calling for attacks against US first lady Melania Trump and ending with a direct threat against her 20-year-old son, Barron Trump.

The video, titled “Where to Kill Melania?!,” was posted by the Tasnim News Agency on its official Telegram channel Tuesday amid continued military and diplomatic tensions between Washington and Tehran.

It opens with a blood-streaked depiction of the first lady and urges what it calls “global freedom fighters” to target her.

The largely AI-generated presentation uses publicly available photographs and footage to describe Melania Trump’s movements, security arrangements and visits to luxury stores in New York City. It claims the information was assembled from “anonymous security networks and satellite images,” although news reports reviewing the video said much of the material could be found through public sources.

The video portrays the first lady’s interest in clothing as her “biggest weakness” and identifies stores and people associated with her fashion purchases.

It then proposes several possible attack schemes, including poisoning and bribing people with potential access to the first lady. The operational claims contained in the video have not been independently verified.

The recording concludes with the warning: “This is just the beginning! Barron Trump, wait for us!”

Neither the White House, the first lady’s office nor the US Secret Service immediately issued a public response. Melania and Barron Trump both receive continuous Secret Service protection, while the agency also guards the White House, Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago and other properties used by the president and his family.

Although Tasnim presents itself as a news organization, the US government has formally identified it as an outlet controlled by the Revolutionary Guard.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned Tasnim in 2023, saying it was founded by two IRGC commanders who continued to direct the organization on the Revolutionary Guard’s behalf. Treasury also accused the outlet of assisting Iranian security agencies in identifying protesters during demonstrations against the regime.

The publication of the video therefore raised concerns that the threat represented more than an isolated social-media post, although it remained unclear whether senior members of Iran’s government had directly approved its production.

The video followed the appearance of threatening billboards targeting the Trump family in Tehran.

One display reportedly showed Melania, Barron and President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka with the word “KILLED” placed over their images.

“Hey, terrorist! Get ready to die,” the billboard declared.

Another display featured Trump, his wife and his children above American-flag-draped coffins under the slogan “blood for blood.”

The propaganda campaign comes as Trump faces longstanding threats from Iran and as the US government continues to prosecute alleged Iranian plots targeting American officials and opponents of the Tehran regime.

In November 2024, the Justice Department charged alleged IRGC asset Farhad Shakeri with participating in an Iranian-directed murder-for-hire network. According to federal prosecutors, the Revolutionary Guard instructed Shakeri to develop a plan to assassinate Trump before that year’s presidential election.

Shakeri, who was believed to be living in Iran, was also accused of arranging surveillance and assassination operations against Iranian dissidents, American Jews and Israeli citizens. The allegations against him have not been resolved in court.

The Justice Department said at the time that Iran had sought attacks, kidnappings and killings in the US and abroad to silence critics and retaliate for the January 2020 US airstrike that killed Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.

Trump has repeatedly warned that an Iranian attack against him would lead to overwhelming US retaliation.

“I’ve been on their list for a long time,” Trump recently told the New York Post.

“The only thing is, I’ve left instructions — if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they’ve never seen before,” he added.

The threatening video was released shortly after Trump posted a series of AI-generated images ridiculing Iran and as his administration considered whether to continue negotiations with Tehran or resume military action.

Trump said Monday that the two countries were conducting “very friendly negotiations,” but warned that the US could quickly return to bombing Iran if no agreement was reached.

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The material is expected to focus heavily on Pickaxe Mountain, an extensive underground tunnel complex built beneath Kolang Mountain near Iran’s principal Natanz nuclear facility.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to present President Donald Trump with Israeli intelligence indicating that Iran has transferred thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges to a deeply buried facility near Natanz and is rebuilding military capabilities damaged in US strikes, according to reports published ahead of the leaders’ Tuesday meeting.

An Israeli source in Jerusalem told the New York Post that Netanyahu’s delegation would use the intelligence to argue that Tehran is negotiating in bad faith and has no genuine intention of abandoning its nuclear or missile programs.

The material is expected to focus heavily on Pickaxe Mountain, an extensive underground tunnel complex built beneath Kolang Mountain near Iran’s principal Natanz nuclear facility.

Israeli intelligence assesses that Iran moved thousands of centrifuges into the tunnels last fall, after Israeli and US strikes damaged the country’s three main nuclear facilities during the 12-day war in June 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

The US has reviewed the Israeli assessment, according to the report.

The transfer would give Iran the equipment needed to restore uranium enrichment at a location far more difficult to attack than its previously known facilities. Pickaxe Mountain is believed to extend more than 300 feet beneath the mountain, potentially placing parts of the complex beyond the reach of conventional aerial bombs.

The reported presence of centrifuges does not by itself establish that Iran is actively enriching uranium at the site. The intelligence assessment and the evidence Netanyahu reportedly plans to present have not been made public or independently verified.

The Israeli delegation is also expected to provide information indicating that Iran has begun rebuilding its ballistic-missile and drone programs after repeated US attacks damaged production facilities and launch infrastructure.

Israeli officials believe the activity contradicts Tehran’s declared willingness to pursue an agreement with Washington and demonstrates that Iran is using the current pause in fighting to preserve or restore its strategic capabilities.

Netanyahu placed Iran at the top of his agenda before departing Israel on Monday.

“We will discuss all the issues on the agenda, primarily Iran,” Netanyahu said. “Of course, our goal is to protect our security and also to expand the circle of peace around us.”

The meeting comes as Trump weighs whether to extend a temporary halt in US attacks or resume military operations if indirect negotiations with Iran fail.

Trump said Monday that the US was holding “good talks” with Iran and suggested that an agreement remained possible. He nevertheless warned that American strikes would restart if the diplomatic effort did not quickly produce results.

Iran has disputed Trump’s characterization of the contacts. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said intermediaries were passing messages between the two governments but denied that direct negotiations were underway.

The talks are reportedly focused in part on restoring commercial navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and establishing a more durable ceasefire after nearly two weeks of US bombing and Iranian attacks on American forces and regional targets.

Netanyahu is expected to press Trump to make the dismantling of Iran’s remaining enrichment infrastructure a requirement for any agreement.

In a Fox News interview before his trip, Netanyahu said Trump would ultimately determine the next stage of the US campaign.

“But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear program,” Netanyahu said.

Trump has already threatened to attack Pickaxe Mountain. After reports of the Israeli intelligence assessment emerged last week, the president said the US could strike the facility “probably pretty soon.”

Trump had previously played down reports of nuclear activity at the mountain, saying Washington did not have confirmed information showing that centrifuges or enriched uranium had been placed there. The intelligence Netanyahu is expected to present could influence whether Trump accepts Israel’s assessment and authorizes further action.

The Pickaxe Mountain complex has been under construction since 2020, when Iran announced plans to replace a centrifuge-assembly facility damaged in an apparent sabotage operation at Natanz. Satellite images have since shown expanded tunnel entrances, reinforced defensive structures and increased security around the mountain.

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes and denies seeking an atomic weapon. Israel argues that Iran’s advanced enrichment capabilities, restrictions on international inspections and construction of deeply buried facilities cannot be explained by a civilian energy program alone.

The meeting also comes amid signs of tactical differences between Trump and Netanyahu over the war’s next phase.

Asked Monday whether the two leaders were aligned on Iran, Trump replied: “We have a little difference. But pretty close, yeah.”

Netanyahu is seeking continued pressure until Iran’s enrichment capacity, ballistic-missile production and ability to support regional proxy forces have been eliminated or placed under strict restrictions. Trump has maintained the threat of renewed military action while exploring whether diplomacy can end the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Netanyahu is also expected to brief Trump on ceasefire arrangements in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel continues to face Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which have received extensive Iranian support.

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President Trump says the US is engaged in “very friendly negotiations” with Tehran while also warning that large-scale operations against Iran could resume if no deal is reached.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump said Washington is engaged in “very friendly negotiations” with Iran, while warning that American military operations will resume if the talks fail to produce a rapid agreement.

Speaking Monday at a rally in Michigan, Trump portrayed the negotiations as the product of sustained US military pressure and said Iran could not be persuaded through financial incentives.

“You can’t bribe them. You’ve got to beat them, and we’ll beat the hell out of them,” Trump said. “But we’ll see how it turns out. Right now, there are very friendly negotiations going on.”

Trump said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remained the central objective of US policy.

“When somebody comes up and says, ‘Why are we doing this?’ just say, ‘Because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,’” he said. “It’s very simple. It’s all you have to say. There is nothing else you have to say.”

The president made the comments after the US suspended a nearly two-week bombing campaign against Iran, creating a temporary pause in the five-month conflict. Iran has also refrained from directly attacking US forces during the pause, although Iran-backed groups have continued operating elsewhere in the region.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One earlier Monday that Iran had sought renewed negotiations after sustaining extensive damage from American strikes.

“They want to meet, and we’re meeting. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “There’s a chance we can make a deal.”

“Without what we did, they wouldn’t even be talking to us,” he added. “They requested a meeting through their surrogates and directly, and we’re meeting.”

The president said the talks were progressing but made clear that the pause in military operations was conditional.

“We’re having good talks, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “I think there’s a good chance something could happen. And if it does, good. If it doesn’t, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”

In a separate interview with Axios, Trump described the negotiations as “very deep talks” and said Washington would return to “very strong military action” if diplomacy failed.

Asked how long he was prepared to allow the negotiations to continue, Trump replied: “Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all.”

Trump said he agreed to pause planned attacks after countries mediating between Washington and Tehran asked him to give diplomacy another opportunity.

Iran, however, disputed Trump’s claim that Tehran had requested negotiations.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said messages were continuing to pass through intermediaries but denied that direct US-Iran negotiations were taking place. He described reports that Iran had asked to reopen talks as “fabricated.”

“This is not in our DNA,” Baghaei said.

Baghaei acknowledged that mediators could deliver messages from Washington and said Iran had not abandoned diplomacy. Regional officials said Qatar and Pakistan were leading efforts to restore an interim ceasefire that collapsed during the latest exchange of attacks.

One regional official described the progress achieved by mediators as “significant.”

The immediate negotiations reportedly center on restoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically important waterway through which a large share of the world’s oil supplies passes.

Iran maintains that it has the authority to supervise vessels using the strait and has proposed charging transit fees. The US has demanded unrestricted navigation and has supported an alternative shipping route closer to Oman’s coastline.

Baghaei said Iran and Oman were discussing ways to “develop mechanisms to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while respecting the sovereign rights and sovereignty of both coastal states, as well as Iran’s security and national interests.”

Despite the negotiations, Iranian state media reported Monday that Iran had turned back six vessels accused of attempting to enter the waterway without authorization. Commercial traffic through the strait remains severely reduced.

The US military has also maintained a naval blockade against Iran, reporting that commercial vessels have been redirected, disabled or boarded during the operation.

Regional violence continued during the pause in direct US-Iran attacks. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones launched by Iran-backed militias in Iraq toward petroleum facilities, including targets near Riyadh. Jordan also reported shooting down two drones, while Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen claimed an attack on Saudi oil infrastructure.

Trump dismissed suggestions that declining American munitions stocks had forced him to pause the bombing campaign. Reports indicated that senior military officials had warned that available targets were becoming limited and that extended operations could further strain inventories of missiles and other precision weapons.

The president said the US arsenal was “in very good shape,” although he acknowledged that he would prefer to possess more advanced munitions.

Trump’s comments came one day before a scheduled White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Iran would be the leading issue on the agenda.

Netanyahu said before departing for Washington that Israel’s goals were to protect its security and expand regional peace agreements.

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Israeli officials accuse Turkey of trying to influence Israel’s election through social media.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli security officials have identified what they believe is a Turkish effort to influence Israel’s approaching national election through social media, according to a report published Monday.

Senior security officials told The Jerusalem Post that the online activity was designed to shape Israeli public opinion, disrupt the election campaign and deepen divisions among different parts of Israeli society.

The officials did not identify the social media accounts, platforms or organizations allegedly involved. They also did not present public evidence supporting the assessment or say whether the activity was being directed by the Turkish government.

No Turkish response to the specific allegation was cited in the report.

The assessment places Turkey alongside Iran among the foreign actors Israeli authorities suspect of attempting to exploit political and social divisions before the October 27 vote.

The claims emerged as Shin Bet director David Zini prepared to brief lawmakers during a classified meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s intelligence subcommittee.

Zini was expected to present intelligence concerning indications of foreign election interference and Israel’s ability to detect covert financial transfers intended to influence domestic political activity.

Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee, was also expected to participate in the closed-door hearing.

The reported Turkish activity appears to involve influence operations rather than direct interference with voting systems. Such campaigns can use false personas, coordinated accounts, misleading content, manipulated images or artificial intelligence to make political messages appear more popular or authentic than they are.

Israeli officials did not disclose which political parties, candidates or sections of the electorate were allegedly being targeted. They also did not say whether the campaign was supporting a particular electoral outcome or was primarily intended to increase mistrust and polarization.

Israel’s National Cyber Directorate has previously told Knesset lawmakers that authorities had already detected indications of attempted foreign interference ahead of the election.

The October vote will be Israel’s first national election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and the prolonged regional war that followed. The campaign is expected to center heavily on responsibility for the attack, the conduct of the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, national security and the future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

President Isaac Herzog warned Israelis last week that both foreign and domestic threats could undermine confidence in the electoral process.

“Elections are a test of Israeli democracy, and they are also a test of the unity and cohesion of Israeli society,” Herzog said in a televised address marking the beginning of the campaign.

Herzog said Zini and Sohlberg had briefed him on several threats to the election’s integrity. He urged law enforcement and security bodies to act firmly while calling on voters to be cautious about material they encounter or distribute online.

The president also warned political leaders against treating opponents as enemies, declaring that elections “are not a civil war.”

Concerns about foreign manipulation were reinforced this month by a special report from State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman, which found significant gaps in Israel’s preparations for digital influence campaigns.

The report said that, as of March, Israel had “no comprehensive national policy” for responding to foreign digital influence and had not appointed a single authority to coordinate the work of the agencies responsible for addressing it.

The comptroller’s office said foreign actors, led primarily by Iran, had attempted to manipulate Israeli public opinion, create political instability, weaken social cohesion and spread fear.

The report also found that much of Israel’s preparation against election-related influence campaigns had historically taken place only shortly before voting, despite the threat having been recognized for years.

Artificial intelligence has made the problem more urgent by allowing operatives to produce large volumes of convincing written material, fabricated photographs, cloned voices and manipulated videos at relatively low cost.

Former Supreme Court deputy president Hanan Melcer, who previously chaired the Central Elections Committee, issued a similar warning earlier this month.

“Election integrity is in danger,” Melcer said at the Herzliya Conference. “But the danger can be prevented.”

Melcer called for preparations against foreign and domestic interference, artificial intelligence and anonymous political activity. He argued that users seeking to shape an election through social media should not be permitted to conceal who is behind their accounts.

Relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated sharply in recent years amid Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Israel and Ankara’s support for Hamas.

Israeli political and security figures have increasingly identified Turkey as a potential strategic rival following the weakening of Iran and its regional terrorist network.

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Iran threatens to retaliate against Ukraine after accusing Kyiv of striking an Iranian vessel at Israel’s “behest.”

By World Israel News Staff

Iran threatened to retaliate against Ukraine after a Ukrainian strike hit an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, killing one sailor and injuring another, according to Iranian officials.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack on Israel’s orders, although he provided no evidence connecting Israel to the operation.

“Zelensky has attacked an Iranian commercial vessel, killing a sailor,” Araghchi wrote on X, calling the strike a “blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel’s behest.”

Araghchi said he discussed the incident in separate telephone calls with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

He said he had made clear that the attack “cannot go unanswered,” signaling that Tehran was considering some form of retaliation against Ukraine.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the vessel was struck early Saturday, causing an explosion aboard the ship. The ministry described the attack as an “act of aggression that could further inflame and expand the ongoing conflict.”

Tehran summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires to lodge a formal protest and warned that Iran “will not hesitate to defend its national interests and security.”

The Iranian government identified the targeted ship as a commercial vessel but did not name it or provide details about its cargo. Iran also maintained that it had never intervened in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukraine offered a sharply different account, saying its forces had targeted vessels involved in military shipments between Iran and Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces had achieved “very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea,” including attacks on “vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship.”

Ukraine’s Security Service said the operation targeted cargo vessels under international sanctions that were being used to move military equipment between Russia and Iran.

The identity of the Iranian vessel, the precise nature of its cargo and the full extent of the damage could not immediately be independently confirmed.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel told Israel’s Channel 12 that the vessels had been transporting Iranian weapons to Russia for use in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Iran has previously acknowledged supplying Russia with a limited number of drones before the February 2022 invasion. Russia has since used thousands of Iran-designed Shahed attack drones against Ukrainian cities, infrastructure and military targets, although Moscow has also established domestic production of the weapons.

The Caspian Sea has become an increasingly important military and commercial route between Russia and Iran. Because neither country has direct maritime access to the other through open seas, the enclosed body of water provides a relatively protected corridor for shipping goods between Iranian and Russian ports.

Ukraine has expanded the range of its drone operations during the war, striking targets far inside Russia and attacking vessels and infrastructure used to support Moscow’s military campaign.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Lavrov offered condolences to Iran over the sailor’s death. According to Moscow, Araghchi thanked authorities in Russia’s Astrakhan region, where the vessel began its journey, for helping the crew.

The Russian account said Araghchi also called for an end to what he described as military “adventures by the Kyiv regime.”

The incident comes as Ukraine has accused Moscow and Tehran of deepening their military cooperation beyond the war in Eastern Europe.

Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had recorded Russian satellites observing military facilities in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait before information from those observations appeared in Iran.

“There is a clear correlation” between Russian surveillance of the sites and subsequent Iranian attacks, Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine would share its intelligence with its allies.

Iranian officials did not specify when, where or how they intended to respond.

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Netanyahu reportedly dissuaded the late Senator Lindsey Graham from trying to convince Trump to strike Hezbollah.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discouraged the late US senator Lindsey Graham from lobbying President Donald Trump to expand direct American military involvement from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to previously unaired documentary footage reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The March 4, 2026 conversation reportedly occurred as Graham was preparing to travel to Florida to persuade Trump to join Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah. Netanyahu urged the South Carolina Republican to avoid widening US involvement while Israel and the US were focused on Iran.

“We’re concentrating right now on Iran,” Netanyahu told Graham during the call.

Netanyahu reportedly warned that threatening Hezbollah with an all-out campaign could deter the Iranian-backed terrorist group, but actually launching such an operation would eliminate its incentive to exercise restraint. Graham accepted the prime minister’s argument.

“That’s actually good counsel,” Graham replied.

The exchange was captured by filmmaker Alex Holder, who began following Graham in 2023 and accumulated hundreds of hours of footage for a documentary tentatively titled Lindsey’s Game. The film, which has not yet been released, chronicles Graham’s foreign-policy activities and his relationships with Trump, Netanyahu and other international leaders.

The footage portrays Graham as an energetic behind-the-scenes advocate for the US-Israeli war against Iran, which began with major strikes on February 28.

Speaking to his staff after the opening attacks, Graham reportedly said Trump was highly enthusiastic about the operation. The senator also complained that too few administration officials and Republicans were publicly defending the war.

“Very few people are out selling this war from the administration. I’m shocked,” Graham said.

Graham had advocated confronting Iran for years and used his close relationships with both Trump and Netanyahu to press for a more aggressive US policy. The documentary footage reportedly shows him speaking with military officials, Israeli representatives and foreign leaders as he sought to build support for the campaign.

He also traveled to Saudi Arabia in an effort to obtain Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s backing for the war. Graham reportedly suggested to Netanyahu that Israel and Saudi Arabia could normalize relations following the fall of the Iranian regime, but the Israeli leader again urged him to focus first on the immediate campaign against Tehran.

The footage also revealed Graham’s doubts about Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, two of Trump’s leading diplomatic representatives.

During a conversation with Jake Sullivan, who served as national security adviser under former President Joe Biden, Graham reportedly argued that Secretary of State Marco Rubio should take the leading role in negotiations involving Iran.

Graham said Kushner and Witkoff were too conflicted to handle the effort, although the meaning of his remark was unclear. It was not established whether he was alleging conflicts of interest or saying that the two men faced competing policy considerations.

A White House official defended the two envoys, calling them “excellent dealmakers whose results speak for themselves.”

Graham initially predicted that the war would conclude within several weeks. As the conflict continued, however, the senator reportedly became increasingly concerned that Trump was losing momentum and considered personally intervening with the president again.

The report highlights the unusual role Graham played in shaping debates over US policy toward Israel, Iran and the broader Middle East. Although he did not hold a formal position in the Trump administration, he enjoyed extensive access to the president and frequently communicated directly with Netanyahu and other foreign leaders.

It also presents Netanyahu in the unexpected position of restraining Graham, one of Washington’s most outspoken advocates for using military force against Iran and its regional allies.

Graham died suddenly on July 11 at age 71. Preliminary findings attributed his death to an aortic dissection, according to his office.

The South Carolina senator had spent more than three decades in Congress and was regarded as one of Israel’s strongest supporters in Washington. He was also a leading advocate for Ukraine and a proponent of an assertive US foreign policy.

Netanyahu is expected to attend Graham’s memorial service in Washington during his current US trip, which also includes an anticipated meeting with Trump.

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