English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News &
Editorials
For August 16/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2026/english.August
16.26.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
The Parable of the Sower/But that on the good ground are
they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and
bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke08/04-15/And when much people were gathered together, and
were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to
sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden
down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as
soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some
fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other
fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he
had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And
his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto
you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in
parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are
they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their
hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which,
when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a
while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among
thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with
cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Titles For Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related
News & Editorials published on August 15-16/2026
The rulers & state of occupied Lebanon are mere marketing megaphones for the
occupation of the Party of Satan and their foolish mullahs./Elias Bejjani/August
15, 2026
Elias Bejjani/Text, Video, Arabic and English/The Dhimmi and Sin of the Amnesty
Law as it relates to the heroic South Lebanon Army and those forcibly displaced
since 2000
With a reading of the article by director and writer Youssef Y. Khoury, which
exposes and condemns the monstrous law: When Marika pardons Saint Rita/Elias
Bejjani/August 14/2026
The Lebanese Army is an institution subordinate to the state, executing its
orders and not the other way around/Elias Bejjani/August 12, 2026
11 killed, 19 hurt in Israeli strikes on southern towns as Israel says Hezbollah
attacked troops in Ali al-Taher
Report: Hezbollah evacuation of Ali al-Taher prerequisite for framework
implementation
Israel says Ansar strike targeted Hezbollah commander
Hezbollah says Israeli attacks will be met with 'appropriate' response
Netanyahu says Israel didn't know civilians were at Ansar site it struck
Israel says wants 'more serious' talks with Lebanon
Aoun says Israeli strikes on Lebanon send ‘clear message’ on negotiations
Aoun says Israeli strikes send 'clear message' on negotiations
Salam says those killed in Israeli strike on Ansar were not 'military
infrastructure'
Berri says 'massacres' prove Israel 'disregards all agreements'
Qassem says Lebanon-Israel deal puts undue pressure on army
Donald Trump’s Lebanon Race/Ahmad Sharawi, and David Daoud/National
Interest/August 15/2026
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 15-16/2026
Truce on the Brink of Collapse... Washington and Tehran in a “Who Blinks
First” Contest
CENTCOM: USS George H.W. Bush Enters the Arabian Sea... Trump Downplays Fatigue
of Abraham Lincoln Crew as George Washington Prepares to Replace It
Tehran: Talks with Oman to Issue a Joint Statement on Hormuz... Araghchi Expects
a Near-Term Outcome
Iran will not resume US talks, Hormuz shipping depends on conditions: FM
Araghchi
UAE says ADNOC vessel attacked in Hormuz, vows to defend navigation rights
Yemen’s Houthis begin arrest campaign south of Hodeida: Al Arabiya correspondent
Yemen’s Mokha port halts operations after Houthi attacks, port director says
Yemen military vows tough response to Houthi attack on port city
Oil spill affects 12 km of Oman coast, Masirah unaffected, state news agency
says
Palestinians in Qusra say they have faced militant settler attacks for months
Russia seeks explanation from US and Turkey over reports of possible arms
transfer
Taliban government marks five years since return to power in Afghanistan
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials
from miscellaneous sources published
on August 15-16/2026
Iranian Regime's Dangerous Strategy: Outlast Trump, Return Stronger/Dr.
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/August 15, 2026
Iran Remains the Chief Obstacle to Peace in the Middle East/Mike Pompeo, Senior
Counsel for Global Affairs/ACLJ/August 15/2026
Question: What is the judgment seat of Christ?/GotQuestions.org?/August 15/2026
The European Union...Unity in Diversity/Abdel Rahman Shalgham-Former Libyan
Minister of Foreign Affairs/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 15/2026
The Three Poles Descend on the North Pole/Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/August
15/2026
The Makkah Agreement Changes the Equation/Mohammed al-Rumaihi/Asharq Al-Awsat/August
15/2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on August 14/2026
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News & Editorials published on August 15-16/2026
The rulers & state of occupied Lebanon are mere marketing megaphones for
the occupation of the Party of Satan and their foolish mullahs.
Elias Bejjani/August 15, 2026
Berri, Salam, and Aoun condemn Israeli strikes like parrots, while shamelessly
and disgracefully marketing the crimes and occupation of the Iranian Hezbollah
and the jihadism of the insane mullahs, failing to implement the required
resolutions for Israeli withdrawal and the establishment of peace. It is truly a
time of misery, drought, and eunuchs.
Elias Bejjani/Text, Video, Arabic and English/The
Dhimmi and Sin of the Amnesty Law as it relates to the heroic South Lebanon Army
and those forcibly displaced since 2000
With a reading of the article by director and writer Youssef Y. Khoury, which
exposes and condemns the monstrous law: When Marika pardons Saint Rita
Elias Bejjani/August 14/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156651/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnA_J3-JNo
A thousand salutes of respect and pride to our free and heroic southern people,
who have been refugees since the year 2000 in Israel and various free nations.
To them we say: You are Lebanon, you are the cedar, and wherever you are,
patriotism, faith, and Lebanon reside.
You are the ones who should forgive Lebanon’s rulers and political parties, not
the other way around. The miserable reality is that both you and we are living
in an era ruled by proxy rulers, puppets, and dhimwis—under the care of corrupt
political party leaders who falsely claim to be Christians while, in heart,
soul, and practice, they are Judases.
Yes, we live in a time when the majority of our heedless people are partisans
like flocks of sheep led to the slaughterhouse without even a bleat.
And a thousand yes, our time is the time of people with robes, birettas, and
bellies, whom the saints of the Church disown.
The remaining and most dangerous of our misfortunes lies in our country’s proxy
and mercenary, humiliating Membersof the Parliament who sold their dignity, the
homeland, and the citizens for less than thirty pieces of silver.
O our honorable displaced southern people wherever you are, strengthen your
faith and be certain that you will return when Lebanon returns to its true
Lebanese identity, for its return will not be complete until you return to it
honored and cherished.
The Lebanese Army is an institution subordinate to the
state, executing its orders and not the other way around.
Elias Bejjani/August 12, 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156604/
The theatrical performance by the Minister of Defense in the Parliament
yesterday, and his sullenness after being prevented from delivering his speech,
is merely a heresy, a brazen tool, and illegal, aimed at sowing discord and
serving the Iranian occupier and its army of local mercenaries—blasphemously and
sacrilegiously named “Hezbollah”—while in reality and operational terms, it is
the Iranian-Jihadist army of devastation.
The Lebanese Army is an institution just like all other state institutions
subordinate to the Council of Ministers, the “executive authority,” and not a
state within a state that decides, accepts, and rejects as it pleases. Hence,
everything termed as the army’s opinion on the general amnesty law file is a
violation of the constitution, a heresy, and an encroachment on the authority of
the Council of Ministers.
This crude, theatrical deviation from the law is written, produced, and directed
by Nabih Berri, the king of corruption, the corrupt, and 100% sectarian, who has
worked for decades to expel Christians from all state institutions and entrench
the Persian mullahs’ state.
As for the positions of the one who failed in all of Satan’s trials, Michel Aoun,
and his son-in-law—who is listed on international corruption lists—along with
all remaining MPs and stooges who are with him, in addition to the Syrian
nationalist Elie Bou Saab and all the rest of the mercenaries funded by
Hezbollah, they are bundles of stupidity, treason, subservience, and dhimmitude.
In our lived reality, the Lebanese Army has not been a national army after
Commander Ibrahim Tannous; rather, it has transformed into a repressive force
affiliated with occupying powers and their local tools—Palestinian, leftist,
Syrian nationalist, jihadist, Syrian Baathist, Iranian etc.
The current role of the army, under the mullah-aligned leadership of Rudolph
Haykal who acts on his own accord, lies outside the framework of the executive
authority regarding all its positions and practices—specifically concerning
negotiations with the State of Israel, as well as what is termed the army’s
opinion on the general amnesty law… and the list of heresies goes on and on.
In conclusion, Lebanon’s army is not an independent state, but an institution
like the rest of the state institutions, and everything outside this legal and
constitutional framework is merely theatrical plays and heresies backed by the
corrupt Nabih Berri, the Party of Satan, and the rest of the hired extras such
as the contemptible Gebran Bassil.
Note: The attached image is AI-generated and not real.
11 killed, 19 hurt in Israeli strikes on southern towns
as Israel says Hezbollah attacked troops in Ali al-Taher
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/August 15/2026
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike in the country's south on Saturday
killed seven people, including three children and two women, in the worst toll
since deals in June saw a lull in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Four
people were killed in another Israeli airstrike on a two-story building in the
southern town of Deir al-Zahrani later on Saturday.Nineteen people were also
wounded in the two airstrikes, the Health Ministry said. The Israeli army
meanwhile said that the Ansar airstrike and other heavy attacks in the Nabatieh
region came in response to Hezbollah action against Israeli troops in the Ali
al-Taher ridge area. The Israeli military added that it will not allow the
Hezbollah to harm Israeli civilians or soldiers “and will continue to operate to
remove threats.”
A Hezbollah official did not immediately respond when asked for comment on
whether they carried out any attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
Media reports said Israeli soldiers were evacuated from the area in helicopters.
According to Lebanese reports, Israeli ground forces attempted to advance toward
the Ali al-Taher hills overlooking Nabatieh. This triggered intense ground
clashes, heavy machine-gun fire, and artillery shelling. Israeli warplanes
launched at least eight localized airstrikes on the ridge to support their
forces. The National News Agency (NNA) said Israel "escalated its attacks on the
south" early Saturday, reporting that "a strike launched by enemy warplanes on a
home" on the outskirts of the village of Ansar "killed seven people and wounded
three others."It also said "Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes
targeting the Ali al-Taher ridge," a strategic hill overlooking the Nabatieh
area, also reporting Israeli shelling there. Israel's military has previously
said that Hezbollah fighters were hiding out in "underground terror
infrastructure" in the Ali al-Taher ridge area.
The NNA said "the valley between Ansar and Zarariyeh was also subjected to a
strike, the first at this geographical depth since the ceasefire two months
ago."An AFP correspondent in Ansar saw a destroyed building as rescuers working
to remove human remains from the rubble, and a swimming pool clouded and grey
from dust and debris. Abbas Khalil, 60, said he was doing his early morning
Islamic prayers when the strike hit. "We were shocked... There's no
justification for this," he told AFP.Standing next to the swampy swimming pool
in Ansar, building owner Mohammed Saab told AFP he waited every year to rent it
out over the summer.
"What do I have here for this to happen?" he said in shock.
Ansar is around 20 kilometers from the Israeli border and is located beyond a
so-called "yellow line" declared by the Israeli army which runs in Lebanese
territory along the frontier and where Israeli troops are operating. Hezbollah
drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel in
support of its backer Iran. Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground
invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.
Violence has significantly decreased since the signing of a U.S.-Iran memorandum
of understanding in June on the broader Middle East war, followed by a
U.S.-sponsored framework deal between Lebanon and Israel later that month. But
Lebanon still reports intermittent Israeli strikes, occasionally causing
casualties, and broad demolitions of civilian buildings in southern villages and
towns.
'Humiliation'
The NNA also said Israeli forces detonated homes in the town of Bint Jbeil near
the border early Saturday. The Israel-Lebanon framework deal includes the
disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south
Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in
"pilot zones". Israel and Lebanon are to hold an eighth round of U.S.-sponsored
negotiations in Rome early next month. On Friday, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim
Qassem accused Lebanese authorities of subjecting the country's armed forces to
undue pressure by implementing the deal. "How can you accept this ongoing
humiliation of the Lebanese Army, exposing it to bombardment and Israeli
pressures, instead of acting as its protectors?" Qassem said. Earlier this week,
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz visited southern Lebanon, vowing to keep
troops in a so-called "security zone" there and saying the Israeli military was
"destroying the underground infrastructure" and "destroying all the houses" in
the area. When asked about Katz's remarks, a U.S. State Department official told
AFP that "a permanent military presence in south Lebanon is not consistent with
the commitments made in the framework".
Report: Hezbollah evacuation of Ali al-Taher prerequisite
for framework implementation
Naharnet/August 15/2026
Hezbollah's complete surrender of the Ali al-Taher hills to the Lebanese Army is
a prerequisite for fully implementing the Framework Agreement, said a political
source familiar with Lebanese-U.S. discussions, including the recent visit of
the head of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon, General Joseph
Clearfield, to Beirut and his meetings with President Joseph Aoun and Army
Commander General Rodolphe Haykal. “This includes solidifying the ceasefire,
expanding the pilot zones, and establishing the mechanism tasked with verifying
the army's deployment in the two pilot zones in the towns of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh,
Froun and Srifa,” the source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. The political
source confirmed that the evacuation of the Ali al-Taher hills is at the top of
the agenda for the negotiations session to be hosted by Rome for the third time
in early September. He told Asharq al-Awsat that the future of the situation in
southern Lebanon hinges on Hezbollah's response to Aoun's demand for its
evacuation of the Ali al-Taher hills, including the military installations it
has constructed beneath them.The source added that Hezbollah “has not yet
responded as it should to the government’s desire for the army to deploy in the
hills of Ali al-Taher.”
Israel says Ansar strike targeted Hezbollah commander
Agence France Presse/August 15/2026
The Israeli military said on Saturday that its strike on the Lebanese village of
Ansar, where authorities reported seven people killed including children,
targeted a Hezbollah commander. It said it "struck a central headquarters of the
Radwan Force", referring to an elite Hezbollah unit, adding that "the strike
eliminated terrorist Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, a battalion commander in the
Radwan Force".The Israeli military further acknowledged what it called a "claim"
that "Hassan's family was also present with him inside the military
headquarters," adding that they "were not the target of the strike." The strike
killed all the family members.
Hezbollah says Israeli attacks will be met with
'appropriate' response
Agence France Presse/August 15/2026
Hezbollah said that Israeli attacks on Lebanon would be met with an
"appropriate" response after deadly strikes on the country's south on Saturday,
urging authorities to halt "humiliating" negotiations with Israel. Israel "must
clearly understand that its attacks, violations and attempts to impose a fait
accompli cannot continue, and will be met with an appropriate response," the
Iran-backed group said in a statement, adding that Lebanese authorities "must
not insist on continuing along the humiliating path of direct negotiations and
providing the enemy with free concessions."
Netanyahu says Israel didn't know civilians were at Ansar
site it struck
Associated Press/August 15/2026
The office of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that
Hezbollah violated the ceasefire by attacking Israeli soldiers in the Ali al-Taher
area in south Lebanon, seriously wounding three of them. It said the Israeli
military responded by striking the Hezbollah headquarters which allegedly
ordered the attack, learning only later that Hezbollah “deliberately put
civilians” in that military compound. Israel's state broadcaster meanwhile said
that Hezbollah fired an explosive drone at the Israeli soldiers as they were
trying to round up Hezbollah operatives in the Ali al-Taher area.
Israel says wants 'more serious' talks with Lebanon
Agence France Presse/August 15/2026
Israel wants new and more ambitious U.S.-brokered talks with Lebanon after
carrying out deadly strikes targeting Hezbollah, a spokesman for Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. The Israeli strikes against Hezbollah
"should jumpstart the talks and make them much more serious, not do the
opposite", Netanyahu spokesman Doron Spielman told AFP. "And I think it will. It
will hopefully move these talks along because the enemy here is clear and the
enemy is Hezbollah," he said. Israel said that it carried out the strikes after
Hezbollah attacked inside what Israel calls a security zone inside southern
Lebanon. Three Israeli soldiers were seriously injured, Netanyahu's office said.
Spielman said Israel was still upholding a U.S.-brokered agreement that calls
for Lebanon's fledgling security forces to take gradual control and remove
Hezbollah, a Shiite movement backed by Iran's clerical state that has long
played a central role in Lebanon. "We believe in the agreement. We very much
hope that the Lebanese Armed Forces are going to be able to step into the foray,
and together we're going to remove Hezbollah from the picture," Spielman said.
Israel said it responded by attacking a headquarters of Hezbollah's elite Radwan
force, killing commander Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan. It acknowledged that Hassan's
family members were with them and said they were not the target. Lebanese
authorities said nine people were killed including several children in the Ansar
strike, as well as four more people in a separate strike.
Aoun says Israeli strikes on Lebanon send ‘clear
message’ on negotiations
AFP/15 August ,2026
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israeli strikes on the country’s south on
Saturday were a “clear message” on negotiations between the two countries, ahead
of the next round of US-sponsored talks early next month in Rome. Aoun condemned
the “ongoing Israeli attacks” on the south and “repeated violations of the
framework agreement... and international law on protecting civilians, which led
to the death of an entire family in the village of Ansar,” according to a
statement from his office, adding that “these violations are a clear message on
the negotiation process.”Israel wants new and more ambitious US-brokered talks
with Lebanon after carrying out strikes, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said Saturday, adding the countries' common enemy was Hezbollah.The
Israeli strikes against Hezbollah “should jumpstart the talks and make them much
more serious, not do the opposite,” Netanyahu spokesman Doron Spielman told AFP.
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike in the country’s south killed seven
people, the worst toll since deals in June saw a lull in hostilities between
Israel and Hezbollah. The National News Agency (NNA)
said Israel “escalated its attacks on the south” early Saturday, reporting that
“a strike launched by enemy warplanes on a home” on the outskirts of the village
of Ansar “killed seven people and wounded three others.”It said the strike
destroyed the home and that emergency rescuers were removing rubble and
transporting the casualties to hospital.
The Israeli military said later on Saturday that it had struck Hezbollah
infrastructure in southern Lebanon “in response to action against soldiers in
security zone.”The military said that its strikes were in response to ceasefire
violations by Hezbollah. The strikes “came in response to a serious breach of
the agreement by Hezbollah, after they attacked our forces inside the
agreed-upon security zone,” Lieutenant Colonel Ella Waweya, an Arabic-language
spokeswoman for the Israeli military, wrote on X.
However, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said seven people including two
women and three children killed in the Israeli strike were not military targets,
after Israel said it struck Hezbollah “infrastructure.”“The seven martyrs of the
Israeli strike on the village of Ansar are not ‘military infrastructure’ and the
women and children who were killed are not military targets,” Salam said, adding
that “Israel must halt this escalation,” which he said was “extremely dangerous
and undermines efforts to consolidate stability in the south.”
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at
Israel in support of its backer Iran. Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and
a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300
people.
Violence has significantly decreased since the signing of a US-Iran memorandum
of understanding in June on the broader Middle East war, and a US-sponsored
framework deal between Lebanon and Israel agreed later that month. But Lebanon
still reports intermittent Israeli strikes occasionally causing casualties, and
the broad demolitions of civilian buildings in southern villages and towns. The
NNA said “the valley between Ansar and Zarariyeh was also subjected to a strike,
the first at this geographical depth since the ceasefire two months ago.”It also
said “Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes targeting the Ali al-Taher
ridge,” a strategic hill overlooking the Nabatieh area, also reporting Israeli
shelling there. The news agency said Israeli forces detonated homes in the town
of Bint Jbeil near the border. The Israel-Lebanon framework deal includes the
disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south
Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in
“pilot zones.” On Friday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem
accused Lebanese authorities of subjecting the country’s armed forces to undue
pressure by implementing the deal. “How can you accept
this ongoing humiliation of the Lebanese army, exposing it to bombardment and
Israeli pressures, instead of acting as its protectors?” Qassem said.This week,
Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations to keep an international force in
Lebanon after its peacekeepers’ mandate ends this year, saying that “the
peacekeepers are a crucial deterrent against attacks on civilians and human
rights abuses.”
Aoun says Israeli strikes send 'clear message' on
negotiations
Agence France Presse/August 15/2026
President Joseph Aoun said deadly Israeli strikes on the country's south on
Saturday were a "clear message" on negotiations between Lebanon and Israel,
ahead of the next round of U.S.-sponsored talks early next month in Rome. Aoun
condemned the "ongoing Israeli attacks" on the south and "repeated violations of
the framework agreement... and international law on protecting civilians, which
led to the death of an entire family in the village of Ansar," according to a
statement from his office, adding that "these violations are a clear message
against the negotiation process and the U.S. efforts aimed at implementing this
agreement."
Salam says those killed in Israeli strike on Ansar were not
'military infrastructure'
Agence France Presse/August 15/2026
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said seven people including two women and three
children killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday were not military targets,
after Israel said it struck Hezbollah "infrastructure"."The seven martyrs of the
Israeli strike on the village of Ansar are not 'military infrastructure' and the
women and children who were killed are not military targets," Salam said. He
added that "Israel must halt this escalation," which he said was "extremely
dangerous and undermines efforts to consolidate stability in the south."
Berri says 'massacres' prove Israel 'disregards all agreements'
Naharnet/August 15/2026
Speaker Nabih Berri noted Saturday that "the two massacres perpetrated by the
Israeli occupation aircraft in the towns of Ansar and Deir al-Zahrani, which
resulted in the martyrdom of an entire family, mostly women and children, fall
within the context of the ongoing genocidal war waged by the Israeli killing and
destruction machine against the land, people, heritage, and everything connected
to human life in the South."He stated that "these massacres irrefutably prove
that the Israeli political and military leadership disregards all agreements,
laws, and efforts to end the war and tension in Lebanon and the region."Berri
added: "The aggression against the towns of Ansar, Deir al-Zahrani, al-Mansouri,
and the villages of the Nabatieh district is a call, sealed with the blood of
children and women, to all Lebanese, especially the political forces across the
spectrum, to approach the Israeli aggression, its repercussions, and its
dimensions from a national perspective, far removed from any regional, sectarian
or partisan bias.""It is a call to solidify the atmosphere of national unity. It
is also a call to the sponsors of the negotiations and ceasefire agreements to
assume their responsibility to stop this war of extermination before it is too
late," Berri urged.
Qassem says Lebanon-Israel deal puts undue pressure on army
Agence France Presse/August 15/2026
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has accused Lebanese authorities of
subjecting the country's armed forces to undue pressure by implementing a
framework deal agreed with Israel to end hostilities. The June trilateral
framework, to which the United States is also a party, involves the disarmament
of Hezbollah and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon's south,
where it has occupied several areas. It also includes the deployment of the
Lebanese Army to areas where Israel's military has pulled out, starting in test
areas known as "pilot zones"."How can you accept this ongoing humiliation of the
Lebanese Army, exposing it to bombardment and Israeli pressures, instead of
acting as its protectors?" Qassem said in a speech. In talks between Lebanon and
Israel in Rome last week, both sides discussed which countries might participate
in a committee tasked with verifying the Lebanese Army's deployment in the pilot
zones and clearance of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure, a Lebanese
presidency source told AFP. "Israel is attempting to bind Lebanon to an inquiry
committee that oversees the army's deployment, operations, and internal details.
Where is the patriotism? Where is the dignity of the army that ought to be
preserved?" said Qassem. Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected the direct talks and
refuses to surrender its weapons.Washington on Tuesday announced it would
sponsor a new round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Rome in early
September. But Qassem reiterated the group's rejection of the framework deal and
called on Lebanese officials to reverse it.
Donald Trump’s Lebanon Race
Ahmad Sharawi, and David Daoud/National Interest/August 15/2026
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/donald-trumps-lebanon-race
US rewards for Lebanon should follow, rather than precede, Hezbollah’s
disarmament.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and his allies tout last month’s Washington visit
as a success. Rightly so. President Donald Trump sent Aoun home with political,
economic, and security inducements to pull Lebanon toward Washington before
Tehran could exploit the US-Iran ceasefire process to preserve Hezbollah. The
strategy is sound; its execution is not. Washington’s rewards are outpacing
Beirut’s implementation of the June 26 Framework Agreement, which conditions new
US assistance and phased Israeli withdrawal on verified, nationwide Lebanese
action against Hezbollah. Paying in advance risks surrendering the leverage
needed to secure those results. The urgency in Washington and Tehran stems from
Hezbollah’s battlefield reversals. Since the group attacked Israel in October
2023, Israel has killed much of its senior leadership and hundreds of mid-level
commanders while destroying much of its arsenal and infrastructure. Near-daily
Israeli strikes after the November 2024 ceasefire impeded Hezbollah’s recovery.
Days after the Iran War began on February 28, Hezbollah attacked northern
Israel, triggering a renewed, more ferocious Israeli offensive.
Iran needed to end that war and Israel’s interminable attrition campaign. In
April, Tehran leveraged Washington’s pursuit of an Iran ceasefire to secure a
parallel truce in Lebanon and return decisions over Hezbollah’s arsenal
exclusively to Lebanese hands, as the group demanded —moving the issue into an
arena favoring its regeneration. Hezbollah’s substantial Shia support has kept
Lebanon’s political and military leaders fearful that forcible disarmament could
ignite civil conflict. A domestic process can therefore be delayed, diluted, or
reduced to cosmetic enforcement, giving Hezbollah room to rebuild.
Trump’s answer was to make Lebanese performance more rewarding. He backed Aoun,
moved to restore direct US-Lebanon flights, promised “concrete plans” to
strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and reportedly ordered an assessment
of the army’s needs. Aoun also spoke of US investment and reconstruction,
including a possible conference where Lebanese ministers would pitch projects to
American companies. Trump reportedly offered to restrain Israeli operations and
press Jerusalem to expand the pilot zone process into additional Israeli-held
Lebanese territory. Beirut separately claimed US assurances that Israel would
not strike areas transferred to LAF control.
But the framework does not reward Lebanese alignment in the abstract. It
conditions further Israeli withdrawal and new American assistance on verified
Lebanese performance: the state must establish a monopoly on force, disarm
Hezbollah nationwide, dismantle its military infrastructure, and block its
financing. Lebanon has not come close to making that process binding or
measurable, let alone implementing it.
Beirut’s only documented field action is LAF activity in three pilot zones—test
areas where verified Hezbollah disarmament and exclusive army control are
supposed to trigger Israeli withdrawal. LAF was already present in Froun and
Srifa; it entered Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh and began ordnance sweeps on July 21 as
Israel withdrew. Yet LAF has not publicly demonstrated that it disarmed
Hezbollah, dismantled its infrastructure, acted against unauthorized gunmen,
completed third-party verification, or secured any zone against the group’s
return. Performance deadlines and verification rules remain unsettled. Even full
implementation would complete only the agreement’s first test, leaving Hezbollah
armed elsewhere and attempting to replenish its arsenal.
Beirut has yet to establish a credible implementation path beyond the pilot
zones. The Lebanese Cabinet has not clearly adopted the LAF’s national
disarmament plan, whose contents remain secret and whose implementation is
incomplete. Nor has Beirut, in the month since the framework’s signing, adopted
a national implementation timetable, assigned units vetted for Hezbollah ties or
influence, or adopted safeguards against obstruction of disarmament.
Instead, Lebanese leaders have begun weakening the framework. Prime Minister
Nawaf Salam calls it politically, not legally, binding and limits its ban on
hostile political or legal action abroad to negotiations, though the text sets
no such limit. Aoun, meanwhile, has inverted the framework’s sequence by
demanding Israeli withdrawal before verified disarmament. Hezbollah, which
rejects the deal outright, likewise refuses to discuss its arsenal before
Israeli withdrawal. Both Aoun and Salam, concerned over civil war due to the
group’s “deeply rooted social constituency,” continue to reject forcible
disarmament despite Hezbollah’s refusal to demobilize—setting up for an
open-ended process that Hezbollah can obstruct indefinitely.
Lebanon’s efforts against Hezbollah’s finances, meanwhile, consist of isolated
and preliminary measures. The Central Bank’s July 2025 Circular 170 bars
regulated institutions from dealing with Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH)—Hezbollah’s
quasi-bank—and related entities. But Beirut has neither frozen their assets,
prosecuted their officials, nor demonstrably disrupted their informal financial
transactions. A reported June referral of AQAH and affiliated gold dealer, Jood
SARL, has still resulted in no formal proceedings. On June 30, the US Treasury
found AQAH and other Hezbollah financial entities remain active, while Hezbollah
continued using cash, gold, currency exchanges, front companies, commercial and
smuggling networks, and cryptocurrency.
Beirut’s recent behavior, meanwhile, warrants distrust. On January 8, LAF
claimed “effective control” of southern Lebanon between the Israeli frontier and
Litani River. Two months later, Hezbollah fought Israel from that area with
substantial forces and infrastructure still in place. LAF has also refused to
enforce the cabinet’s March 2 ban on Hezbollah’s military activities, while
Israel alleges LAF has coordinated with Hezbollah to present vacated
installations as proof of enforcement.
Frontloading new rewards despite that record would encourage Beirut to treat
presence as performance—and could turn the pilot zones into the framework’s
ceiling. Preserving its wider capabilities, Hezbollah could tactically retreat
from pilot zone localities and then return after Israel withdraws and
international attention fades. Israel’s withdrawals in 2000 and after the 2006
war did not disarm the group; Hezbollah, which portrays Israel as a permanent
threat irrespective of its occupation of Lebanese territory, simply found new
justifications for “resistance” and now rejects any linkage between Israeli
withdrawal and its disarmament.
Trump is right to contest Iran’s attempts to reclaim Lebanon, but Washington
cannot win by paying Beirut in advance. That approach has already facilitated
Hezbollah’s growth and Iranian influence. The framework was meant to correct
course by making the US-Lebanon relationship performance-based rather than
promise-based. Alignment with Washington should pay—but only as Beirut delivers.
About the Authors: Ahmad Sharawi and David Daoud
**Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at The Foundation for Defense of
Democracies, focusing on Middle East affairs, specifically the Levant, Iraq, and
Iranian intervention in Arab affairs, as well as US foreign policy toward the
region. Previously, Sharawi worked at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy. He created a map visualizing the border clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese
frontier and authored articles on Jordan and Morocco. Ahmad previously worked at
the International Finance Corporation and S&P Global. He holds a BA in
international relations from King’s College London and an MA from Georgetown
University’s School of Foreign Service.
**David Daoud is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
He previously worked as a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, director
of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria research at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI),
and a research analyst at FDD. His work has been cited or published in outlets
including Haaretz, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington
Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on August 15-16/2026
Truce on the Brink of Collapse... Washington and Tehran in a “Who Blinks
First” Contest
Washington: Eli Youssef/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 15, 2026
(Translated from Arabic)
As the deadline for the U.S.-Iran ceasefire memorandum approaches on Monday,
Washington and Tehran do not appear to be focused on crafting a settlement as
much as they are on testing the other side’s ability to endure pressure. Several
news reports indicate that the United States is relying on sanctions, economic
isolation, and the strangulation of Iran’s exports and economy, while Tehran is
betting on disrupting navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and keeping energy
prices elevated, thereby increasing pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump
ahead of the congressional midterm elections.
While a U.S. official described the negotiations as “stalled,” a senior Iranian
official denied that any real talks were underway to extend the truce, insisting
that Washington must first return to its commitments under the June agreement.
As a result, the confrontation has shifted from seeking a solution to the
nuclear issue to a battle of economic and political wills, with each side
attempting to buy time—but on its own timetable. Therefore, the current
stalemate does not necessarily indicate the absence of a strategy; rather,
according to many experts, it is the strategy itself. Trump is buying time until
the elections, while Iran is buying time until the cost of keeping the Strait of
Hormuz open becomes higher than the cost of granting it concessions. The
question is no longer who possesses greater power, but which political system is
less capable of enduring pain until “the other side blinks first.”
Division or Distribution of Roles?
The U.S. administration attributes part of the failure of negotiations to the
existence of three centers of power within Iran: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC), the religious establishment, and the governmental leadership.
According to an American official quoted by Politico, reaching an agreement with
one of these centers does not guarantee approval from the others, making Iranian
negotiators either change their terms or fail to offer commitments that can
actually be implemented. However, portraying the situation as merely an
“internal power struggle” may be an exaggeration. The disagreements within the
Iranian system are real, particularly between a government concerned with saving
the economy and security institutions that view the conflict as a matter of
survival. Yet this does not necessarily mean that three contradictory policies
exist. More likely, there is competition over influence and authority, coupled
with agreement on key red lines: avoiding any appearance of surrender,
preserving the Hormuz card, and refusing nuclear concessions without sanctions
relief and the release of frozen assets. Reuters reported in April that the
IRGC’s influence over both the war effort and negotiations had increased, while
also noting the cohesion of the regime’s hardline core around the conditions for
confrontation. The current divergence can therefore be understood as a
combination of genuine institutional differences and a distribution of roles:
the government keeps the door to mediation open, the religious establishment
provides ideological legitimacy, and the IRGC uses force to raise the cost of
rejecting Iranian demands. Repeated American references to “divisions within
Iran” may also be part of a negotiating tactic, allowing Washington to blame
Tehran for the deadlock, while Iran uses its multiple power centers to argue
that any agreement will require a higher price to make it acceptable
domestically.
Hormuz: Iran’s Last Card
The Strait of Hormuz has become the core of the confrontation, not merely
another issue within it. Through the strait, Iran can inflict economic damage on
the United States and its allies far exceeding the size of its economy or
conventional military capabilities. According to vessel-tracking data cited by
The Wall Street Journal, only 13 ships passed through the strait on Thursday,
compared to more than 130 per day before the war. Most vessels reportedly used
the northern route administered by Iran. The United Arab Emirates also accused
Iran of attacking a vessel belonging to the ADNOC oil company in the third such
incident within a week, calling for an end to the attacks and the full reopening
of the waterway. Tehran has not claimed responsibility, but the repeated
targeting of ships demonstrates that the American blockade has not stripped Iran
of its ability to influence maritime security risks. For this reason, Iran has
expanded its demands from lifting sanctions and releasing frozen assets to
obtaining compensation for war damages and ending threats against itself and its
allies. It also seeks recognition of its right to regulate passage or impose
fees—something Washington considers a “red line”: no fees, no restrictions, and
no recognition of exclusive Iranian control. Trump’s statement that he would
make the strait “American territory” after defeating Iran was later described by
a White House official to The Wall Street Journal as a joke. Yet even as
rhetorical provocation, it reflects the depth of the impasse: Washington claims
control over the waterway, while shipping figures suggest that vessels continue
to behave as though Iranian approval remains the decisive factor.
Two Different Clocks
Trump wants to slow the war until the midterm elections and avoid a major
military escalation that could drive up oil and gasoline prices. The average
price of gasoline has reached $4.08 per gallon, while the president acknowledged
that Americans may have to pay more. In a speech Friday evening in New York,
Trump stated that he would not apologize for the war because preventing Iran
from obtaining a nuclear weapon was worth the price. However, the order of
priorities within the administration has become noteworthy. Vice President J.D.
Vance described lowering energy prices as “the primary objective,” with
preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons coming second. White House Press
Secretary Karoline Leavitt later insisted that both goals are equally important.
This suggests that the need for a rapid breakthrough in the Strait of Hormuz
may, in practice, be taking precedence over a comprehensive nuclear settlement.
On the other hand, Tehran appears to be betting that the American electoral
timetable is shorter than Iran’s capacity for endurance. While sanctions have
reduced oil exports and deepened shortages of fuel and foreign currency, Iran
has shifted toward what might be called a “survival economy,” based on
rationing, transferring the burden of the crisis to households, and protecting
resources essential to the continuity of the state. The logic is that American
economic pain, though smaller in scale, is politically more sensitive.
Meanwhile, the replacement of the aircraft carrier George Washington with the
Abraham Lincoln after more than eight months of deployment—and amid reports of
deteriorating conditions for the crew—suggests that Washington can continue its
military buildup, but not without human and logistical costs. Trump’s denial of
any problem does not change the fact that the rotation had become necessary.
Silent Extension or Explosion?
Based on the course of negotiations and assessments by officials and experts,
three scenarios can be envisioned. The most likely scenario is neither a final
agreement nor an immediate return to full-scale war, but rather the continuation
of a “truce-under-sanctions” arrangement: no formal announcement of an
extension, avoidance of major direct strikes, continued sanctions, limited
attacks on shipping, and pressure applied through intermediaries. As former U.S.
Ambassador James Jeffrey argues, this situation is less harmful to both sides
than the alternatives. Washington does not want to accept Iran’s new demands,
and Tehran does not want to return to a memorandum it believes the United States
violated. The second scenario involves a short technical extension brokered
through Pakistan or Qatar, accompanied by a limited gesture such as releasing
part of Iran’s frozen assets or expanding shipping corridors, allowing each side
to claim it has not backed down. The most dangerous scenario begins with a
miscalculation: damage to a vessel or American casualties could prompt Trump to
carry out his threat to use “all options,” after which Iran might respond by
expanding attacks on shipping, military bases, and regional allies.
At that point, the waiting game would cease to be controllable.
CENTCOM: USS George H.W. Bush Enters the Arabian Sea... Trump Downplays Fatigue
of Abraham Lincoln Crew as George Washington Prepares to Replace It
London: Asharq Al-Awsat/August 15, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Saturday that the aircraft
carrier USS George H.W. Bush had entered the Arabian Sea, marking the latest
American naval deployment in the region amid ongoing military operations and the
maritime blockade imposed on Iranian ports. CENTCOM released a photograph
showing U.S. Navy aircraft taking off from the carrier’s deck and stated that
the George H.W. Bush was sailing in the Arabian Sea “in support of security in
the Middle East.” The move coincides with arrangements to ease the burden on the
aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which has spent more than 260 days
deployed, amid congressional demands for information regarding crew conditions
and sailors’ mental health. President Donald Trump said Friday that the nearly
nine-month deployment of the Abraham Lincoln was “not long enough,” dismissing
concerns about fatigue and living conditions aboard the vessel. Asked before
departing for New York about the lengthy mission, Trump replied: “That ship is
moving now, or will move very soon, and another very similar ship will replace
it.” He added that its deployment had been “not long enough.” Acting Secretary
of the Navy Hung Cao said Friday in a social media post that the Abraham Lincoln
“will be coming home soon.”The carrier has been deployed for more than 260 days
and participated in Operation Epic Rage, as well as U.S. operations against Iran
and the maritime blockade of Iranian ports. According to the Associated Press,
it has spent more than 240 consecutive days at sea without a full port call,
setting a record. In a speech later in Garden City, New York, Trump acknowledged
that he had used the U.S. military “a little more than I wanted,” but said
operations against Iran were proceeding well. Addressing the war and its impact
on oil prices, he declared: “I will never apologize. I did the right thing.”
Calls for a Pentagon Briefing
The prolonged deployment of the Abraham Lincoln has prompted demands within
Congress for additional information regarding crew conditions. Several
Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and
Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona, have requested answers from the Pentagon about
conditions aboard the carrier. Senior Democrats on the House Oversight Committee
have also requested a classified briefing regarding food supplies, sanitation
issues, healthcare availability, and the timeline for the arrival of a
replacement force. Representative Jason Crow, who served three combat tours in
Iraq and Afghanistan, criticized Trump’s remarks on X, stating that the
president “does not care about our service members or their families.”Secretary
of War Pete Hegseth said Thursday that reports about conditions aboard the
Abraham Lincoln had been “completely distorted.” Speaking to reporters during a
visit to Panama, he said: “We make sure every ship, every crew, and every
commander gets everything we can provide them at every moment.” Hegseth
acknowledged that some deployments last longer than others, praising sailors who
serve “on the high seas and under those harsh conditions, with fewer port
visits.” Following reports of mental-health difficulties among crew members, the
U.S. Navy stated that it had “not observed an increase in suicidal thoughts or
suicide attempts aboard the ship.” Officials declined to release detailed data,
citing operational security and patient privacy concerns.
A Navy official disclosed that a sailor aboard the Abraham Lincoln fell
overboard in early August but was quickly rescued, treated in the carrier’s
medical department, and later transferred for further care. The official did not
specify whether the incident was being treated as a suicide attempt.
The Department of War has also pushed back against reports about conditions
aboard the carrier. On Friday, the department’s Rapid Response account pointed
to a CNN report produced from aboard the Abraham Lincoln last month. The report
showed sailors conducting combat operations, including launching fighter
aircraft, preparing missiles, and conducting maritime patrols near the Strait of
Hormuz. It also documented the pressures of the lengthy deployment, noting that
many sailors had spent more than six months at sea with limited port visits and
extended separation from their families. One sailor told CNN that he had not yet
met his daughter, who was born in February, and had watched her birth through
FaceTime.
Tehran: Talks with Oman to Issue a Joint Statement on Hormuz... Araghchi Expects
a Near-Term Outcome
London: Asharq Al-Awsat/August 15, 2026 (Translated from Arabic)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Saturday that Tehran and
Muscat had reached an agreement on a shipping-route framework in the Strait of
Hormuz and were currently engaged in discussions to issue a joint statement
regarding the arrangements. According to Iran’s Defense Press Agency, Baghaei
stated that the talks with Oman began almost simultaneously with the signing of
the memorandum ending the war and had made progress over the past three weeks.
He described the process of defining navigation routes as a “technical matter
that takes security and environmental considerations into account,” noting that
all relevant agencies and Iranian defense institutions had participated in
preparing the arrangements. Baghaei emphasized that the agreement with Oman on
shipping routes does not mean the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
In separate remarks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that
technical talks with Oman could soon produce results. Araghchi stressed that the
discussions with Muscat are entirely separate from communications concerning the
cessation of the war with the United States and focus solely on determining
maritime corridors for vessels transiting the strait. He described the
negotiations as a technical process conducted by experts from both countries,
with Iran’s armed forces also involved, noting that the military has the primary
role in this matter.
No Decision on Washington
Araghchi confirmed that Tehran has not yet decided to resume negotiations with
the United States. He said that Qatar and Pakistan continue to communicate with
Iran as mediators and that messages are being exchanged, but stressed that these
contacts “do not mean negotiations are taking place.”
He argued that the Islamabad memorandum was intended, from Tehran’s perspective,
to “end the war,” not merely establish a ceasefire. According to Araghchi, the
United States violated the understanding, leading to renewed hostilities.
Therefore, he said, there is no such thing as a “60-day ceasefire” that requires
extension. He added that previous channels of communication with Washington are
no longer effective and that Tehran is working to design a “temporary track”
that could later evolve into a permanent framework. The June memorandum signed
between Washington and Tehran, according to Agence France-Presse, called for
Iran and Oman to discuss future arrangements for the strait in consultation with
other Gulf states and in accordance with international law. Tehran continues to
insist on separating technical arrangements with Muscat from any decision to
fully reopen the strait, which it has linked to other conditions relating to the
war and the U.S. blockade. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and
International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz
“was Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” responding to remarks by
President Trump. Writing on X, he stated that the strait “cannot be seized by a
tweet or by an aircraft carrier,” adding that Iran “is neither intimidated by
threats nor by displays of force.”His comments followed Trump’s statement Friday
that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz “territory belonging to the
United States” after completing what he described as “the defeat of Iran.” The
Wall Street Journal later quoted an unnamed White House official saying Trump’s
comment had been “a joke.” Trump has repeatedly asserted in recent days that the
United States controls the strait “completely,” telling Fox News: “We control it
completely. We own it, and in the truest sense we own the Strait of Hormuz.” He
added that Washington “does not allow ships to enter unless it wants them to,”
comparing the American blockade to “a wall of steel.” The United States
maintains a maritime blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran imposes restrictions
on navigation through the strait. In the latest update on the blockade, CENTCOM
announced Friday that U.S. forces had redirected 62 commercial vessels,
disrupted three ships, and boarded two others to ensure compliance with
restrictions.
New Shipping Routes
Last week, Iran and Oman conducted negotiations to alter the navigation system
in the Strait of Hormuz, a process Tehran says has reached advanced stages but
does not imply the full reopening of the strait. Araghchi stated on Sunday that
negotiations regarding a new maritime route had “gone well” and reached their
“final stages,” with experts preparing maps for the new arrangements. He
explained that the proposed agreement would replace existing shipping routes
with new ones but stressed: “This does not mean reopening the Strait of Hormuz.”
Reopening, he said, remains tied to additional conditions that Tehran has
conveyed to Washington through intermediaries. Iran and Oman are discussing
changes to a navigation system that has existed for nearly six decades. Tehran
argues that the postwar security environment makes a return to previous
arrangements unacceptable. According to Gharibabadi, the proposal includes
establishing a joint Iranian-Omani center to coordinate ship movements and
exchange information concerning tankers and commercial vessels. Under the
Iranian proposal, commercial ships would enter the Persian Gulf through Iranian
territorial waters and pass through portions of those waters when departing as
well. Implementation of the new system would close the two temporary routes
currently in use: one northern corridor near Larak Island and another southern
corridor within Omani waters. During an initial phase, ships would enter through
the northern route near the Iranian coast and exit through the southern route
near Oman. Afterward, traffic would shift to a central corridor, with Iran
managing inbound traffic and outbound traffic jointly administered by Tehran and
Muscat. Gharibabadi said the temporary arrangement could last from two to four
months or longer, depending on conditions and the possibility of transitioning
to a permanent system. Tehran seeks to end the previous system, under which
shipping movements were conducted according to long-standing international
navigation arrangements, and to establish a direct Iranian role in traffic
management. Washington, by contrast, insists on freedom of navigation and
rejects any arrangement that would grant Iran exclusive authority over the
strait or allow it to impose mandatory fees on ships.
Fees and Services
The issue of fees remains part of the dispute over the proposed new system.
Tehran says any charges collected from ships would be payment for services such
as insurance, refueling, and environmental services rather than a fixed
percentage of cargo value. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei justified
the proposal on environmental grounds, arguing that decades of oil tanker
traffic, along with war and the American military presence, have worsened
pollution in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. He stated that all parties
benefiting from commercial navigation through the Strait of Hormuz bear a “legal
and moral responsibility” to contribute to addressing environmental damage. He
questioned whether the costs should be borne by countries consuming the region’s
energy exports, maritime insurance companies, or states participating in
military operations. Baghaei did not specify what environmental measures Tehran
intends to implement under the proposed navigation system.
Iran will not resume US talks, Hormuz shipping depends
on conditions: FM Araghchi
Reuters/15 August ,2026
Iran has not decided to resume talks with the United States, and messages being
exchanged via Qatar and Pakistan do not amount to negotiations, Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi said in an interview published on Saturday. Araqchi told Iranian
news outlet Shahrara News that separate talks with Oman were focused on defining
a sea route through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States would have to
meet conditions for shipping to resume through the waterway. The comments come
as President Donald Trump on Friday said he would “soon” declare the waterway
part of US territory, claiming that Iran was being heavily defeated. “Pretty
soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. It’s
true,” he said with a chuckle during a political rally at a police academy in
New York state.
UAE says ADNOC vessel attacked in Hormuz, vows to defend navigation rights
Al Arabiya English/15 August ,2026
UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said on Saturday that one of its vessels
came under attack while transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, the
Emirati state news agency WAM reported. The state oil company said no injuries
were reported, with the situation now under control, according to WAM. Anwar
Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said Abu Dhabi would defend
its sovereignty and interests, after repeated attacks on ADNOC tankers.“We will
safeguard our rights to freedom of navigation ... while continuing the path of
dialogue and prioritising diplomatic options,” Gargash said in a post on X. The
attack was the third such incident involving ADNOC vessels in less than a week.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said earlier it had
received a report of a bulk carrier being struck by an unknown projectile in the
strait on Friday.About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas
passed through the narrow waterway between Oman and Iran before the conflict.
Since the US-Israeli war with Iran broke out on February 28, shipping has been
repeatedly disrupted, raising freight rates and creating security concerns.ADNOC
is one of the world’s largest energy producers and exports crude oil, natural
gas and refined products worldwide. With Reuters
Yemen’s Houthis begin arrest campaign south of Hodeida: Al
Arabiya correspondent
Al Arabiya English/15 August ,2026
Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported on Saturday that the Iran-backed Houthis
have launched an arrest campaign targeting civilians south of the Hodeida
Governorate. At the time of the report, there was no
available information on the number of those arrested nor the reason given for
their arrest, according to the correspondent.The campaign takes place amid a
highly tense climate as the Houthis have as of late stepped up strikes on
targets both military and civilian and attacked ships around the Bab al-Mandeb
strait. They launched a ballistic missile attack on the port city of Mokha on
Friday. Yemen’s military vowed to retaliate.
Yemen’s Mokha port halts operations after Houthi attacks,
port director says
Al Arabiya English/15 August ,2026:
Yemen’s Mokha port has suspended commercial and maritime operations after being
hit by more than 25 missiles in Houthi attacks over recent days, the port’s
director said on Saturday. The attacks killed seven people and caused an
estimated $16 million in losses, the director told a news conference.Mokha is a
Red Sea port near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a strategic chokepoint connecting
the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a key route for international shipping.
The port is controlled by forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized
government. It has a smaller cargo capacity than Yemen’s main ports of Aden and
Hodeidah.
Ballistic missiles fired at Mokha
Yemen’s government said on Friday the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at
Mokha that day, killing at least four civilians and targeting civilian, economic
and maritime facilities.The escalation comes amid heightened regional tensions
from the US war on Iran and has raised concerns about a return to large-scale
conflict in Yemen. Major fighting in Yemen had largely subsided following a
UN-brokered truce in 2022, but efforts to reach a lasting political settlement
have stalled. With Reuters
Yemen military vows tough response to Houthi attack on port city
Al Arabiya English/15 August ,2026
Yemen’s military on Saturday vowed a tough response to the attack by the Houthis
on the port city of Mokha a day earlier. The armed forces’ spokesperson Colonel
Majed al-Nazili said that “the armed forces will not allow the terrorist Houthi
militia to turn civilian facilities and the interests of Yemenis into open
targets,” in an official statement. “The targeting of Mokha Port with six
ballistic missiles on Friday evening will not go unpunished and will be met with
a deterrent and tough response commensurate with the scale of the threat and the
crimes committed,” he added. Moreover, al-Nazili vowed that the armed forces
would “continue their mission to protect the Yemeni people, their resources,
territorial waters and vital interests, and work to eliminate the terrorist
threat posed by the Houthis, who are backed by the Iranian regime, in a manner
that ensures Yemen’s security and sovereignty and the safety of its citizens,”
Yemen’s Saba News Agency reported. The Houthis on Friday launched a ballistic
missile attack on the port city of Mokha in western Yemen, leaving eight people
dead. The Iran-backed group has as of late stepped up its strikes on the Yemeni
state, against both military and civilian targets, and further attacked ships
around the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
Oil spill affects 12 km of Oman coast, Masirah unaffected,
state news agency says
Reuters/15 August ,2026
Oil pollution is affecting about 12 kilometers (7.46 miles) of coastline near
Oman’s Ras Madraka, while Masirah Island remains unaffected, state news agency
ONA said on Saturday after efforts to tackle a spill from a leaking tanker have
made progress. Oil began reaching Oman’s coast on
Wednesday after spreading at sea for weeks.The Environment Authority said
response operations were under way and the offshore slick was moving towards
open waters.
Palestinians in Qusra say they have faced militant settler
attacks for months
Reuters/15 August ,2026
Families on the outskirts of Qusra, the West Bank village where Palestinian
homes have been under siege for nearly a week, said they have faced sometimes
deadly attacks by militant settlers for months.The United States wants Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn militant settlers who have
besieged Palestinians in their homes in the occupied West Bank, US and Israeli
officials said on Friday. In Qusra, rights groups say
militant settlers are mounting a concerted effort to seize more land, further
eating into territory where Palestinians aim to establish a state.
The Israeli police and military did not immediately respond to requests for
comment on Saturday. The Israeli military has said soldiers have deployed in
Qusra since Thursday to protect residents and maintain security. Marmar Ouda
said he has been forced to erect metal fences around his home and bars on his
windows to protect his family from attacks by militant settlers. Next to his
home, the words ‘death to Arabs’ have been spray-painted in Hebrew on a wall.
Five months ago, Ouda said his nephew was shot and killed by a settler in an
incident during which his brother was also injured. Israeli media reported at
the time that a settler who also served as a reservist had been arrested.
Reuters could not determine whether they were charged. The Israeli police and
military did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.“I wish I had died
at that moment rather than see my nephew die in front of me and my brother get
shot,” said Ouda, adding that despite filing complaints with the Israeli police,
he and his family had received no protection. Ouda said that since the shooting,
attacks had continued and that settlers threw stones at his house on Wednesday.
“They want to expel us, they want to kill us,” he said. Israeli rights groups
have said settlers have been granted near impunity by Israel’s far-right
coalition government, which has supported significant settlement expansion in
the West Bank.“They are very provocatively going and literally taking over
houses,” said Ezra Brownstein, a researcher for the Israeli rights group Rabbis
for Human Rights. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a strong supporter of
Jewish settlement in the West Bank, on Thursday condemned settlers besieging a
Palestinian home.
Families displaced
As of the end of June, more than 2,200 Palestinians had been displaced during
2026 due to settler violence and other access restrictions, according to United
Nations data. Settler violence has displaced at least
two families living on the outskirts of Qusra, where a tangled blanket, a few
books and some pictures on the wall are all that remain after Ibrahim Hassan and
his family fled their home around a month ago. Settlers and men in Israeli army
uniform entered his house, smashed windows and beat him in front of his wife and
children, said Hassan, adding he had been forced to rent a home elsewhere. The
Israeli military did not immediately respond when asked for comment on Hassan’s
allegations.
Russia seeks explanation from US and Turkey over reports of possible arms
transfer
Reuters/15 August ,2026
Russia has asked Washington and Ankara to explain reports of possible plans to
transfer to Kyiv a “substantial arsenal” of US weapons and ammunition held by
Turkey, the spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry said on Saturday. Such a
transfer would cause “serious harm ... to our bilateral relations with
Washington and Ankara,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
Taliban government marks five years since return to power in Afghanistan
AFP/15 August ,2026
The Taliban government celebrates five years of ruling Afghanistan on Saturday,
with the authorities hailing their country’s “freedom” and security, while
critics decry tightening restrictions in all areas of daily life. Afghans riding
rickshaws and motorbikes decorated with flags were driving around the city,
where new murals declared: “Independence is a sign of dignity, pride and
identity.”The authorities will host a cricket match and other sports events -
which girls and women are banned from attending - while their supporters are
expected to gather five years to the day since Taliban insurgents entered the
city. They took the capital unopposed after a
lightning offensive that swept across Afghanistan, toppling government forces in
the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops.
Some of the vehicles abandoned by foreign forces, such as Humvees, were driven
in convoy early Saturday through Kabul, where there was an increase in the
number of checkpoints.Beside vendors selling flags earlier this week, university
student Pirooz Mirzaie said the government has brought security, infrastructure
projects and “plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs.”“The biggest challenge
for young people is that there aren’t many jobs,” the 20-year-old told AFP.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the government’s chief spokesman, said this month that the
authorities were laying the “foundations of the economy” and that patience was
needed. GDP per capita is in decline, due to more than six million Afghans
arriving from neighboring Iran and Pakistan in three years, while the World Bank
estimated real growth reaching 4.8 percent.
‘Suffocating restrictions’
Although Taliban officials have forged ties with multiple countries, including
in Europe, their government is still only recognized by Russia. Relations with
neighboring Pakistan have plummeted and the two countries went to war this year,
exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan when people were already hit
hard by international aid cuts. Some countries have opted to limit their
relations with the Taliban authorities until there are changes in Afghanistan,
where people are suffering “very real harm” according to the United Nations.
Fiona Frazer, the human rights director for the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA),
told AFP that people have endured the “consolidation of suffocating restrictions
that intrude on almost every aspect of their daily lives, and their human
rights.”The Committee to Protect Journalists criticized the authorities’ “brutal
repression of the press” which has seen media workers “surveilled, detained,
beaten, censored, or driven into exile.”Women have been particularly affected by
Taliban government measures, being banned from public places including parks and
from most jobs, while education for girls beyond age 12 is outlawed. A
23-year-old woman said she felt a “profound sense of suffocation,” speaking to
AFP on condition of anonymity for security reasons.“The five years have been so
grueling that I feel like a 500-year-old woman, one who cannot die.”
The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published
on August 15-16/2026
Iranian Regime's Dangerous Strategy: Outlast Trump, Return Stronger
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/August 15, 2026
Tehran believes its path to victory is not necessarily through defeating the
United States militarily, but through managing the confrontation until President
Donald Trump's term ends in January 2029.
For the remaining time of Trump's presidency, the regime plans to play a
familiar game of opening and closing the waterway, dangling intermittent
negotiations, employing intermediaries, walking up to the table and then walking
away. Before anyone notices, two years will have passed.
The only priority is surviving Trump.
Iran's regime evidently plans to control who passes, under what conditions, and
to impose fees or "navigational services" the minute Trump leaves office.
The wealth that Iran would obtain by extorting global energy markets would
reinvigorate its support for proxy militias and terrorist groups, and, above all
-- with continuing help from China, Russia, and North Korea -- the regime's
ultimate insurance policy: its nuclear program, which is now reportedly tucked
under Pickaxe Mountain.
Are free nations prepared to accept an expansionist revolutionary theocracy that
wholly rejects Western norms and violates freedom of navigation as the permanent
gatekeeper of a key maritime shipping chokepoint? Probably.
That is the peril of leaving the job half-finished. Trump's campaign has already
inflicted severe damage. Allowing the regime to stay in place to continue
developing nuclear weapons and asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz and
Bab al-Mandab at the mouth of the Red Sea would squander that advantage.
The necessary objective is unconditional surrender, not some bogus deal.
The only responsible response is to deny the regime the opportunity. Continue
the economic pressure, resume the military pressure, remove every layer of
leadership, support those inside and outside Iran ready to end the theocracy's
rule, and refuse any outcome short of complete unconditional surrender. With
anything less, Trump will go down in history as having ushered in a far more
dangerous world.
The wealth that Iran would obtain by extorting global energy markets would
reinvigorate its support for proxy militias and terrorist groups, and, above all
-- with continuing help from China, Russia, and North Korea -- the regime's
ultimate insurance policy: its nuclear program, which is now reportedly tucked
under Pickaxe Mountain. Pictured: A Fattah ballistic missile is displayed during
the annual military parade in Tehran, on September 22, 2023. (Photo by AFP via
Getty Images)
For decades, the Iranian regime has guarded its strategic intentions behind
ambiguity, denials and carefully calibrated statements. Its current strategy has
now become unusually explicit. Recent comments attributed to Majid Shakeri, an
adviser to Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, suggest that
Tehran believes its path to victory is not necessarily through defeating the
United States militarily, but through managing the confrontation until President
Donald Trump's term ends in January 2029. Shakeri described the approach as
maintaining a state of neither war nor peace and exercising "strategic patience"
and "getting along with him [President Trump] until his term ends." It is a
strategy that Washington and its allies should take seriously.
The original American and Israeli war aim was the regime's unconditional
surrender and strategic defeat — crippling its military capacity, eliminating
key leadership layers, and forcing genuine surrender on nuclear, missile, and
regional aggression issues. Tehran has since redirected the fight onto the
Strait of Hormuz. For the remaining time of Trump's presidency, the regime plans
to play a familiar game of opening and closing the waterway, dangling
intermittent negotiations, employing intermediaries, walking up to the table and
then walking away. Before anyone notices, two years will have passed.
This is a regime that prolonged its war with Iraq for eight grisly years; it
knows how to extend conflict. Because Iran's leaders do not care about the
suffering of their own people — evident in ongoing executions, suppression of
protests, and indifference to economic pain — it will absorb sanctions, oil
revenue losses, and hardship that would collapse most governments. Selling oil
or not selling oil is secondary. The only priority is surviving Trump.
Control of the Strait— through which roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil
normally passes — has become Iran's "golden weapon," eclipsing even the nuclear
file as the central bargaining chip. Iranian officials have repeatedly stated
that the waterway will not return to its pre-war status as an open international
passage. Iran's regime evidently plans to control who passes, under what
conditions, and to impose fees or "navigational services" the minute Trump
leaves office.
Negotiations open and close; memoranda of understanding are signed and then
violated; attacks on shipping resume when leverage needs refreshing. The regime
has turned a military confrontation aimed at its own survival into a prolonged
contest over a global energy chokepoint.
It took nearly five decades for a U.S. president to emerge who was willing to
take decisive military action against the Islamic Republic. Tehran calculates —
correctly — that another leader with the determination of President Trump is
unlikely to appear soon again. Perhaps the regime counts on the possibility of a
Democrat-controlled Congress after the midterm elections this November, which
the regime seems to will have no political appetite for sustained pressure.
The wealth that Iran would obtain by extorting global energy markets would
reinvigorate its support for proxy militias and terrorist groups, and, above all
-- with continuing help from China, Russia, and North Korea -- the regime's
ultimate insurance policy: its nuclear program, which is now reportedly tucked
under Pickaxe Mountain.
Are free nations prepared to accept an expansionist revolutionary theocracy that
wholly rejects Western norms and violates freedom of navigation as the permanent
gatekeeper of a key maritime shipping chokepoint? Probably.
Iran could eventually arm its proxies with nuclear capabilities and proliferate
the regime's longstanding practice of targeted assassinations -- since 1979,
littered with the elimination of dissidents, political opponents, and
foreigners. Even family members and close associates have not been spared. A
triumphant, wealthier, and eventually nuclear-armed Iran would go on a
full-scale campaign of revenge against Americans, Israelis, and Iranian
opposition figures.
That is the peril of leaving the job half-finished. Trump's campaign has already
inflicted severe damage. Allowing the regime to stay in place to continue
developing nuclear weapons and asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz and
Bab al-Mandab at the mouth of the Red Sea would squander that advantage.
The necessary objective is unconditional surrender, not some bogus deal.
This outcome will likely require systematically removing successive layers of
hardline leadership until the structure collapses. New hardliners installed in
the military and security apparatus who seek revenge need to be neutralized. The
regime cannot be permitted to recover.
The global order of freedom of navigation that has underpinned Western
democracies and open commerce would be permanently altered. The only responsible
response is to deny the regime the opportunity. Continue the economic pressure,
resume the military pressure, remove every layer of leadership, support those
inside and outside Iran ready to end the theocracy's rule, and refuse any
outcome short of complete unconditional surrender. With anything less, Trump
will go down in history as having ushered in a far more dangerous world.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22789/iran-dangerous-strategy
**Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a political scientist, Harvard-educated analyst, and
board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on
the US foreign policy. He can be reached at dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu
Follow Majid Rafizadeh on X (formerly Twitter)
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.
Iran Remains the Chief Obstacle to Peace in the Middle East
Mike Pompeo, Senior Counsel for Global Affairs/ACLJ/August 15/2026
https://aclj.org/middle-east/iran-remains-the-chief-obstacle-to-peace-in-the-middle-east-
In the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will
be called children of God.” Crucially, He never said it was going to be easy –
which is why, even given all the progress made toward peace for Israel made by
President Trump, the struggle continues.
Whether through the Abraham Accords in 2020 or the tremendous feat of building
the coalition of Muslim partners that achieved the Gaza ceasefire and hostage
release deal last October, President Trump has done more to advance the
prospects for Middle Eastern peace than any of his predecessors. Those
accomplishments alone are tremendous.
Yet achieving a final settlement has proven elusive. Despite hopes that the
final phase of the President’s Comprehensive Peace Plan could be on the verge of
a major breakthrough, Hamas’ unwillingness to disarm made it impossible for
Israel to accept the Board of Peace’s most recent proposal. It’s easy to
understand why. The fact is, as long as Hamas and other Iranian proxies like
Hezbollah continue to receive money from their patrons in Tehran, they’re going
to keep doing what they’ve always done: try to destroy Israel. Ultimately, peace
in the Middle East can only be attained by destroying the Iranian regime’s
military capabilities and its capacity to project power.
Defeating Iran was never just about neutralizing the threat of the Iranian
nuclear program; it’s tied to a broader strategy of breaking this evil
dictatorship’s ability to wreak havoc throughout the region and the wider world.
As long as the Islamic Republic – however battered – is able to survive, it will
put all its energy and resources into rebuilding those capabilities and will use
the same blackmail tactics we’re seeing in the Strait of Hormuz to regain its
foothold as a regional power. Continued support for proxies like Hamas,
Hezbollah, and the Houthis is critical to that strategy.
At the moment, the Iranian regime is playing for time, confident that it can
keep stringing us along until the midterm elections, in the hopes that the
Democrats will take control of Congress and compel the Administration to say
“uncle.” But they are also testing us – continuing to use the Houthis to
pressure U.S. allies, disrupting shipping in the Strait, and issuing absurd
maximalist demands.
Why? In part, because attacking America is the Islamic Republic’s raison d’etre;
without the twin goals of destroying the U.S. and Israel, the regime loses its
ideological legitimacy and will to survive.
But there are also very practical reasons for pushing the boundaries of what the
U.S. will tolerate. They want to see how much they can get away with and push
forward the baseline for renewed negotiations on more favorable terms. They also
need to recapture badly damaged prestige within the region and the wider world
so that their survival is seen as a fait accompli, and other powers will bring
Tehran in from the cold. And finally, they must project strength to the Iranian
people – many of whom loathe the regime – in order to cement domestic control.
Yet as much as the Islamic Republic may be emboldened, it is also in dire
straits. Iran’s political leadership is fractured, its military capacity has
been curtailed, and the region has been reshaped by American resolve. Make no
mistake: Sustained pressure requires a serious investment in resources and
military commitments from the United States, all of which are costly and involve
real dangers. But the peace that the President is working to achieve can never
be realized if we do not win this fight against the region’s prime malefactor.
In his landmark speech to Israel’s Knesset last October, President Trump said,
“Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything
began to change, and change very much for the better . . . it will be the golden
age of Israel, and the golden age of the Middle East.” That outcome is entirely
achievable – provided we have the will to see this fight through.
Take action with the ACLJ. Sign our petition: Let Trump Defend America.
**Mike Pompeo, Senior Counsel for Global Affairs
**Mike Pompeo is the former Secretary of State and former Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He is currently Senior Counsel for Global
Affairs at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ).
Question: What is the judgment seat of Christ?
GotQuestions.org?/August 15/2026
Answer: Scripture gives us a reason not to judge one another: “For we will all
stand before the judgment seat of God. . . . So then each of us will give an
account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10–12, ESV). None of us are qualified to
be the Judge. Only the Lord Jesus is qualified, and all judgment has been
entrusted to Him (John 5:22). We will all stand some day before the judgment
seat of Christ.
The judgment seat of Christ involves a time in the future when believers will
give an account of themselves to Christ. This is the plain teaching of
Scripture: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each
of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether
good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). The warning is to Christians, not
unbelievers. As Jesus taught in His parable, the king is going to return, at
which time he will require an account from his servants (Luke 19:11–26).
The judgment seat of Christ is different from the great white throne judgment.
That will be the final judgment of the wicked prior to their being cast into the
lake of fire (Revelation 20:11–15). Appearing before the great white throne will
be unbelievers. Believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
The judgment seat of Christ does not determine our salvation; that matter was
settled by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (1 John 2:2) and our faith in Him
(John 3:16). All our sins are forgiven, and there is “no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you,
whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not
be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24, emphasis added).
So, believers are secure in Christ, but they still must appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. It will be a time of examination and a time of reward.
Jesus will inspect our works. What did we do with the resources God gave us? How
faithful were we? Were we yielded to the Spirit, seeking to honor Christ and
further His work in the world? If so, we will have reward (see Matthew
10:41–42). Did we neglect our opportunities to serve the Lord? If so, we will
suffer loss of reward. Paul likens our Christian service to erecting a building:
Each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than
the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation
using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown
for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with
fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been
built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the
builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping
through the flames (1 Corinthians 3:10b–15).
Note, in the above passage, that our works subsequent to Christ’s salvation are
of two different types—good and bad. The “fire” of God’s scrutiny will reveal
the quality of our works. Rewards are distributed to those whose works withstand
the test. Those whose works fail the test will “suffer loss.” Their works will
be burned up, but they themselves “will be saved.” The judgment seat of Christ,
then, does not confer or rescind salvation.
The judgment seat of Christ is also not a time to punish sin. Jesus took our
punishment once and for all. The judgment seat of Christ is a time when we will
be called on to report, to render an accounting of what we did for Jesus. It
will be a serious and necessary time of reckoning, but, as God’s redeemed, we
will never be condemned with the wicked.
In the Greek, a single word is used for “judgment seat” in Romans 14:10 and 2
Corinthians 5:10—the word is bema. A bema was a raised platform on which judges
sat to view athletic games. Their job was to make sure contestants followed the
rules and to present awards to the victors (see 1 Corinthians 9:24–27). The bema
was never a place to reprimand the athletes or to punish them in any way. It was
a place of testing and reward. In the same way, the bema of Christ will not be a
place of condemnation or censure.
In anticipation of the judgment seat of Christ, we are careful in what we say
and do in this life. James gives this advice: “Speak and act as those who are
going to be judged by the law that gives freedom” (James 2:12; cf. Matthew
12:36). We want to give our account with joy on that day, and that is why we
strive to serve the Lord faithfully today.The Bible speaks of believers
receiving crowns for different things. The various crowns are described in 2
Timothy 2:5; 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; and Revelation 2:10. We believe the
judgment seat of Christ is when the crowns will be awarded, and this will take
place in heaven soon after the rapture of the church (as described in 1
Thessalonians 4:13–18). At the very end of the Bible,
Jesus said, “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to
each person according to what they have done” (Revelation 22:12). In preparation
for the judgment seat of Christ, what are you choosing to “build” with? Gold,
silver, and precious stones—things that will last? Or wood, hay, and
straw—things that will not stand the day of testing?
The European Union...Unity in Diversity
Abdel Rahman Shalgham-Former Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs/Asharq Al-Awsat/August
15/2026
The European Union is a political entity born from an era unlike anything that
came before it. Europe is a continent with a distinctive geography and a human
composition that has moved throughout history and across geography, driven by
winds that were sometimes calm and at other times violent and bloody. Religious
conflicts, wars of expansion, and empires unconstrained by borders and never
satisfied with the wealth of neighboring or distant lands. On this continent,
which has its own particular character among the world's continents, minds
awakened early to philosophy and science, across its history and its lands. It
was there that the spark of reason was struck, and its light did not cease to
shine throughout the centuries. Meanwhile, peoples on other continents lived in
darkness and became accustomed to it, enduring life in a state of dark
ignorance, as minds hardened and human capabilities weakened.
Europe paid the price for its rise and progress. Clergymen, philosophers, and
thinkers rebelled against the ecclesiastical priesthood that constrained reason,
thought, and creativity, and many paid with their lives for the Renaissance and
progress. On their bodies, bridges were built toward a new era for humanity. The
peoples of Europe entered the world of industry, ushering in their colonial era,
during which they seized the lands of other countries that possessed the
agricultural and mineral resources necessary for industrialization. Industry
became an added source of human power. Yet wars among the countries of the
continent itself never disappeared for long before erupting again and again. The
First and Second World Wars were the terrible alarm bell that awakened Europe
and set it on a path toward a new era. European intellectual and political
voices proclaimed the choice: either unity or war. When reason guides human
beings through the complexities of life, with all its greed and fear, realism
prevails. Differences become a source of strength, while mutual concessions and
compromises become a means of consolidating peace, cooperation, and coexistence
in a world that aspires to achieve the joy of life.
After World War II, the United States emerged as a financial, military, and
political power. On Europe's western flank, a communist ideological power also
emerged, led by the Soviet Union, with its formidable military strength, vast
geographical territory, and expanding influence around the world. The European
political leaders who had led their countries during World War II against the
Nazi-fascist Axis realized that their only safeguard was unity. The journey
toward unity began in 1951 with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel
Community. Cooperation among its member states then expanded into the economic
sphere through the creation of the European Common Market, based on common
principles among its members: democracy, free trade, and economic cooperation,
while communist and dictatorial states were excluded. Greece, Portugal, and
Spain were not allowed to join the community until after their respective
dictatorships had fallen. In 1993, following the signing of the Maastricht
Treaty and the implementation of the Schengen Agreement, the European Union came
into being. Today, it comprises 27 countries. It is a confederal entity with a
government, parliament, federal central bank, and a single currency, the euro,
while each member state retains its own government and national parliament, as
well as its own central bank and national army.
Building this giant entity took 40 years, through the power of reason, realism,
and the transparent awareness of its peoples. It was not built on the slogan of
"European nationalism," the mobilizing speeches of leaders, or the violence of
authoritarianism. In recent days, tens of thousands of Moroccans rushed into
Ceuta, a part of their country under Spanish occupation. Right-wing political
voices in some European Union countries rose to warn of an influx of these
migrants into other EU countries, taking advantage of freedom of movement among
member states under the Schengen Agreement.
The loudest of these voices was that of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni,
who called for a review of Italy's relationship with Spain regarding the
Schengen Agreement. Some believed that the incident threatened the European
Union itself. The phenomenon of irregular migration, in which thousands of
people travel from Africa to Europe through Spain, Italy, and Greece, is a
concern across Europe. But there are facts that cannot be ignored. Europe needs
foreign workers because of declining birth rates in most of its countries.
Italy, which criticized what it described as Spain's leniency toward irregular
migration, received 500,000 migrants over the past five years, twice the number
received by Spain, which took in 220,000 migrants. Today, in Italian cities, the
majority of workers at gas stations, in street cleaning, cafes, restaurants, and
other sectors are Asians and Africans. Some have even joined the police force.
Those who believe that a dispute between two or more European leaders can
destroy what their predecessors built over many decades, and what their peoples
endorsed through transparent referendums, fail to understand the strength of
what political minds can build and the awareness of educated peoples. The four
freedoms that the European Union has secured for its citizens, freedom of
movement, residence, employment, and the movement of goods among its member
states, have transformed this giant entity into a broad space that cannot easily
be weakened. The reality that cannot be ignored is that the European political
system places its disagreements on the negotiating table, where every idea is
presented, leading to an understanding founded on mutual agreements and
concessions, with differences becoming a source of strength that serves the
interests of its peoples. In other countries, wars have erupted because of a
soccer match. Elsewhere, countries have severed relations over an article in a
newspaper, a song broadcast on the radio, or a speech delivered by a leader.
Underdevelopment is a plague, and ignorance is the enemy of life and victory.
During World War I, the Ottoman Sultan summoned the members of the Chamber of
Deputies and told them: "Send the jurists to read the hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari
aboard the warships." The Iraqi poet Ma'ruf al-Rusafi, a member of the chamber,
replied: "Your Majesty, the warships run on steam, not Bukhari." The Sultan
expelled him, but defeat came nonetheless.
The Three Poles Descend on the North Pole
Emile Ameen/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 15/2026
Is the world due for a new geopolitical crisis- one that may, at some point,
harden into political and economic conflict? In the far north, where ice that
has been accumulating for 2.58 million years is melting away, the first signs of
a new polar confrontation seem to be appearing. A few days ago the well-known
Russian company Rosatom announced that it was opening a regular route from China
to Europe through the Arctic. That came only hours after China launched its
sixteenth scientific expedition to the region- an expedition unprecedented in
scale, and for that reason followed closely in America, out of concern that it
may be a prelude to Chinese economic, and then military, expansion in a region
that sits at the crossroads of global geopolitical ambition.
One might ask: Is the Arctic one of the most important routes for China on its
way to global power? Napoleon Bonaparte once wrote that the policy of states
lies in their geography. Later, the masters of geopolitics- foremost among them
the great British geographer Halford Mackinder- held that seas, rivers, and the
icy poles alike are not mere natural features but instruments for the making of
history. Today the world stands before the Arctic as though it were a field for
traditional geographic expansion, by which states move from local or regional
tracks into the orbit of global power. The Arctic ice has lately been turning to
water through the greenhouse effect or the warming of the planet- and by 2030
the entire region may become seasonally ice-free.
Everyone is scrambling over that quiet patch of the earth. Consider the United
States, which in its latest national security strategy underlined its interests
in the Western Hemisphere; the Trump administration views the Arctic as a trove
of energy and minerals, and as a strategic platform for confronting Russian
ambitions. From another direction, and despite the burdens of the war in
Ukraine, Moscow has not hesitated to increase its investment in its Northern
Fleet and its maritime infrastructure. Europe, for its part, has had its eyes
reopened to the Arctic by the talk surrounding Greenland.
China, then, was hardly going to hold back from the division of spoils now under
way there, where the Arctic subsurface- across an immense expanse of 27 million
square kilometers, some seven million more than the combined area of Canada and
the United States- is rich with treasure. According to the United States
Geological Survey, the Arctic holds 30 percent of the world's undiscovered
natural gas and 13 percent of its undiscovered oil.
But one thing whets China's appetite in particular for a leap into the region:
It holds vast quantities of minerals- nickel, copper, precious stones, graphite,
and, above all, the rare earth elements. These last are a decisive flashpoint
for global conflict, since they go into the manufacture of chips- the heart of
artificial intelligence, the mistress of the new world. China to this hour holds
a monopoly over its own stock of these minerals and bars their export to the
United States.
It is enough to note that Greenland holds beneath its surface an estimated 1.5
million tons of them, which explains the American desire to lay hands on it.
China's unusual interest in the Arctic can also be read through the waterways
that must open as the ice melts- as Mia Bennett and Klaus Dodds show in their
book published last October, Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic.
The new passages will serve as living arteries for Chinese supply chains, and as
an impetus to consolidate the gains of the Belt and Road. The voyage from the
Chinese industrial port of Dalian to Rotterdam takes 48 to 57 days by the
ordinary routes, but by the northern sea that skirts the Russian polar coast it
is shorter by about a third. China's geography, however, denies it the standing
of a coastal Arctic state like the United States, Canada, Norway, Iceland, and
Russia. Hence, the insistence of Chinese official statements that the Arctic is
common property, that every state has a role to play, and that governing the
region requires the participation of all concerned- a formulation the West does
not appear to accept, even if Russia has swallowed it grudgingly.
And what are the polar powers, contending over the ice, forgetting? The fear
that the melting snow may open a path to ecological ruin- and awaken the zombies
of organisms that have lain beneath the ice for millions of years.
The Makkah Agreement Changes the Equation
Mohammed al-Rumaihi/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 15/2026
A message has been sent through the Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani trilateral defense
agreement, whose preparation took more than a year: that any assault on the
security of the Gulf states ultimately means an assault on the security of the
entire region. The signatory states deemed it necessary to send this message
because they believe the region should be striving to achieve progress and put
an end to chaos.
The agreement carries particular significance in its form, timing, and location.
It was signed on a Friday, in Makkah, to send a message to those concerned. As
the popular Gulf saying goes, the matter has “come to a head”: it has reached
maturity, and there is no longer room to accept the status quo or these
destructive wars. Iran must realize that its project is expansionist and
surrounded by many irrational ideas.
Together, the signatory states possess considerable military equipment and
manpower, and their combined GDP is estimated at $3.3 trillion. Pakistan
overlooks the Arabian Sea, while Türkiye's presence in Somalia gives it a
vantage point over the Red Sea, in addition to the economic strength enjoyed by
the three countries and their influence in the international arena. Türkiye was
the venue for a NATO meeting just weeks ago, while Pakistan has been active in
mediating between Iran and the United States, as it is acceptable to both sides:
it is not an enemy of the regime in Tehran, just as Türkiye's relationship with
Iran is not hostile. Yet the persistent threat to the Gulf states has made
everyone aware of the risks. The message to Tehran is that maintaining interests
with you is not more important than preserving the security of the Gulf, and
that continuing to threaten it has become unacceptable. With this agreement,
added to the agreement that preceded it by several weeks, the multinational
defense alliance in the Red Sea, signed by fourteen states, with the door
remaining open to any state wishing to join, the circle of deterrence is now
complete. Saudi Arabia has taken an important step, one that many international
strategists have long advocated and whose effectiveness has now been
demonstrated: “encircling adversaries with friends.” The adversaries’ camp has
become less capable of maneuvering, whether in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab or
in the Gulf basin.
The clearest message is that Iran’s dream of shaping the Middle East as it
wishes must be seriously reconsidered, whatever it may say on its side about
these strategic agreements. That Iranian dream of expansion and control is a
disturbing one.
The message is also that the regional powers have grown weary of the Iranian
regime’s chronic clashes with its surroundings, and that enough is enough. The
Iranian peoples themselves have been exhausted before anyone else, as an attempt
has been made to sell something that no one accepts, not even the Iranian
public, which has taken to the streets more than once, at enormous cost, to say
that what is happening is not only irrational but unacceptable to them. The
Iranian opposition today, in all its different strands, both inside and outside
the country, is growing, while the Iranian economy is nearing collapse.
Long and arduous efforts have been made to reach a settlement with Tehran. Each
time, agreements are signed, even through the mediation of major powers friendly
to Tehran, and then breached, for one reason or another. Some believe the
problem lies in the multiplicity of centers of authority within the regime
itself; others see it in the ideological rigidity driven by a closed sectarian
political creed, which has produced a political mindset out of step with the
times. Whatever the reasons, the result is the same: widespread destruction and
sweeping chaos throughout the region, and, more recently, a mortal blow to the
global economy. Many states and societies have passed through a “revolutionary
condition,” but after a time it became clear that the circumstances of
revolution do not last, and that a practical, lived reality brings them into
harmony, wholly or partially, with the world around them. This happened in the
Soviet Union and China, among more recent examples, as well as in many
historical cases. Yet after nearly half a century, Iran still does not want to
recognize that its ideology is completely unacceptable and that it resembles a
mirage: the closer it believes it has come to it, the farther away it becomes.
What lies before Tehran today is to change its behavior, respect its neighbors,
and live in coexistence with them. Last word: We await the day when Iran shakes
the dust of the past from itself and lives among its neighbors in amity and
peace.
Selected Face Book & X tweets
on August 14/2026
Marco Rubio
Fidel Castro was a complete failure at everything except
destroying Cuba and impoverishing, jailing and murdering his own people
I strongly suggest that anyone tempted to try and follow his example should
carefully reconsider, because if they do they would be dooming themselves to
failure as well
Shadi khalloul שאדי ח'לול
https://x.com/shadikhalloul/status/2088337818758058450/video/1
Israel is the only country where Christians live freely, prospering and thriving
while in Arab Islamic regimes they are persecuted and migrated from their
ancestral homelands.
Bechara Gerges
Hezbollah’s record should leave nobody surprised by reports of tunnels beneath
Christian districts in Jbeil and Keserwan. In May 2008, Hezbollah seized West
Beirut over two cabinet decisions. From 2013 until Assad fell in 2024, it killed
Syrians alongside Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on a scale exceeding that of all
its wars with Israel since 2000 combined. It trained Iraqi and Yemeni militias
to kill their fellow citizens. By December 2010, it was on Mount Sannine,
overlooking the entire Metn region.
Whether the tunnel reports are true or false, they should surprise no one:
Hezbollah was a growing plague that no Lebanese institution stopped. Without
Israel’s campaign, beginning on September 17, 2024, it would have eaten us all.
Dr Walid Phares
The Tuvalu doctrine
Tuvalu is the smallest nation state member of the UN. An island of a population
of 11,000. Its vote at the general assembly is equal to Russia, China, India,
Iran, Nigeria and others.
Hence any nation with a population higher than the 11k of Tuvalu has the right
for a referendum on self determination like: Quebec, Scotland, Kurdistan,
Biafra, Darfur, Somaliland, Syria's Alawis, Druses, Christians, Bejas in Sudan,
Ceuta, others.
Theoretically. Just to reject the argument that small populations do not have a
right for self-determination. They do but must make the case through
international law and democratic processes.
Tom Harb
The IMF should treat Hezbollah’s support for these provisions
with real suspicion, the party’s backing for weakening BDL’s institutional
safeguards may be less about technocratic reform and more about opening new
channels of political influence. In this view, genuine banking reform in Lebanon
isn’t achievable while Hezbollah retains its arms and parallel power structure;
disarmament would need to precede any credible restructuring of the financial
system.
Israel Defense Forces
ELIMINATED: Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, a Hezbollah battalion commander in the
Radwan Force unit. Hassan was eliminated in an IDF strike on a central HQ of the
Radwan Force unit in the Ansar area in southern Lebanon, following a Hezbollah
terror attack against IDF soldiers operating in the Security Zone. Alongside
him, several additional terrorists who were involved in advancing terror attacks
against IDF soldiers were eliminated.
Hassan’s family was also present with him inside the military HQ & was harmed in
the strike. The strike was specifically directed at Hassan, who was a lawful
target under international law, not at his family members who
Hiba Nasr
Netanyahu statement on the developments in Lebanon:
This morning Hezbollah violated the ceasefire in Lebanon by attacking our
soldiers in the security zone, which protects Israeli communities just across
the border. The Hezbollah attack seriously injured three of our soldiers. The
IDF responded by striking the Hezbollah terror headquarters which ordered the
attack. Only later did the IDF learn that Hezbollah deliberately put civilians
in that military compound. Hezbollah is willing to do anything, including using
its own civilians as human shields, to falsely accuse Israel of deliberately
targeting civilians, which the IDF clearly did not.
Mosab Hassan Yousef
Palestinian jihadists and Afghan jihadists. Same ideology, same uniform, same
hatred.
The only difference? Proximity to Israel forced Palestinian Jihadists to look
slightly more polished.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
The difference between UAE’s muscular policy against Iran and Saudi Arabia’s
photo-op strategy is stark. UAE says it will keep navigating through Hormuz, in
line with international law, despite Iranian bullying and charlatanism.
Gad Saad
Muslims are truly brilliant in the manner by which they've been playing the West
(as they repeatedly explained that they would). They use pervasive "woke speak"
such as colonialism (to criticize the West) when Islam is the grandest of all
colonial powers ever. Fifty-seven countries today are part of the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation each of which was once 0% Muslim. Muslims are truly in no
position to lecture ANYONE about colonialism other than to accept the crown as
the Lionel Messi of colonialists.
Tom Harb
Cute lawsuit.
By Pro-Hezbollah “Lebanese-Americans” suing the U.S. over Israeli operations in
Lebanon while ignoring the fact that Hezbollah has turned half the country into
a missile base & underground tunnels and terror playground for 40 years.
Best part of the American court system: discovery !Every financial transfer,
every wire, every “charity” donation these plaintiffs (and their networks) ever
made is now fair game for the government to examine. If any of that money flowed
to Hezbollah the actual terrorist group that started this round of destruction,
those records will surface under oath. Meanwhile, there should be a real class
action: By real free Lebanese-Americans who were forced to flee Lebanon because
of Hezbollah’s rockets, assassinations, corruption, and state-within-a-state
stranglehold. They can sue the people who actually turned their homeland into a
permanent war zone.
Priorities.
Nadim Koteich
Buying, selling and trading third-party crude is normal business for a global
energy trader.
@ADNOCGroup
itself explicitly says that ADNOC Trading buys and markets “other crude grades
and third-party flows” and operates as an active market participant trading both
ADNOC and non-ADNOC crude. Portraying this as some extraordinary UAE rescue
operation for Iraq or any third party is a work of fiction, not proper
journalism. The article is right to highlight the extraordinary resilience ADNOC
is demonstrating, despite suffering attacks, casualties, operational disruption
and significant financial costs. In doing so, ADNOC is helping to balance global
energy markets and stabilize oil prices - which may otherwise have been much
higher given the current circumstances- while absorbing real risk and real cost
that benefits producers and consumers far beyond the region, including the
United States.I am sure that effort is understood and appreciated in the circles
that matter.
What the
@business
piece misses is that resilience is not cost-free. It takes years of planning,
investment and difficult decisions to build the flexibility the UAE is showing
today.
Nadim Koteich
Let alone that the facts in the @business story below are
inaccurate to say the least, as per my sources, it is important to understand
that the UAE's resilience sits alongside real vulnerability, because geography
still matters.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Dear Iranians, Saudis, Palestinians, Islamists… etc.
I am a proud American. I also believe that allying with Israel serves US
national interests and that the Jewish state is an asset for other Mideast
countries to learn from and ally with.
Stop using “you’re a treasonous Arab” or “a supporter of Israel” as a gotcha
moment that you think shames me. It’s not a secret that you are uncovering and
it’s not a nefarious scheme. It’s what I believe deep down and express out loud—
an American proud of my Arab heritage and a supporter of strong U.S. and Arab
ties with Israel.
Save your breath and try to beat my arguments instead of engaging in bogus ad
hominem.