English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 23/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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https://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2026/english.August 23.26.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
 Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’"
Luke 10/38-42: "Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me. ’But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’"

Titles For The English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 22-23/2026
Erdogan, detached from reality, is hallucinating about an Ottoman empire buried in the dustbin of history./Elias Bejjani/August 21 August/2026
Israel will expose and dismantle Erdogan's Ottoman illusions and ambitions, just as it exposed and defeated the hallucinations of the Iranian axis of evil./Elias Bejjani/August 20/2026
General Labor Confederation President Bechara Al-Asmar Appointed Chairman of the Social Security Fund Board… What a Choice!/Elias Bejjani/August 18/2026
Colonel Charbel Barakat:An Excerpt from My Book Madamik (Foundation Stones), Published in 1999, Discussing the Future of the Region Where the Battles of Today Are Taking Place — Al-Shaqif and Nabi Taher./August 22/2026
Religious Shrines in South Lebanon Unrelated to Islam and Muslims, Particularly the Shiites/
Attorney Maroun Al-Amil, Secretary-General of the Guardians of the Cedars Party//August 22/2026
A Plea from Father Tony Bou Assaf to Christian Leadership and Political Parties: Enough Downfall… Enough Disgrace… Enough Recklessness with the Fate of a People/Father Tony Bou Assaf/Father Tony Bou Assaf/August 22/2026
Nadim Ktaiech/Video, Text, Arabic &English/Lebanese people have to choose between two Lebanons: Ali Al-Taher Hill or the Port of Beirut/Nadim Ktaiech/ 22 August/2026
Aoun presses for UNIFIL extension as Lebanon weighs post-mission security force
President Aoun returns to Beirut after Vatican and Italy visit
President Aoun’s Rome visit: Italy offers readiness to help as post-UNIFIL plans remain unclear
Ali al-Taher escalation: Israel weighs airstrikes and ground operations
World Bank projects Lebanon economy to contract by 6.4% due to war
Beirut Airport urges travelers to arrive at least three hours before flights
Lebanese-Ecuadorian diplomat vying to lead the UN
Salam Inspects Military Units South of Litani: No Capable Lebanese State without One Strong Army
PM Salam meets Indian deputy FM to discuss bilateral ties
State Return to South Lebanon Extends Beyond Security to Services, Recovery/Beirut: Soubhi AmhazAsharq Al Awsat/August 22/2026
Blessed is the one who came in the name of the people/Edmond El-Chidiac/23 August/2026

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 22-23/2026
Iran condemns US plans to announce new sanctions
Egypt and Iran foreign ministers discuss reviving US negotiations
Iranian families struggle to afford the basics as US ratchets up economic warfare
Iranian official urges Qatar to move detained pilots to hospital on land
Iran grants permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Hormuz
Erdogan, Netanyahu trade jabs after Turkey seeks arrest warrant for Israel PM
Israel says US criticism of strike on Syria 'full of inaccuracies'
Israel conducts fresh strike in Syria after US criticism
Syria condemns Israeli strike as 'flagrant violation of sovereignty'
Israel’s deadly Gaza strikes cast doubt on ceasefire progress days after Kushner visit
Former envoys urge joint French, UK action on Palestinian territories
11 countries call Israeli airstrikes in Syria an extreme escalation
Blast on security forces' bus near Damascus causes injuries: State media
France pledges new interceptor missiles to Ukraine as Russian strikes intensify
Ukraine says 'cynical' Russian strike on shopping center killed 16
US, Canada fail to reach trade pact to avert Trump tariffs
Canada PM says 'cannot accept' what US asked for on trade
Saudi Crown Prince’s France visit to focus on energy, investment: French source

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 22-23/2026
Iran: What Next?/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/August 22, 2026
No Longer Willing to Endure: The Slogan of Political Sunnism!/Youssef Mouawad/Levant Time/August 22, 2026
US treasury secretary’s threats: psychological or real?/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 22, 2026
Crown Prince’s Paris visit extends historic partnership/Dr. Faisal bin Saud Al-Mujfel/Arab News/August 22, 2026
Triangulating the future: what the Islamabad-Riyadh-Ankara axis means for the region/Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/August 22/2026
The Retreat of the Iranian Project/Mohammed al-Rumaihi/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 22, 2026
The Edge of the Abyss/Mishary Dhayidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 22, 2026
Selected Face Book & X tweets on August 22/2026

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 22-23/2026
Erdogan, detached from reality, is hallucinating about an Ottoman empire buried in the dustbin of history.
Elias Bejjani/August 21 August/2026
Erdogan is a despicable Muslim Brotherhood sick creature, obsessed with delusions and hallucinations of a bygone Ottoman Empire, which history has buried in its dustbin. A monstrous creature, more dangerous than Satan himself.

Israel will expose and dismantle Erdogan's Ottoman illusions and ambitions, just as it exposed and defeated the hallucinations of the Iranian axis of evil.
Elias Bejjani/August 20/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156826/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqIzZHNWY4I
The state of Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has proven its exceptional ability to completely alter the face of the region, thereby exposing the ugly reality of jihadist political Islam and the Iranian axis of evil, which was long built upon illusions, hallucinations, populist daydreams, and wishful thinking. By delivering precise intelligence and military strikes, Israel succeeded in eliminating the core of the mullahs' axis of evil. The assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and all Hezbollah leaders from the first, second, and third tiers proved beyond a doubt that Israeli intelligence knows the inner workings of this Iranian terrorist organization better than its own leaders, masters, and patrons among the mullahs of Iran. The exact same firm policy was applied to the jihadist Hamas, culminating in forcing it to accept in principle to surrender power in Gaza and lay down its arms, regardless of its ongoing attempts to hide behind taqiyya (dissimulation) or temporary political maneuvering.
This visionary and leading Israeli approach did not stop at shattering the myth of the mullahs' regime and dismantling its false slogans through the assassination of its political, military, and nuclear scientific leaders—carried out in cooperation with the United States under President Trump. Rather, it dragged the jihadist mullahs' regime in Iran into a state of absolute strategic weakness. This weakness will inevitably open the door soon for the oppressed and persecuted Iranian people to overthrow the criminal mullahs' regime, which is obsolete, rooted in the darkness of eras of raids and ignorance, and utterly disconnected from the demands of the modern age.
In the same context, Israel is firmly moving today to expose and dismantle the dreams, schemes, incursions, and illusions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who seeks to revive Ottoman ambitions and acts as the prominent patron of Islamist jihadists. Just as the Iranian illusion collapsed, the failure of Erdogan's Turkish gambits will come as a shock to several regional capitals—foremost among them Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and Pakistan—that were fooled by the deception that Erdogan is a strong, effective leader capable of ending Israel's regional role or casting it into the sea.
As part of containing these expansive, delusional, deceitful, and populist Ottoman plots, Israeli warplanes carried out precise strikes deep inside Syrian territory on August 18, targeting the "Abu Duhur airbase" in the Idlib governorate, roughly 70 kilometers south of the Turkish border. Eight strikes hit the base's runway and storage facilities.
This decisive military action came after intelligence and satellite surveillance detected the entry of a high-level, highly experienced Turkish military and intelligence delegation into the "Abu Duhur airbase" in Syria's Idlib governorate, in preparation for the Turkish military to seize control of it and threaten the freedom of Israeli aerial navigation. The Israeli forces waited until the Turkish delegation departed before striking the base, thereby drawing a definitive red line against Erdogan and his evil ambitions. While the Israeli Prime Minister's Office indicated that a previous security understanding existed with Damascus to prevent breaches of the status quo by allowing Turkish forces to deploy, Syrian jihadist officials rushed—to save face regionally, nationally, and islamically—to deny the existence of any such understanding, condemning the strikes as a violation of sovereignty. Meanwhile the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Barrack—who is a personal supporter of Erdogan's project and entirely ignorant of the region's history—expressed his concern over this escalation.
Israel, which has always been clear regarding its red lines, has maintained a secure buffer zone inside Syria since the collapse of "Bashar al-Assad's regime" in December 2024, and has executed preemptive strikes against bases slated for Turkish occupation, such as the T4 airbase in February 2025.
There is no doubt that the current Syrian leadership, led by al-Golani (Ahmed al-Sharaa), falls under direct Turkish hegemony and control; Ankara occupies a third of Syrian territory via 12 military bases, and its overt objective is to reach the Israeli border through terrorist jihadist organizations, mirroring the role played by the Jihadist-Iranian terrorist Hezbollah along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
In conclusion, Erdogan—with his jihadist, Islamist, and expansionist Ottoman illusions and schemes—represents the real and operational threat looming over the Middle East. This rancorous Islamist, dreaming of reviving an empire buried in the depths of time, poses a grave strategic threat that dwarfs the danger of Iran's mullahs and their criminal regime. He openly flaunts his blatant hostility toward the state of Israel while exploiting regional alliances to advance his agenda. His expansionist, Ottoman-minded Muslim Brotherhood project threatens Arab nations collectively, not just Israel, especially given that Israel's objective is to forge peace and cooperative agreements with regional states through the civilized, peaceful, and economic Abraham Accords, rather than threatening them, occupying their lands, and spreading jihadist organizations as Erdogan and the Iranian mullahs' regime do.
Consequently, a strong, visionary Israel dedicated to peace, stability, openness, freedom, and a dignified life will unquestionably not allow Erdogan to execute his expansionist and radical Islamist project. It will not hesitate to apply the exact same rigorous military rules used to subdue the mullahs' regime and its evil proxies—Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis—to shatter Erdogan's illusions and expose the reality of his power and capabilities.

General Labor Confederation President Bechara Al-Asmar Appointed Chairman of the Social Security Fund Board… What a Choice!
Elias Bejjani/August 18/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156755/
With each passing day, enlightened, free, and sovereignty-minded Lebanese become increasingly convinced that the tenure of Joseph Aoun and the government of Nawaf Salam, along with most of those who revolve within the orbit of power, the owners of the country’s political parties enterprises and political parties agencies, and their networks of vested interests, is nothing more than a blatant and transparent continuation of the approach that ruled Lebanon throughout the years of Syrian and Iranian occupations.
From this perspective, the election of Bechara Al-Asmar, President of the General Labor Confederation, as Chairman of the Board of the National Social Security Fund can only be understood within the context of the continuation of the same ruling establishment that brought the country to collapse and whose real levers of power remain firmly in the hands of Nabih Berri and Hezbollah.
It is well known that the General Labor Confederation, which was supposed to serve as the umbrella defending the rights of Lebanese workers, has for many years been transformed into an instrument subordinate to the political establishment and its apparatuses, losing both its independence and its genuine trade-union role. In the eyes of large numbers of Lebanese workers, the Confederation no longer represents their interests or aspirations. Instead, it has become part of a system of political patronage and dependency that has stripped national institutions of their true purpose and national character.
The experience of past decades confirms that the majority of labor and professional unions that fell under the domination of the traditional political parties—the poisonous legacy of successive occupations—have been transformed into tools of political and electoral mobilization rather than institutions dedicated to defending the rights of their members.
In this context, the names of Bechara Al-Asmar and Bassam Tlais stand out as prominent figures within a union structure that has become closely associated with the projects and interests of the forces dominating Lebanon’s political decision-making, foremost among them the Amal Movement and Hezbollah.
If the National Social Security Fund constitutes the last social safety net for hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens, then placing it under the management of figures affiliated with the same political establishment raises legitimate concerns among citizens who have suffered from corruption, waste, and political patronage throughout the past decades. Genuine reform begins by removing public institutions from the influence of political parties and occupation forces and restoring them to competent, experienced, and independent leadership.
In recent years, the Lebanese people have endured an unprecedented financial and economic collapse, while the official union leadership remained largely absent from any serious and effective defense of workers, retirees, and low-income citizens. It also failed to prevent the erosion of wages, protect social security and mutual assistance funds, or confront policies that pushed hundreds of thousands of Lebanese into poverty and forced many into emigration.
Accordingly, what is required is not merely opposition to the appointment of this individual, Rather, it is a fundamental reassessment of Lebanon’s labor movement, its liberation from partisan and political tutelage and from subservience to occupation forces, and the enactment of modern laws that guarantee its independence and transparency, thereby restoring its natural role as the foremost defender of workers’ rights and interests.
In conclusion, the heresy of installing Bechara Al-Asmar at the head of the National Social Security Fund Board under the false pretense and deception of an “election” constitutes yet another indication that the mentality of political quotas and patronage still controls the state and its institutions, and that the presidency tenure of Joseph Aoun and the government of Nawaf Salam serves merely as a façade for Iranian domination as represented by Nabih Berri and Hezbollah.
Real reform will begin only when Lebanon frees itself from occupation and when competence, integrity, and independence become the sole criteria for assuming public office, free from partisan loyalties and regional agendas.
The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website: https://eliasbejjaninews.com

Colonel Charbel Barakat:An Excerpt from My Book Madamik (Foundation Stones), Published in 1999, Discussing the Future of the Region Where the Battles of Today Are Taking Place — Al-Shaqif and Nabi Taher.
Colonel Charbel Barakat/August 22/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156854/
After Marj’youn, Shareef arrived at Tal-En-Nhas. To the east was thmilitary airport used by the French during World War II and on the southern hill, close to the border, is the Israeli village of Metula. It was one of the first villages founded by Jewish immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of them had bought land around the airport in the plain to the north, that now forms part of Lebanon. Similarly, a large amount of property, which had been owned by Lebanese, mostly from Rmeich and Alma-Esh-Shou’ob, was ceded to Israel after the border delineation between the two countries. Shareef knows these lands and owners. To the west, on the opposite side of the valley, Fort Beaufort stood stately and imposing. For, though a part of its outer wall is in ruins as are some towers, it remains in its position on a stone precipice over two hundred meters high, commanding the brawling river at its foot and compelling it to change course and turn several kilometers out of its way before resuming its flow westward to the Mediterranean.
Shareef in his continuing deliberations thought that this region, if ever given peace and tranquility, could be among the most beautiful and affluent parts of Lebanon. The heights surrounding the Fort are of singular beauty to attract tourism, and could accommodate the largest hotels for that purpose. Also the riverbank, especially if a planned dam is constructed at Khardali resulting in a lake, could be a remarkable tourist location and help develop the economy of this region that has for so long been deprived of comfort and stability. Water, the artery of life, is here to irrigate the earth, which is longing no doubt to become productive, to be manipulated by hands competing for production rather than always fighting, leaving the land bare and arid, eliminating birds and flowers, and even the herds of goats. Should people ever live in peace side-by-side with the Israelis, airplanes would undoubtedly land in the now deserted airport, hotels would adorn the Arnoun hills and water-skiers would compete on Khardali Lake. Restaurants and fishponds would be on both sides, and roses would bloom around brick-roofed villas. Bricks, produced nearby at Rashaya El-Fukhar, are of a quality not inferior to either the Italian Butterfly or the French Bee brands. Marj’youn would regain its fame and Hasbaya would become the entrance to a ski resort at Jabal-Esh-Sheihk (Mount Hermon). The Sheb’a ski site could compete equally with those of Fakra and Faraya. The South could then entertain those who come from the littoral and become a center of economic activity, playing a part in the development of the country rather than being a weak point, a drain on resources and a source of worry.
If the Lebanese people were lucky enough to produce leaders who could secure an atmosphere of calm, then they could perhaps return half of the Lebanese citizens now immigrating daily to some foreign land, where they work for and participate in that country’s well-being, and eventually acquire a new nationality. Alas, the number of these emigrants now exceeds the number of Palestinians displaced in 1948. The South, which is currently a sort of a nightmare to the rest of the country, could be developed into a stable warehouse that would supply the country with energy, men, and wealth. Yet how can the people apply themselves to economic development when bombs keep falling on their heads to ensure that no one can allege that Lebanon does not support the Arab/Palestinian cause. It is as if the oil wells of Saudi Arabia or Libya had ceased to yield in support of the Arabs, or that tourist resorts in Morocco, Tunisia, etc. had ceased to function for that purpose. Had Lebanon devoted its efforts to becoming a more viable and affluent country, the results of such efforts would have been more fruitful and effective than the present a country whose nationals are forced to seek their living in the hot desert of oil rich neighbors or in colder locations.

 Religious Shrines in South Lebanon Unrelated to Islam and Muslims, Particularly the Shiites
Attorney Maroun Al-Amil, Secretary-General of the Guardians of the Cedars Party
August 22, 2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156851/
Information that every politician, journalist, or public affairs activist should know.
In South Lebanon, there are a number of shrines located on hills and elevated sites, including: Nabi Safi, Nabi Sujud, Nabi Taher (not Ali Al-Taher), Nabi Kharqin (Ezekiel), Nabi Oweida, Nabi Sari, Maqam Al-Abbad, and Nabi Shimon (Simeon).
All of these shrines are unrelated to Islam and Muslims, particularly the Shiites.
The well-known hill is called Nabi Taher Hill. All of these shrines date back to ancient times, predating both Islam and Christianity, and a number of them are associated with the Jewish faith.
This clarification is intended to prevent the continued deliberate falsification that Hezbollah and its supporters have persistently engaged in as part of a broader effort aimed at rewriting and distorting history in a manner that serves sectarian interests.
Given the importance of this subject, this clarification was deemed necessary.

A Plea from Father Tony Bou Assaf to Christian Leadership and Political Parties: Enough Downfall… Enough Disgrace… Enough Recklessness with the Fate of a People
Father Tony Bou Assaf/Father Tony Bou Assaf/August 22/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156861/
(Free translation from Arabic by: Elias Bejjani)
Our youth are leaving Lebanon, the homes are emptying, and you remain trapped in the mire of grudges, unearthing the past and turning yesterday’s wounds into fuel for your disputes.
What greater disgrace is there than having our youth at the airport while you are at the pulpits fighting over the graves of the dead?
Do not say that you are keen on the Christian presence in Lebanon.
Whoever deprives their homeland, The Holy Land of the Cedars of its youth is not protecting the Chritains presence… but participating in uprooting it.
You busy yourselves with the past because you are incapable of shaping the future.
You hurl accusations at each other because you have no answer for those who ask: What have you done so that our youth might stay?
Have some shame for a homeland bidding farewell to its youth while you amuse yourselves with your grudges.
For when the airport becomes the future of our youth, and the graves become the future of your rhetoric, you are not defending Christianity in Lebanon…BUT you are burying it with your own hands.
Have some shame… before you search tomorrow for Lebanese Christians to disagree with, only to find no one left.
*The Theology of Existence

Nadim Ktaiech/Video, Text, Arabic &English/Lebanese people have to choose between two Lebanons: Ali Al-Taher Hill or the Port of Beirut
Nadim Ktaiech/ 22 August/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/08/156863/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRwsV66G89E
Lebanese people have to choose between two Lebanons: Ali Al-Taher Hill or the Port of Beirut—in other words, Lebanon of the front lines, which Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said he is still in contact with the militants present there, or Lebanon of trade routes, transportation routes, and the gas pipelines that are coming, with an Emirati delegation discussing their development and investment in them.
This is the battle: Lebanon of the front lines or Lebanon of trade routes.We saw this scene in Syria before. Syria was the most important link in the Iranian military corridor from Iraq to Hezbollah. The regime fell, the corridor was broken, and suddenly the discussion became about investments, energy, real estate, airports, logistics, reconstruction, and so on. Even Turkey, when it used the language of the old Levant a few days ago and resorted to the old bravado, was hit in Syria. There was a counteroffensive to consolidate Iran's defeat in the Arab Levant and reclaim the Levant through economics and development.
Because Iraq is also fighting a similar battle between the state and the factions, between the economy of military corridors and projects connecting it to the Gulf—from energy to ports, railways, and commercial corridors.
Iraq, which was Iran's corridor into the region, could become a corridor behind Iran's back, meaning a partial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. Arab capital is moving toward Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, and later Gaza, in the opposite direction to the eastward axis.

Aoun presses for UNIFIL extension as Lebanon weighs post-mission security force
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/August 22, 2026
BEIRUT: Lebanese officials are intensifying diplomatic efforts to preserve an international security presence in southern Lebanon as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon moves toward the end of its mandate. The future of UNIFIL and security arrangements in southern Lebanon featured prominently in Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s meetings in Rome. Lebanon is seeking to maintain UNIFIL’s presence until stability is restored, viewing the peacekeeping force as an “international umbrella supporting the Lebanese Army in implementing Resolution 1701.”If an extension of the mission cannot be secured, Lebanese officials are exploring the possibility of deploying forces from countries that have expressed a willingness to maintain a presence in Lebanon, including Italy, France and Spain. Such deployments could operate either under direct agreements between Lebanon and the participating states, or through the UN. The Lebanese presidency’s media office said Aoun, who met his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella, also held talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday night. The discussions covered “the period following the end of UNIFIL’s mission, the support provided by Italy to Lebanon, and the situation in the south in light of continuing Israeli attacks.” They also addressed “the need to pressure Israel to abide by the framework agreement reached during Lebanese-Israeli negotiations under US sponsorship in Washington, and Italy’s role in consolidating security and stability in the south.”
Aoun had earlier discussed southern Lebanon and UNIFIL with Vatican officials. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is also expected to raise the issue in New York City on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. UNIFIL, meanwhile, vacated an observation post near the Khardali Bridge two days ago. The bridge crosses the Litani River and links the Nabatieh and Marjayoun districts, between the towns of Kfar Tebnit and Deir Mimas. A Lebanese Army Command source told Arab News: “The evacuation took place as part of UNIFIL’s gradual withdrawal from Lebanon. There is a Lebanese Army checkpoint operating at the same location.”In August 2025, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a final extension of UNIFIL’s mandate until Dec. 31, 2026, followed by a coordinated and safe drawdown and withdrawal beginning on that date and continuing for one year, until the end of 2027.
Last December, UNIFIL began implementing a plan to reduce its troop strength by 25 percent following cuts to the mission’s budget. Before the Security Council decision was adopted, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Washington was seeking to reduce the size of UNIFIL so that Hezbollah could not “use it as cover for its operations.”Retired Lebanese Army Maj. Gen. Abdul Rahman Shehaitli, who previously represented Lebanon in indirect negotiations with Israel over border demarcation and the occupation of the village of Ghajar, told Arab News that UNIFIL’s withdrawal would leave Lebanon politically exposed. “The more than 40 countries contributing troops to UNIFIL have exerted pressure to maintain stability in southern Lebanon because they have units deployed on the ground that they need to protect,” he said. “If these forces withdraw, those countries will no longer have the same level of interest in exerting pressure in that direction.”Shehaitli said UNIFIL’s presence also helped prevent direct friction between the Lebanese and Israeli armies.The force had additionally played an important role in supporting villages in southern Lebanon economically, socially, medically, educationally and through humanitarian assistance, he said. Shehaitli said Aoun was seeking international backing for any force that might eventually replace UNIFIL.“The president is seeking international cover for any force that could be formed as an alternative to UNIFIL, with the mission of a task force and a role broader than that currently played by UNIFIL,” he said. Asked which European countries could take part in such a force, particularly France, Shehaitli said he believed “the American side wants to remove French influence from Lebanon and Syria, and replace it with American influence.”Earlier this week, Aoun told a parliamentary delegation that presented him with a petition signed by 86 MPs calling on the UN to extend UNIFIL’s mandate that “keeping UNIFIL remains the best option for Lebanon.”The parliamentary delegation also handed a copy of the petition to a visiting delegation from the American Task Force on Lebanon.
UNIFIL’s responsibilities include monitoring the situation on the ground and recording violations, supporting efforts to maintain the cessation of hostilities, assisting the Lebanese Army in deploying and establishing authority south of the Litani River, overseeing tripartite meetings in Naqoura aimed at preventing escalation, and providing logistical and technical support to local communities.However, UNIFIL’s credibility has come under increasing scrutiny after Israeli forces operating inside the peacekeepers’ area of operations uncovered what Israel says are extensive Hezbollah military facilities built over two decades, including drone launch sites, observation towers, complex tunnel networks and large weapons stockpiles. Israel’s case to Washington has gone beyond accusations that UNIFIL merely observed Hezbollah’s activities without taking action.
According to Israel, UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army effectively served as a “front for Hezbollah,” with Israel alleging that they not only overlooked the group’s activities, but also allowed it to operate, construct tunnels and store weapons within their areas of operation. Under the framework agreement, UNIFIL would have no role in the designated pilot areas. Instead, the Lebanese Army would assume responsibility for security in southern Lebanon, while countries agreed upon during the Rome negotiations would take part in a mechanism to monitor the pilot areas and the army’s operations there.
Those operations are aimed at disarming Hezbollah, dismantling its military infrastructure and ensuring Israel’s withdrawal from the areas concerned.

President Aoun returns to Beirut after Vatican and Italy visit
LBCI/August 22/2026
President Joseph Aoun returned to Beirut overnight, concluding his visit to the Vatican and Italy, where he met Pope Leo XIV and discussed the situation in Lebanon. Aoun also met Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to discuss bilateral relations, developments in Lebanon and the region, and ongoing efforts to prepare for the period following the end of UNIFIL’s mission in southern Lebanon.

President Aoun’s Rome visit: Italy offers readiness to help as post-UNIFIL plans remain unclear
LBCI/August 22/2026
President Joseph Aoun returned from Rome without a concrete agreement on Italy’s potential role in Lebanon, leaving several key questions over the future of southern Lebanon unresolved. Aoun’s talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni focused on three main issues: a proposed verification mechanism in designated areas, the situation in the south after the end of UNIFIL’s mandate, and the role Italy could play in both efforts. So far, however, Italy’s position has remained at the level of expressing its willingness to help, with no agreement on a specific role or mechanism. Sources familiar with the discussions told LBCI that any Italian or international deployment on the ground would also require Israeli approval. Israel has so far opposed the proposals under discussion. The verification mechanism is also being considered separately from the potential international force that could replace UNIFIL, whose structure and mandate remain unclear. Aoun’s visit therefore did not result in a finalized agreement or implementation plan, but it did open the possibility of an Italian role in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s efforts are continuing, with Army Commander Gen. Rodolph Haykal also scheduled to visit Rome on Sunday. His talks are expected to focus on Italy’s potential role in the south, as well as support for the Lebanese Army.

Ali al-Taher escalation: Israel weighs airstrikes and ground operations
LBCI/August 22/2026
Israeli security officials have decided to expand attacks on Ali al-Taher hill in southern Lebanon, including airstrikes by warplanes and drones, as well as special ground operations by Israeli army units surrounding the area.The decision comes amid Israeli reports that a number of Hezbollah fighters have managed to emerge from tunnels surrounded on the hill, while others have entered the tunnels to reinforce fighters who remain trapped inside. According to Israeli security assessments, fewer than 30 Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fighters are believed to be inside the tunnels on the hill. If accurate, the reports would present the Israeli army with growing challenges in an area it has heavily targeted with airstrikes in recent hours. Entering the fortified tunnel network could pose significant risks to Israeli troops. The army is therefore operating under what it calls a strategy of “gradual pressure” on those trapped inside. The reported presence of Iranian personnel, according to the Israeli narrative, also adds regional and political sensitivity to the situation. Despite the challenges, the Israeli army says it is prepared to address the situation and is awaiting political approval. The escalation in Ali al-Taher also followed a security assessment claiming that Hezbollah was planning to target Israeli forces by planting explosives and carrying out large-scale attacks.With Israel’s elections about two months away, Tel Aviv is using the Ali al-Taher issue as a potential lever that could reshape the situation on the ground — and possibly the political landscape — amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s need to project an achievement on the northern border.

World Bank projects Lebanon economy to contract by 6.4% due to war
Agence France Presse/August 22/2026
The World Bank has projected that Lebanon's economy would contract by 6.4 percent this year, as the latest Israel-Hezbollah war derailed the country's efforts at recovery. Lebanon has been dealing with an unprecedented financial crisis since 2019 and was still reeling from the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war when the Iran-backed group drew it into the Middle East conflict by attacking Israel in March. Israel responded with a heavy air campaign and ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people. Due to the war, "real GDP is projected to contract by 6.4 percent in 2026, reflecting the collapse in tourism, weaker consumption, disrupted supply chains, heightened insecurity, and prolonged displacement," the World Bank said in a report. Inflation is also expected to rise to 17.5 percent this year, "driven by supply disruptions, higher shipping costs, and rising oil prices, further reducing people's purchasing power," the report said. The World Bank said Lebanon's economy had strengthened before the latest conflict, with an estimated real GDP growth of 4.2 percent in 2025, "the fastest since the onset of the 2019 financial crisis". "Advancing reforms -- particularly on banking sector restructuring and fiscal management -- will be critical to restoring confidence, protecting stability, and mobilizing the financing needed for reconstruction and recovery," Dahlia Khalifa, the World Bank's Middle East director, said. The international community has been demanding that Lebanese authorities enact financial reforms in order to secure much-needed economic aid. Last week, parliament passed amendments to a bank resolution law aimed at restructuring troubled banks and addressing the country's banking crisis. The International Monetary Fund welcomed the law, describing it as "a very good step that reflects Lebanon's commitment to aligning its legislation with the best international practices". Lebanon has been in discussions with the IMF, which said it would resume its meetings in Beirut next month.

Beirut Airport urges travelers to arrive at least three hours before flights
LBCI/August 22/2026
The management of Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport urged travelers to arrive at least three hours before their scheduled departure amid heavy passenger traffic and a rise in the number of travelers leaving the country. It said arriving early would allow passengers to complete check-in, baggage drop-off and security procedures smoothly, while helping reduce congestion and avoid delays, particularly during peak hours. The airport management said all departments and agencies operating at the airport are coordinating to ensure the smooth flow of passengers. It also urged travelers to follow instructions from service providers, airlines and security authorities and to check their flight schedules in advance to ensure a smoother travel experience.

Lebanese-Ecuadorian diplomat vying to lead the UN
Agence France Presse/August 22/2026
Ecuador's Ivonne A-Baki, a diplomat who represented Quito in the United States, has entered the race to lead the U.N., the head of the General Assembly said in a letter Tuesday. Nominated by Tonga, the former foreign trade minister joins a growing field of candidates for secretary-general of the international organization, which has been buffeted by global divisions and budget issues. A-Baki, born to Lebanese parents, was instrumental in brokering dialogue between Ecuador and Peru following their brief 1995 border war. Five women and three men are so far in the running to succeed Antonio Guterres of Portugal, who will complete his second five-year term on December 31, 2026. Nominations are still open, raising the prospect of further late entrants. In its nomination, Tonga highlighted A-Baki's roles as a cabinet minister, the first woman ambassador from Ecuador to Washington and ambassador to Qatar.
"I have lived through the ravages of war," she wrote on X. "As the only candidate whose heritage bridges Latin America and the Middle East, and the only nominee to have helped broker a peace agreement between two sovereign U.N. member states, I stand ready to help renew the U.N. Charter's foundational promise: to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war in a world where conflict continues to grow." A-Baki was the face of a failed plan to prevent oil exploitation in an Amazon reserve in exchange for a hefty international contribution. The environmental initiative was shelved in 2013 by then-president Rafael Correa, who authorized crude extraction in the Yasuni National Park after acknowledging the plan's economic failure. The U.N. Security Council met last month for the first so-called "straw poll" to gauge support for the then-seven candidates for the secretary-general role.
United Nations insider Rebeca Grynspan was leading after the first round of the process. The other nominees are former Guyanese foreign minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Argentina's Rafael Grossi, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Maria Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, Olara Otunnu of Uganda and Macky Sall of Senegal. Although IAEA chief Grossi has arguably the best name recognition, observers say there is no clear favorite in the race that could last several months. Diplomats are reluctant to predict the outcome because the council's five permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom -- have yet to indicate their preferences. Even if a candidate bags the required nine votes from the 15 available in the council, they must also avoid a veto by the five major powers, which are deeply divided.
Once a candidate clears those bars, their name will go to the General Assembly of all U.N. member states for confirmation.

Salam Inspects Military Units South of Litani: No Capable Lebanese State without One Strong Army
Beirut:/Asharq Al Awsat/August 22/2026
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam tied the restoration of state authority in South Lebanon to a broader process extending beyond military deployment to strengthening institutions, restoring services and advancing reconstruction. During a visit to the Benoit Barakat Barracks in Tyre, Salam stressed that “every position where the army deploys in the South is a place where the state regains its authority.”“Restoring sovereignty requires building a capable state, and there can be no capable state without one strong army,” he added, arguing that sovereignty restored through security must also be consolidated economically and socially.
One authority
“We want the South, like all of Lebanon, to be under one authority, and Lebanese citizens there to feel safe because they have an army protecting them,” the PM declared, linking lasting stability to the state and its constitutional institutions regaining control over decisions of war and peace. At the same time, he acknowledged the challenges confronting the military amid continuing Israeli attacks. “True sovereignty is neither taken nor given; it is built,” he emphasized. Salam reaffirmed his government’s commitment to building a national state faithful to the constitution, describing efforts to strengthen the army as “a strategic choice at the heart of our project to restore the state,” rather than a secondary priority. The government continues to mobilize Arab and international support to develop the army’s personnel capabilities, improve its equipment and enhance service members’ living conditions, he went on to say.
He described the military as one of the few institutions around which Lebanese citizens remain united.Addressing troops, Salam urged them to shield the army from political and sectarian divisions. “Preserve the unity of the army. Do not allow politics to divide you and accept only the constitution and the law as your guide,” he told them, warning against allowing “the evils of sectarianism” to infiltrate their ranks. Lebanon could emerge from its current predicament only by having “one army, one flag and one state,” he maintained. Salam also paid tribute to fallen service members, telling their families: “Your sons are not only martyrs of the military institution; they are martyrs of the entire nation.”
Beyond army deployment
“The return of the state to the South is not limited to the deployment of the army, but extends across all sectors, including education, reconstruction and everything else,” he added, reiterating the government’s commitment to providing the military with everything needed to carry out its mission successfully.
He pledged that the state would spare no effort to secure Israel’s complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory, recover prisoners and advance reconstruction. Defense Minister Michel Menassa similarly framed Salam’s visit as an affirmation of state sovereignty. “Our visit to the South is not merely an inspection tour. We are here today to reaffirm our unwavering position seeking to restore state sovereignty,” he vowed. He identified the government’s primary negotiating objective as “the complete withdrawal of the Israeli enemy from Lebanon.”Menassa praised the army as a symbol of “dignity, sacrifice and loyalty” that brings Lebanese citizens together and safeguards national unity and civil peace. He also commended its professionalism in carrying out missions despite difficult conditions and pressure.

PM Salam meets Indian deputy FM to discuss bilateral ties
LBCI/August 22/2026
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received Indian Deputy Foreign Minister and Secretary for Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs Sripriya Ranganathan and her delegation at the Grand Serail, in the presence of Indian Ambassador Mohammad Noor Rahman Sheikh.Following the meeting, Ranganathan said the discussions focused on bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to further strengthen and develop their longstanding ties. She said the meeting also covered their respective views on a range of regional and international issues, describing the talks as “very productive.”

State Return to South Lebanon Extends Beyond Security to Services, Recovery
Beirut: Soubhi AmhazAsharq Al Awsat/August 22/2026
Lebanon’s push to reassert the state’s presence in the south is moving beyond security deployments to a harder test: restoring schools, services, and livelihoods in communities battered by war.
Recovery programs are beginning to take shape, but a wide funding gap threatens efforts to keep residents in their towns and revive areas where infrastructure, agriculture, and education have sustained extensive damage.
A framework for return, but funding lags
In 2026, the government launched the “National Framework for Return, Early Recovery and Restoration of Basic Services,” covering the return of residents, social protection, the restoration of services and livelihoods, and preparations for reconstruction.
No consolidated budget has been announced yet. One of its main financing tools is the Lebanon Emergency Assistance Project (LEAP), implemented by the Council for Development and Reconstruction. The project was designed to scale up to $1 billion. So far, only $250 million has been secured, leaving a $750 million funding gap. Of the available financing, $50 million is earmarked for immediate response measures, including debris removal, securing buildings, and reopening roads. Another $175 million is allocated to restoring water, energy, transport, health, and education services, while $15 million is set aside for studies and designs, and $10 million for project management. Under the full framework, $455 million is allocated for reconstruction, most of it still unfunded. In a parallel effort, the government launched a program in May worth about 32 million euros for southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, running through 2029. The European Union is providing 24.8 million euros, Denmark 5.35 million euros, and the French Development Agency 2 million euros. The program targets local authorities, small businesses, and the agricultural sector, while seeking to create jobs. Lebanese ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the new response framework provides a basis for attracting funding, but it is still not fully financed.”They said the Ministry of Social Affairs was “continuing to work intensively to secure additional funding to help respond to the needs of affected groups.”A safety net for more than one million people
Social protection is a central part of efforts to keep residents in their communities and support their return. The sources said one of the main response measures was cash assistance provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs, covering about 230,000 families through the ministry’s shock-responsive social safety net. Based on the average household size, more than 1 million people receive support. The assistance is particularly significant in areas where returning home still depends on families' ability to repair their homes, restore access to services, and find work. That makes social support part of the effort to re-establish communities, rather than simply an emergency measure.
Agriculture: getting farmers back to their land
The Ministry of Agriculture has divided its response plan into five tracks: emergency support for farmers; protection of food supply chains and markets; protection of livestock production and assets; continuity of programs and services; and coordination and needs assessment. Measures include monitoring food supply chains, accelerating imports of plant products, extending import deadlines for some essential goods, and monitoring markets and prices in coordination with the Ministry of Economy.The plan also provides emergency assistance to farmers in high-risk areas and steps up operations at ports, border crossings, quarantine centers, and laboratories to speed the entry of goods. The report does not set an overall budget for the agricultural response. Instead, it says the ministry is working with partners and donors to identify priorities, assess possible interventions, and secure resources. Resources reported by the ministry’s network of agricultural partners that are being mobilized include $1,650,150 in cash assistance targeting 4,840 farmers. In-kind assistance is expected to reach 1,850 farmers and includes solar-powered irrigation pump kits, agricultural inputs, animal feed, treatment support, and infrastructure. The ministry has also launched a platform with the food security sector to identify and track available resources.
Schools face a September test
Education is emerging as one of the clearest tests of whether state institutions can resume normal operations in the South and Nabatieh governorates. Sources at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education told Asharq Al-Awsat that the ministry aims to start the 2026-2027 academic year with in-person classes at schools that meet safety and readiness requirements, starting Sept. 15.Schools in the affected areas of the South and Nabatieh will temporarily rely on remote learning until technical and operational assessments are completed. The scale of the challenge is substantial. Of 267 schools in the two governorates, 198 have been damaged. Eighty-nine sustained very minor damage, 64 moderate damage, and 15 severe damage. Another 30 were completely destroyed. The ministry is using a “school cluster” model for planning, grouping schools and alternative learning spaces within the same geographical area. Each cluster will have a file detailing student and teacher numbers, building conditions, capacity, and the locations of displaced students. Students whose schools cannot reopen will remain enrolled in their original schools while temporarily attending a host school or alternative learning space. Schools being used as shelters will operate under conditions designed to ensure the safe separation of their educational and shelter functions.The ministry is also building an operational database to track schools and students and setting up a hotline. Each school will receive an official operational decision specifying how classes will resume. The ministry has also expanded its use of “Teaching Hubs,” or teaching and learning centers, aimed at restoring teachers’ roles in affected areas while providing students with places to receive support and continue their education. The sources said the objective went beyond repairing damaged buildings.
“The goal is not limited to rehabilitating damaged school buildings, but also includes preserving the school as an existing institution even if its building has been destroyed, by maintaining its administration, teachers, and students,” they said. That, they added, would ensure that each school retains its identity and educational role until it can be rehabilitated or rebuilt.

Blessed is the one who came in the name of the people
Edmond El-Chidiac/23 August/2026
Bachir Gemayel Speech - Ghosta - 01/09 ...
( Written On the anniversary of the election of the martyred President, Sheikh Bashir Gemayel, as President of the Lebanese Republic.)
To enter the sacred space of speaking about Bashir is like standing before the burning bush or trying to measure the limits of imagination. How can a pen and paper capture the dream that echoed in our consciences, the fervor that blazed in our veins, the pure spirit of resistance that penetrated our ribs, and the sprout of national politics that grew in our Lebanon, a land that had long been barren before Bashir Gemayel?
We now feel more than ever the void that Bashir left in the life of each one of us, and even more so the void he left at the national level as a whole. We also feel more than ever the importance of what Bashir Gemayel used to say, dream about, and strive to achieve. He wanted a homeland as vast as the dream, so he made the dream into agendas, plans for execution, and achievements.
The greatest achievement of Bashir Gemayel is that he showed us the path paved with the blood of thousands of martyrs before us. He taught us how to hold our heads high and look at the cause as a beacon, so we don't get lost in the dark labyrinths of this East, from which the stench of global politics emanates. And greater than all this is that he vaccinated us against all the diseases that arise from that stench. He vaccinated us with his words, his deeds, and with the greatest antidote, his martyrdom. He vaccinated us against subservience, except to our cause and our homeland.
He vaccinated us against slavery, subjugation, and kissing the boots of colonizers. He vaccinated us against accepting a homeland as a farm and a president who does not represent the will of the people, the people alone.
Before his election, he had set the standards for a president who deserves to lead a country like Lebanon, the qualities of a man who can be entrusted with the 10,452 square kilometers and the 6,000 years of civilization. He said, "We want a president who establishes a harmonious relationship between the senses of the nation, a man of vision whose national dream reaches the level of a vision, not someone with a political lust that does not exceed the boundaries of governance. We want a president who has stood, even once, before the grave of a martyr. We want a president who uses the verbs of anger, the tools of warning, the letters of rejection, and the nouns of determination, someone who comes to dismantle, not to continue, someone who moves Lebanon from a state of coexistence with the crisis and solutions projects to a state of escaping the crisis and imposing solutions."
After August 23, 1982, Bashir spent 22 days as an elected president, during which he drew the lines of the new Lebanon, the Lebanon that "will no longer be a mere stepping stone, nor a low wall, but will be a state in every sense of the word, capable of protecting itself, its interests, its existence, and the security of its citizens and their properties. We will not be subservient to anyone, nor will we accept anyone as a guardian over us, not even over a single inch of Lebanese land. The area of Lebanon is 10,452 square kilometers, and it will remain so."
He believed that a free and sovereign Lebanon could not exist with foreign armies on its soil, and that the presence of these armies or any auxiliary army undermines any role of the Lebanese army and destroys freedom and democracy. He said, as if his words were a prophecy of our current situation, "But where are the Lebanese who can elect a strong man with 30,000 Syrian soldiers, thousands of intelligence agents, and 600,000 Palestinians present? The withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon is a necessity and a condition for conducting fair presidential elections."
Bashir was realistic on the ground as much as he was a man of great dreams. He believed that occupations can only be uprooted from the soil of the homeland by the hands, sacrifices, and blood of the homeland's sons themselves. Sovereignty must be seized, not begged for at the doors of great powers. He said, "We have become responsible for ourselves, for our destiny, for our nation, for everything that happens to us in terms of liberation and sovereignty, and for all the lands that will return to being Lebanese. We are not waiting for anyone's help, and we do not need anyone to die for us. Liberation must either be the result of our work, our sacrifices, and our martyrs, or we are a people unworthy of life and freedom."
Bashir, who launched the slogan of the 10,452 square kilometers, had absolute faith in the uniqueness of Lebanon, which, though limited in size, is a giant of civilization, universal in thought, self-contained, with roots in eternity and branches in infinity. He also had absolute faith in the uniqueness of the Lebanese people, believing that the people of Lebanon are still the only ones in this East who have their history present and their mission evident, with their distinctiveness being an undeniable fact. They look to the future in the light of their original, unique heritage, which has the resilience to protect it against the dangers of disappearance that the occupiers and coverers wish for it. He expressed this faith by saying, "The Lebanese cling to their unique existence in this geographical environment. They are like an oil drop that maintains its size, color, shape, identity, and purity, even if it mixes with any other body, no matter the size and type of that body, and remains at the top of all bodies, no matter how small it is, and no matter how large and expansive the other bodies are. History is also full of examples of peoples who rejected occupation, resisted it, and prevented it from being more than just the occupation of land and spaces without extending to the mind, heart, and soul."
With Bashir's thought, many things ended, and many new things were born.
– The saying "Lebanon's strength lies in its weakness" ended, and the theory of Lebanon's strength lies in the hands of its people, in its un-diminished sovereignty, and in a strong national army, both militarily and ideologically, was born.
– The politics of deception, mercantilism, lies, and concessions, and the idea of Lebanon as a farm ended, and the faith in Lebanon as a country, Lebanon of purity, truth, and the triumph of civilization even unto martyrdom, was born.
– The theory of tailoring the cause to fit the leader and his ambitions ended, and the theory of selecting a leader to fit the cause and the nation was born.
– The saying that Lebanon is composed of Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc., ended, and a firm belief was born that Lebanon is composed of Lebanese brothers in Lebanon, no matter their sect, as long as they believe in Lebanon the proud, sovereign, free, and independent, with no diminished sovereignty, absorbing all civilizations, rejecting any foreign army, whatever its name may be.
Bashir Gemayel was the alarm that awakened the great Lebanese spirit, which had been in deep sleep since the time of Fakhreddine. He was a candle that burned on the altar of Lebanon to light our way. A candle, even if it burned out prematurely, it was born shining brightly and eternally in the heart of every loyal Lebanese, faithful to the promise.
And we end with a word from Bashir of the 10,452 square kilometers, which does the topic justice when he said, "The attempt on my life, whether it succeeds or fails, will not affect the cause of Lebanon. The cause of Lebanon remains as long as there is an occupier, a settler, feudalism, repression, and oppression. Many pioneers of this cause have died, some in bed and some on the battlefield, but the cause continued to grow and expand in conscience, land, and the world. Every persecution of its ideas and pioneers deepens it in the conscience. I am with you in times of peace as in times of war. As for life, it is in God's hands..." (His Excellency President Sheikh Bashir Gemayel – March 27, 1979).

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 22-23/2026
Iran condemns US plans to announce new sanctions
Reuters/August 22, 2026
CAIRO/WASHINGTON: Iran on Saturday denounced US plans for new sanctions that could put further strain ​on the Islamic Republic’s economy and have an impact on its most important trading partners including China. After nearly six months of war since the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on February 28, the sides are not firing at each other but also showing no sign of pursuing peace talks. Oil shipments are at a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran threatening to strike any unauthorized oil tankers that try to transit the vital waterway, and Iran’s economy is already under immense pressure from sanctions. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to hold a press conference on Monday after threatening “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.Bessent has also urged cooperation with Washington by China, which buys more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from ‌analytics firm Kpler. ‌Beijing has urged diplomacy. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Saturday the imminent US announcement ​of ‌new ⁠economic sanctions was ​an “assertion ⁠of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations.” “Such secondary sanctions find no foundation in international law,” he said in a post on X. The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, promised on Friday that Iran would respond to enemy threats militarily with “crushing, punishing and devastating responses.”Iran also warned countries against participating in the “economic war” against the Islamic republic, saying they would be considered enemies. “We declare to all countries... do not join the economic war waged by the United States. Any country participating in the imposition of economic restrictions against us is considered an enemy,” said Mohsen Rezai, the head of Iran’s supreme national security council, on state television. US President Donald Trump, who has warned of economic consequences against any country that provides “any type of lifeline to Iran,” said on Friday that Washington was observing “what happens” in the conflict.“They would love to make a deal, but they’re not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion,” Trump said of Iran.
Hormuz traffic halted
While the US has effectively blockaded Iranian vessels in their ports, the Strait of ⁠Hormuz remained bottled up with thousands of seafarers stranded on hundreds of vessels. Only four commodity ships ‌sailed along the strait on Thursday, none of them large crude carriers or liquefied ‌natural gas tankers, ship-tracking data showed. However, Iran has granted permission for a number of ​Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait following repeated requests from ‌Baghdad, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday. IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests ‌during a visit to Iraq by Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US military helped move a seven-day average of 8 million barrels a day of oil through the strait. That’s down from more than 20 million per day before the war or about one of every five barrels consumed worldwide. US attacks have severely diminished Iran’s economy and devastated its navy and air force, but Tehran maintains enough missile and drone capability ‌to impede oil tanker traffic and attack regional rivals. Abdollahi, the armed forces chief of staff, sought to underline Iran’s missile capabilities during a visit to an underground plant manufacturing ballistic missiles that was reported ⁠by state television on Saturday. “This ⁠plant has been able, much better than in the past, to produce equipment superior both in capacities and quality and in quantity,” he said. Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, said Tehran had received “numerous messages” from neighboring countries about establishing new regional security arrangements and economic cooperation. Qalibaf, who did not say which countries he was referring to, accused the US of endangering the security of its allies in the region for the sake of Israel, adding that an independent, “homegrown” regional order would deliver peace and security.

Egypt and Iran foreign ministers discuss reviving US negotiations
AP/August 22, 2026
CAIRO: The top diplomats for Egypt and Iran discussed efforts to bring Tehran and Washington back to the negotiating table to settle the war, Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Saturday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty also discussed the Iranian-Omani talks on the management of the Strait of Hormuz, the ministry said. Araghchi briefed Egypt’s foreign minister about “Iran’s view of ongoing developments, the course of negotiations and their challenges,” the ministry said. There was no immediate statement from Araghchi. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the war with the US should end since the world has accepted that Iran has won, state media reported Friday. Iran sees its new control over the strait and resistance to US demands as a win. US President Donald Trump said his administration would impose an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil, natural gas and other supplies.

Iranian families struggle to afford the basics as US ratchets up economic warfare
AP/August 23, 2026
TEHRAN, Iran: Tehran’s grocery stores are well-stocked, but many families can barely afford the basics. Unemployment is soaring and those with jobs are working more hours for money worth half as much as a year ago, putting food, medicine and everything else — except for heavily subsidized gasoline — further out of reach. “We have virtually given up on many things,” said Ahmad Karimi, 52, a taxi driver and father of two who has been working 15-hour days to make ends meet. “We’re cutting out fruit, we’re cutting out protein, we’ve given up leisure, we even work on weekends.”
Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, the Iranian economy is taking a beating under the force of sanctions and a naval blockade that is making it extremely difficult for the country to export oil, its most valuable product. Whether this intensifying economic pressure will translate anytime soon into military or political concessions from Iran remains to be seen — but some experts are skeptical. Since the war began, Iran has been attacking oil-rich neighbors and US bases in the region, and disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, its biggest strategic advantage. Iran is trying to use this retaliatory pressure — which is driving up energy prices globally — to bring the war to an end on the best terms possible. It is pressing for sanctions relief, and seeking enough control over the strait to demand payment from ships passing through to deliver energy and other goods.
The Trump administration — which is stuck fighting over a waterway in a war that was launched to curb Iran’s nuclear program — is now promising to deliver even tougher sanctions to try to squeeze the Islamic Republic into submission. But experts say US President Donald Trump may be underestimating how long Iran can hold out. Iran has been subject to Western sanctions for years and has become deft at partially circumventing them. It has expanded domestic production, used informal cross-border trade networks, bought restricted goods through third countries, and used a shadow fleet to transport its oil.
“Iran’s resistance capacity not only avoids collapse, it also prevents the economic pain from translating into the political pressure and changes that the US expects,” said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an expert on Iran’s economy at Brandeis University.
Iran’s economic strains carry an ‘emotional toll’
Tehran’s sprawling Grand Bazaar is regularly packed with shoppers hoping to find more affordable staples than at the country’s grocery stores, where rice is 60 percent more expensive and beef is 150 percent more expensive than before the war. A mother of two from northern Iran posted a photo on X this week after purchasing milk, eggs, toilet paper and a few other items, but no meat. She complained that it cost 89 million rials (about $65). “Buying basic necessities has become our main priority, and our shopping basket has gotten smaller and more limited,” the 41-year-old told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “The emotional toll and the pressure we’re under are another story,” she said. “Every time we have to say no to our children, every time we have to go back and forth over a decision, whether it’s a class you’d love your children to take or something they really want you to buy for them, it’s genuinely exhausting.” By the end of the year, inflation in Iran is expected to rise nearly 70 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund, and the country’s economy — devastated by a decade of sanctions before the war — is forecast to shrink by more than 5 percent.
While gasoline has remained cheap thanks to government subsidies, even that might not last forever as supplies get tighter. A presidential aide told Iranian state television last week that the country is now using more gasoline each day than it produces and may need to raise prices — something that in the past has led to widespread protests.
Iranians turn some anger toward countries behind sanctions
Iran’s theocratic leaders were already facing economic discontent before the US and Israel started the war on Feb. 28. Protests had spread across the country at the beginning of the year before they were violently put down, with thousands killed and tens of thousands believed to have been arrested.
Many Iranians have now turned at least some of their economic frustrations toward the countries behind the sanctions and the attacks that have destroyed factories and critical infrastructure and killed scores of civilians, said Hassan Golmoradi, a Tehran-based economist. “Despite the hardships and difficulties, they have shown considerable patience in putting up with the resulting economic pressures,” Golmoradi said. Iran’s leaders have said it is a treasonous offense — punishable by death — to take part in anti-government protests. “They do suffer, but they do not think that by joining violent protests they can achieve something for themselves and their families,” said Mohammad Farzanegan, a professor of Middle Eastern economics at the University of Marburg in Germany.
Trump is threatening tougher sanctions
On Wednesday, Trump vowed on social media to unleash against Iran the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country.” He also threatened secondary sanctions on nations and companies that continue to do business with Iran. The United Arab Emirates, which for years had enabled Iran to circumvent sanctions and receive goods from other countries, announced this week it was suspending all trade with Tehran. Trump had called the leader of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the day before the announcement. With the economic struggles, the elected government of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said it favors a negotiated end to the war. “What concerns us is people’s livelihoods and their economic situation, and we are doing everything we can to deal with it,” he told reporters last week. But the most powerful force in Iran remains the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has only become stronger after withstanding US and Israeli airstrikes that killed Iran’s top leaders during the war’s opening salvos. The Guard is pressing for greater concessions from the US, including Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz and financial compensation for the war. With negotiations to end the war stalled, Iran’s hard-liners believe their country can endure the conflict’s economic pressures longer than their adversaries.Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, this month appointed a former Revolutionary Guard commander to head Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council, a sign that he favors the hard-line approach.
A taxi driver says something has to give
Official government statistics put Iran’s unemployment rate at 9.1 percent, though state-affiliated media outlets have said the real figure is most likely many times higher. A Labor Ministry official said last week that by late May, just three months into the war, more than 1 million jobs had been lost.
In a sign that Iran’s leaders are at least somewhat concerned about public opinion, the government has refrained from enforcing mandatory hijab regulations as harshly as it had been — a social freedom that has long been sought by many.But these days many Iranians are focused on how their lifestyles are restricted economically. Karimi, the taxi driver, said Iran’s leaders will need to do something soon to alleviate the financial pressures he and others are feeling. “The people won’t be able to continue living like this,” he said. “We’re simply breathing, surviving, and trying to make it from one day to the next.”

Iranian official urges Qatar to move detained pilots to hospital on land
Reuters/22 August ,2026
An Iranian military official called on Qatar on Saturday to transfer detained Iranian pilots to a hospital on land, saying they were being held on water and were in “poor physical condition,” Tasnim news agency reported. Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, said the location where the pilots were being held was unsuitable and requested that the International Committee of the Red Cross send an air ambulance to Qatar to expedite the return of injured and sick detainees to Iran. Qatar denied last week that it was holding Iranian pilots, saying they had violated Qatari airspace earlier this year and failed to respond to attempts to contact them. Doha said it had contacted Iran to coordinate the handover of the remains of one pilot and had invited Tehran to review details of its search and rescue operations, but had received no response. A foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that the invitation remained open for an Iranian delegation to visit over the pilots issue. In his latest statement, Bagherzadeh welcomed Qatar’s decision to receive a team of Iranian experts and called on Doha to provide them with the necessary cooperation. Bagherzadeh had previously said an Iranian Air Force expert and fact-finding team had been waiting for months to enter Qatar and accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation.

Iran grants permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Hormuz
Reuters/22 August ,2026
Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday. IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s visit to Iraq. Iraqi President Nizar Amidi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil through the strait in recent days and Baghdad had discussed the export of Iraqi oil through it with Iranian officials. The issue remained complicated, he added, speaking at the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference. Iraq has been among the countries most affected by Iran’s effective closure of the strait. Traffic in the strait remains significantly below pre-war levels and ships continue to face attacks in the area. Iraq produced around 4 million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the Iran war.Baghdad is working to expand its exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port and also to begin exporting oil through Syria’s Baniyas port and Jordan’s Aqaba port, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Friday.

Erdogan, Netanyahu trade jabs after Turkey seeks arrest warrant for Israel PM
Agence France Presse/22 August ,2026
Turkey and Israel traded barbs after Ankara announced it had sought an international arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of "genocide" linked to the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Turkey has become a virulent critic of Israel's war in Gaza, sparked by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently accused Netanyahu of "genocide". Israel's interception of the flotilla carrying some 430 activists in May sparked an international outcry. France, Italy and Australia have also launched judicial proceedings.
Turkey's Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X that his ministry had asked the interior ministry to issue an Interpol red notice for Netanyahu and another Israeli, named as Afek Moskovitch, "as part of the judicial proceedings concerning the attack in international waters on the Flotilla activists".
Netanyahu and Moskovitch are being prosecuted for "crimes against humanity, genocide, aggravated deprivation of liberty, 'intentional assault and battery,' torture, destruction of property, aggravated looting, and hijacking of transport vehicles," the ministry said.In a statement, Netanyahu's office said Israel was "unimpressed by Turkey's hypocrisy". "Erdogan is an antisemitic dictator who massacred Kurds, supports the massacre of the Hamas terrorist organisation, and oppresses his own people," it added.
'Outrageous ravings'
It added that Israel would "continue to act forcefully against Turkey's attempts to destabilise the region" -- an apparent reference to a previous accusation that Ankara was seeking to establish a military presence in Syria, where authorities said Israel bombed an air base near the Turkish border this week.
Turkey quickly fired back, with Erdogan's office calling the remarks "outrageous ravings" and accusing Netanyahu's government of "seeking to evade accountability". Pointing to upcoming polls in which Netanyahu's job is on the line, it added: "This kind of cheap politics by Netanyahu and his associates, which is also intended to give him an electoral advantage, carries no weight whatsoever."According to Turkey's IHA news agency, Netanyahu's co-accused, Afek Moskovitch, is an Israeli soldier, who is also accused over actions in Gaza. IHA, citing the indictment, said Moskovitch had posted footage on Instagram showing tanks and a bulldozer destroying buildings at the Islamic University of Gaza, including a hospital and medical faculty. About 50 vessels were in the Global Sumud Flotilla that left Turkey in May heading for the besieged Palestinian territory. The activists were detained in the Mediterranean by the Israeli military and then taken to an Israeli prison before being expelled. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also sparked outrage by releasing a video showing himself taunting flotilla activists who were on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs.

Israel says US criticism of strike on Syria 'full of inaccuracies'
LBCI/August 22, 2026
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday condemned U.S. ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, who is also Washington's point man on Syria, after he criticised an Israeli strike on a Syrian military base near Turkey. Katz wrote on X that Israel had passed on "intelligence information to the authorised parties in the United States" before the strike, and that Barrack's comment was "full of inaccuracies and positions that contradict the stance of U.S. President (Donald) Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights".AFP

Israel conducts fresh strike in Syria after US criticism
AFP/22 August ,2026
Israel carried out a fresh strike in Syria on Saturday and lambasted US envoy Tom Barrack for criticizing an earlier attack on an air base in the northwest, which Israel has accused Turkey of seeking to use. US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack on Tuesday slammed Israel’s attack on the disused military air base that day as an “unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”On Friday, in an interview with influencer Mario Nawfal, Barrack said the strike may have been intended to provoke a conflict with Turkey, prompting Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz to hit back on Saturday, calling the remarks “full of inaccuracies.”Since the December 2024 overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and has sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that for decades had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights. Katz wrote on X on Saturday that Israel had passed on “intelligence information to the authorized parties in the United States” before the strike on Tuesday. He added that Barrack’s comments were “full of inaccuracies and positions that contradict the stance of US President (Donald) Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights,” after Barrack called the territory “occupied.”Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the areas under its control, in a move only recognized by the United States and, this month, also Colombia.
‘Flagrant violation’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, commenting on the Tuesday strike, said Turkey, an ally of the new authorities in Damascus, had been looking to establish a military presence on the air base. Ankara has denied any visit to the site. Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have traded barbs since the incident, and Ankara announced it was seeking an Interpol red notice for Netanyahu, accusing him of “genocide” linked to the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.Netanyahu’s office called Erdogan an “antisemitic dictator” while Erdogan’s office called the remarks “outrageous ravings” and accused Netanyahu’s government of “seeking to evade accountability.”Also on Saturday, Syrian state television said a man was wounded when an “Israeli occupation drone” targeted a vehicle in the village of Beit Jinn, located southwest of Damascus near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, with the foreign ministry calling it a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty. Israel’s military acknowledged the strike, saying that its forces “fired in southern Syria toward a terrorist who advanced terror attacks in the final stages of preparation,” without identifying the target. Israel has carried out repeated incursions into Syrian territory and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called “security zone” in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarized area. This week Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir told troops in southern Syria that “we are monitoring the changes on the Syrian front. We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves on our borders.”

Syria condemns Israeli strike as 'flagrant violation of sovereignty'
LBCI/August 22, 2026
Syria condemned an Israeli strike southwest of Damascus that wounded one person on Saturday, the second such attack in a week. "This attack constitutes a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and the integrity of its territory, and a blatant breach of international law, and comes in the context of repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory," the foreign ministry said in a statement. AFP

Israel’s deadly Gaza strikes cast doubt on ceasefire progress days after Kushner visit
AP/August 23, 2026
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Deadly airstrikes in Gaza on Wednesday cast more doubt on whether new US efforts can advance a tenuous ceasefire in the Palestinian territory. Just two days after US negotiators reportedly asked Israel to draw down attacks in the Gaza Strip, at least 10 people were killed Wednesday in two strikes, according to local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Israeli troops also crossed the ceasefire line in southern Gaza and detained a Hamas police colonel at dawn Wednesday, two witnesses and a Hamas official said.
Israel’s military said one of the strikes on Wednesday, in the area of Nuseirat refugee camp, struck a Hamas commander who had participated in the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 abducted. A second strike in the Tuffah area of Gaza City struck four Hamas militants gathering in a police station, the military said, claiming they were planning to carry out attacks against Israeli troops. Israel’s military said a strike the day before targeted a meeting of four Hamas commanders and additional militants.
The commanders killed included Muhammad Hamdi Ahmad Al-Masri, Muhammad Attar and Muhammad Fathi Hussein Nasser, all accused of carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli troops, and Samed Samir Harb Abu Habal, who infiltrated Israeli territory during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, according to a statement from Israel’s military.The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said the Wednesday Gaza City strike on the police station killed eight police officers and a 13-year-old girl. Two officers were women, it said. One person was killed in Nuseirat. On Tuesday evening, an Israeli strike on a busy seaside cafe killed seven Palestinians, including a child, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Jared Kushner, a US negotiator and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, held a marathon meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, in which he asked Israel’s leader to draw down attacks on Gaza, a person familiar with the meeting said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief journalists. Also on Wednesday, Israel’s military said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza and would launch criminal investigations into the 2024 killings of a 5-year-old girl and her family, as well as of 15 Palestinian paramedics in 2025.
At least 17 killed in Israeli strikes
The deadly strikes in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday exacted more casualties even as a ceasefire that’s been in place since October has significantly diminished the fighting in the tiny enclave where more than 2 million Palestinians live. Since the ceasefire, Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,273 people, according to health officials in Gaza. The nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 73,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by UN agencies and international organizations. It doesn’t distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up around half of the toll. In the early hours of Wednesday, at least 15 Israeli troops entered the Muwasi coastal area, west of the city of Khan Younis, two residents and a Hamas official said.
Accompanied by armed men, the troops stormed the tent of Sabri Abdel-All, a colonel for the Hamas-led Blue Police in Khan Younis. They also detained another resident identified as Nashat Ezzat Zaarab, they said. The two residents and the Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety.
Latest ceasefire negotiations offer few concrete commitments
On the diplomatic front, the ceasefire also appears stalled. Trump’s initial ceasefire plan laid out a broad vision for ending Hamas’ rule in Gaza and rebuilding the territory, much of which was reduced to rubble during the war. But since last fall, major sticking points have emerged on the conditions of Hamas’ disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal — and which should come first. Earlier this month, Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm. But Hamas said it would begin to disarm if Israel halts strikes and withdraws, adding that laying down its heavy weapons would come later and be contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state — something Israel’s government rejects. Netanyahu also pushed back on the deal, saying Israel won’t withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed. After Wednesday’s strikes, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem lashed out at the Board of Peace — the body Trump established to oversee the ceasefire — saying it has provided a “cover” for Israel to escalate its attacks in Gaza instead of pressuring it to abide by the ceasefire agreement.

Former envoys urge joint French, UK action on Palestinian territories
AFP/22 August ,2026
Dozens of former senior French and UK diplomats on Saturday urged their governments to work together to uphold international law in the Palestinian territories, accusing Israel of seeking to “destroy” any prospect of a viable Palestinian state. The 102 signatories of the letter published in Le Monde included former British ambassadors to the UN Jeremy Greenstock and Emyr Jones Parry as well the former directors for the Middle East at the French foreign ministry Yves Aubin de la Messuziere and Denis Bauchard. They said the involvement of France and the UK was essential given the historic roles of the two powers in the Middle East and the fact that both permanent members of the UN Security Council, in 2025 recognized a Palestinian state. “Our two nations believe that those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity must be held to account. Only then can our governments rebut the accusation of double standards. That is why they must act together to uphold international law in Palestine,” said the letter. It accused Israel of seeking “to destroy any prospect of an independent Palestinian state, showing contempt for the law, the rulings of the International Court of Justice and countless UN Security Council resolutions.”Israel launched a military campaign on the Palestinian territory of Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attack by militant group Hamas against Israel. Violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since the Gaza war began, sparking international concern over the conduct of Israeli troops and settlers. France and Britain this week joined other countries in releasing a statement condemning the Israeli government’s release of new tenders for construction in the occupied West Bank. The letter said house demolitions and “rampant settler violence – with the connivance of the Israeli army and police” in annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank amounted to “ethnic cleansing.”“The world no longer sees Israel as a genuine democracy – there is nothing democratic about depriving others of their rights and land,” said the letter.

11 countries call Israeli airstrikes in Syria an extreme escalation
Associated Press/August 22, 2026
The foreign ministers of 11 countries are calling Israel’s airstrikes on a Syrian air base an extreme escalation. The ministers of Turkey, Algeria, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the Palestinian territories warned that attacks on Syria undermine its reconstruction efforts as well as its attempts to restore security, according to a joint statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The Israeli strikes hit the Abu Duhur base early Tuesday, causing damage but no casualties. Netanyahu’s office said Israel targeted the base because Syria was about to breach an agreed “status quo in security matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy there.

Blast on security forces' bus near Damascus causes injuries: State media
LBCI/August 22, 2026
An explosive device detonated on a bus carrying security forces near the Syrian capital on Saturday, resulting in injuries among the passengers, state media reported. "An explosive device targeted a bus carrying Internal Security Forces personnel on the Maarounah–al-Tal road in Damascus countryside, leaving several personnel injured," state news agency SANA reported, adding that the attack was under investigation. AFP

France pledges new interceptor missiles to Ukraine as Russian strikes intensify
AFP/22 August ,2026
France on Saturday promised to deliver new interceptor missiles to Ukraine amid a surge in Russian strikes that have pushed civilian deaths in the four-and-a-half-year war to their highest since the first months of Moscow’s invasion. At least 13 people were killed in strikes overnight and through Saturday – seven in Ukraine, four in Russia and two in Russia-annexed Crimea. The latest deadly attacks come as rescuers in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig were sifting through the rubble of a part-destroyed shopping center, where 16 were killed a day earlier in a Russian drone attack. Ukraine’s allies in the Coalition of the Willing – an initiative led by France and Britain – will meet on Monday to look at how to ramp up pressure on Moscow to halt its invasion. Diplomacy has stalled with the United States, which had brokered several rounds of direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow. Washington is now distracted by its war on Iran and frustrated the conflict has not been as easy to solve as President Donald Trump once touted. Announcing the new missile interceptors, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: “It is crucial to provide Ukraine with all the necessary means to defend its skies and thwart this aggression.”
Russia has pounded Ukraine – the capital Kyiv especially – with ballistic missile attacks in recent months. The hard-to-intercept super-fast weapons reach their target within minutes, making it virtually impossible for locals in Kyiv to reach an underground shelter in time.
‘Prolonged and combined’
Among the deadly attacks on Saturday was a Ukrainian drone strike on a house in southern Russia, killing two children and wounding their parents, the head of the Krasnodar region said. “This morning, civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in the Yeysk district came under a drone attack,” Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. “As a result of yet another vile and cynical strike ... two children were killed, and two adults are in the hospital,” he added. Russia fired a ballistic missile towards Kyiv in the middle of the day – while the German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was visiting for talks with his Ukrainian counterpart and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Two were killed and several wounded in the Boryspil district, on the eastern outskirts of the city. In a statement, Russia’s defense ministry insisted it had struck at trucks outfitted for transporting long-range drones near Kyiv, as well as targets linked to the Ukrainian army in the Odesa region on the Black Sea. The Odesa region’s governor Oleg Kiper said three people had been wounded, including a 16-year-old girl, in a “prolonged and combined strike” that hit a house and grain silos.
At least four were killed in a series of strikes on the frontline region of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said.
‘Cynical’ mall strike
Ukraine has for weeks faced a critical shortage of advanced missile interceptors – chief among them, US-made Patriots. Kyiv’s own weapons are not able to shoot down the high-arching ballistic missiles that Russia has been firing in their dozens. In Zelenskyy’s home city of Kryvyi Rig, three people were still missing after Russian drones smashed into a busy shopping center on Friday afternoon, the regional governor said. Sixteen people have been confirmed killed and more than 100 wounded. The strike set the mall ablaze and sent blood-covered victims running for the streets, only for a second drone to fly in around half an hour later – a double-tap attack blasted by Zelenskyy as “cynical and despicable.”Mourners placed flowers and letters on the grass outside the mall in a makeshift memorial on Saturday. An AFP reporter saw machinery piling up twisted and charred metal. Supermarket shelves stacked with products blackened from the fire were stacked up beneath a cratered ceiling and behind blown-out windows. The strikes marked the latest escalation in the four-and-a-half-year conflict. The United Nations reported that the civilian death toll so far this year had risen to its highest level since the first months of the war.

Ukraine says 'cynical' Russian strike on shopping center killed 16
Agence France Presse/22 August ,2026
Russian drones slammed into a busy shopping center in eastern Ukraine Friday, killing 16 people in an attack condemned as "cynical and despicable" by President Volodymyr Zelensky. The attack on Kryvyi Rig, Zelensky's hometown, comes as Russia has intensified its bombardments of Ukrainian cities in recent months. Four more people, including three minors, were killed in another strike in the southern Mykolaiv region, Interior Minister Ivan Vygivsky said on Telegram. Videos on social media of the Kryvyi Rig incident showed rescuers rushing to help the wounded on the street outside, as smoke poured out of the building. A second drone smashed into the roof of the building around half an hour after the first -- a repeat strike that Zelensky said in a post on X was "targeting the emergency responders". Ukrainian emergency services initially said the attack had killed 15 people, wounding 130 others, 23 of them children. Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, later posted on Telegram that "the death toll from the enemy attack has risen to 16". In his X post, Zelensky condemned "an absolutely cynical and despicable strike...carried out by the Russians against an ordinary shopping center.
Kryvyi Rig, an industrial city roughly 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the front line, has come under repeated Russian attacks throughout the war.
Allies to meet -
The United Nations reported that the civilian death toll in 2026 had risen to its highest level since the first months of the war. Ukraine's allies are to meet on Monday to reaffirm their support for Kyiv in talks held on the country's independence day. The meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing will be co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron -- joining via video link -- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Around 10 leaders including European Council chief Antonio Costa will be in Kyiv for the coalition meeting, according to an EU official. Zelensky urged a strong response from Ukraine's allies. "The world must respond to them accordingly -- with real pressure on the aggressor. For peace to be possible, Russia must face real accountability," he said. Zelensky held a call with UN chief Antonio Guterres on Friday, updating him on Russian strikes and the civilian casualties they have caused, the Ukrainian leader said on X. The European Union's top diplomat condemned the strike "as terror by design" and threatened "the most far-reaching Russia sanctions listings since the start of the war". "Russia's attack against a shopping centre in (Kryvyi Rig) shows the absolute and utter depravity of Moscow's war," Kaja Kallas wrote on X, claiming that Moscow "wants to make Ukrainian cities unliveable". Kyiv has repeatedly appealed to its allies for additional support as Russia steps up its strikes, with Ukrainian forces struggling in particular to intercept salvos of ballistic missiles. Ukraine has also escalated retaliatory strikes on Russia in recent months, in part to try to pressure Moscow into coming to the negotiating table to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. Diplomatic efforts have failed to move the two sides towards a deal, with Russia demanding sweeping territorial and political concessions from Kyiv. Zelensky has ruled out agreeing to those terms, arguing it would amount to an effective capitulation that would leave his country dangerously exposed to another Russian attack.

US, Canada fail to reach trade pact to avert Trump tariffs
AFP/22 August ,2026
Hefty US tariffs on some Canadian products took effect on Saturday after days of negotiations that went down to the wire failed to produce an agreement. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed that his country will match the US tariffs “dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses,” after officials said late Friday that Washington and Ottawa had not managed to strike a deal. The lack of a final agreement means that new 50-percent duties, set to impact some $20 billion of Canadian exports to the United States, took effect on Saturday. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters on Friday that “tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week.” That came despite Washington’s offers for tariff reductions in sectors like steel and aluminum, he added. The surprise announcement came after Trump said that the United States “should be able to have a deal with Canada,” citing his “good relationship” with Carney. After hours of trade talks on Friday, however, Canada’s top negotiator Dominic LeBlanc told reporters that officials still “have more work to do.”LeBlanc and Greer also met for around three hours on Thursday. Greer said that the Trump administration put on the table “significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber” in exchange for concessions from Canada. He said that Canada was also maintaining its “prolonged retaliation” against the United States. But Carney said in a statement that “last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”
‘Discriminatory treatment’
Canada’s regional leaders said previously that the United States was particularly irritated by one retaliatory measure: the removal of US alcohol and wine from liquor stores. The White House had alleged “discriminatory treatment” by Canada against US alcohol, automobile and dairy products in introducing the duties. They were originally set to take effect on Wednesday, before Trump issued a last-minute delay of three days – citing major progress in talks. Canadian negotiators have been camped out in Washington this week to firm up a deal that aimed to address various flash points. Canada has been seeking relief from Trump’s tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, which have battered the country’s economy, forced job losses and strained what was once an iron-clad trade relationship. Carney has repeatedly told Canadians that relations with the United States have been forever changed, regardless of what happens with an individual trade deal. He says the country must diversify and reduce its reliance on the United States, which currently accounts for roughly 70 percent of Canadian exports. Beyond the ongoing negotiations, the United States and Canada still have to agree on revisions to the North American free trade agreement, USMCA, which Trump declined to renew last month.

Canada PM says 'cannot accept' what US asked for on trade
LBCI/August 22, 2026
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Saturday his country could not accept U.S. terms for a trade deal, and would slap retaliatory tariffs on steel and dairy products in response to heavy duties imposed by Washington. "We cannot accept what they've offered, and we will not give what they've asked," Carney said in remarks on the failed negotiations, adding that Ottawa's new trade measures would take effect on September 8. AFP

Saudi Crown Prince’s France visit to focus on energy, investment: French source
Al Arabiya English/22 August ,2026
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s upcoming visit to France will include a ministerial meeting focused on diversifying energy supply routes, a French presidential source told Al Arabiya English on Saturday. The source said there was strong alignment between Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification program and France’s “France 2030” investment plan, adding that President Emmanuel Macron will call for increased Saudi investment in France during the visit. The source also said the Mecca defense agreement was reshaping alliances in light of the new regional landscape.The Crown Prince’s decision to make France his destination was itself a significant signal given that he rarely travels abroad, the source added.

The Latest LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 22-23/2026
Iran: What Next?
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/August 22, 2026
What, then, must accompany economic pressure? First, the military option must remain explicitly on the table -- and be exercised, preferably before the regime uses President Donald Trump's ceasefires to organize attacks that are even more lethal. Recent reports indicate that Iran has been rapidly restoring its ballistic missile production and infrastructure after earlier strikes. Satellite imagery and intelligence assessments show reopened underground facilities, repaired access roads, and renewed manufacturing at a pace that has surprised observers. Economic measures must be paired with persistently removing the regime's ability to rebuild its war machine. The Trump administration, as distasteful as they might find the task, must urgently see to it that the regime is changed. Only adding military strikes to economic strangulation — and arming and training dissidents among the Iranian people — will create regime change. Anything less just leaves the threat intact — louder, more entrenched and more dangerous for the region and the United States sooner than you think.
Recent reports indicate that Iran has been rapidly restoring its ballistic missile production and infrastructure after earlier strikes. Satellite imagery and intelligence assessments show reopened underground facilities, repaired access roads, and renewed manufacturing at a pace that has surprised observers. Pictured: Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles are displayed at Azadi Square in Tehran on August 2, 2026. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
The main focus in confronting Iran's regime and its sponsorship of terrorism has shifted toward economic sanctions and a naval blockade of Iranian ports. This pressure, driving oil exports to multi-year lows and squeezing the regime's primary source of hard currency, constrains the resources available for ballistic missiles, proxies, and internal repression. Yet it is a dangerous delusion to believe that sanctions and blockade by themselves will change the regime's fundamentalist and Islamist ideology or force a fundamental shift in its behavior.
The Iranian regime's only objective is to stay in power beyond the Trump Administration.
Iran's ruling elite lives in relative comfort, insulated by corruption and control of state resources. They divert public wealth into personal and institutional networks — real estate, front companies, and overseas holdings — while ordinary Iranians bear the brunt of inflation, shortages, and mismanagement.
From the regime's perspective, surviving two more years of intense pressure under the current administration is tolerable. Once the political window shifts, they plan to ramp up oil production, impose and exploit control over key waterways, and make more money by extracting fees from commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and leverage from regional trade.
They are prepared to accept lower revenues now in exchange for preserving the system that guarantees their power and making more revenues later. Black-market channels, overland routes through neighboring countries, ship-to-ship transfers, and sophisticated evasion networks have repeatedly allowed them to generate enough revenue to keep their core institutions functioning.
Even the most severe economic measures, therefore, leave the regime with sufficient resources to endure. Iran's oil exports may fall to historic lows, but the black market and alternative trade corridors still provide survival. While sanctions are essential — they degrade capabilities and raise costs — they are hardly decisive against theocratic totalitarian rulers who prioritize regime continuity over public welfare and everything else, and who think in generational time-frames.
What, then, must accompany economic pressure? First, the military option must remain explicitly on the table -- and be exercised, preferably before the regime uses President Donald Trump's ceasefires to organize attacks that are even more lethal.
Recent reports indicate that Iran has been rapidly restoring its ballistic missile production and infrastructure after earlier strikes. Satellite imagery and intelligence assessments show reopened underground facilities, repaired access roads, and renewed manufacturing at a pace that has surprised observers. Anywhere that Iran reconstructs missile plants, launch sites, or related military infrastructure, those facilities should be taken out. Continuous degradation of its ability to produce and field weapons is required; otherwise, the economic squeeze merely buys the regime time to rearm.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) captured the logic in a recent appearance on NewsNation's "The Hill":
"I think he's going to have to. I mean, here's a president that doesn't like war. None of us do. Here's a president that doesn't want to put troops in harm's way. None of us do. And so, he's given diplomacy a chance. Iran has walked away from it... at some point, he will not have a choice but to do more to destroy their ability to produce weapons. But they are not going to have a useful weapon while President Trump's president."Economic measures must be paired with persistently removing the regime's ability to rebuild its war machine. The Trump administration, as distasteful as they might find the task, must urgently see to it that the regime is changed.
An Iranian leadership that threatens the United States and Israel cannot be allowed to stay. After the death of the previous Supreme Leader, a new hard-line figure — Mojtaba Khamenei — was elevated. The current Supreme Leader and his surrounding circle are more stridently anti-American and anti-Israel than their predecessors. Any threats against U.S. citizens or soldiers emanating from Iran should be met with decisive military action. The personal survival of senior regime figures should not be guaranteed. The regime has shown no interest in diplomacy apart from using it to buy time for reconstituting its military capabilities. Iran continues missile activity and regional provocations while using talks as opportunities to rearm.
Iran's Islamist regime will not abandon anti-Americanism or anti-Semitism because oil revenues temporarily decline. It is playing a two-year game of endurance and sanctions evasion to reassert its leverage over the region and beyond. Sanctions and blockade must be accompanied by sustained military denial of weapons reconstitution and by willingness to target Iran's leadership, or offer individuals to leave for a country of their choice, which carries the enormous risk of their regrouping abroad. Only adding military strikes to economic strangulation — and arming and training dissidents among the Iranian people — will create regime change. Anything less just leaves the threat intact — louder, more entrenched and more dangerous for the region and the United States sooner than you think.
**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.

"No Longer Willing to Endure": The Slogan of Political Sunnism!
Youssef Mouawad/Levant Time/August 22, 2026
The Sunnis had found themselves quite alone when Yasser Arafat's PLO boarded French ships, with all their arms and equipment, bound for Tunisia. It was August 30, 1982; Bachir Gemayel had been elected President of the Republic, and the Israeli army was about to move into West Beirut.
With the departure of Abu Ammar and his contingents, who had fueled Lebanon's civil and sectarian war, a chapter had come to a close. Taking stock of the situation, President Takieddine al-Solh, a shrewd statesman and keen observer, expressed himself with bitterness in these words: "The Muslims sacrificed so much that they perished in the process" (1).
By this he meant the Lebanese Sunnis—more precisely those in urban centers—who had so wholeheartedly embraced Arab causes that, in the end, they found themselves defeated and, what is more, realized just how far power had slipped from their grasp!
In the wake of these fast-moving events, the daily newspaper Al-Safir published a documentary spread over several issues under the title: "Al-Dahiya, rubᶜu al-Watan" (2).
It was a warning shot heralding the imminent rise of the Shiite confessional group—long marginalized—onto the Lebanese stage.
This was not without stirring legitimate concern among native Beirutis.
Indeed, the Twelver community was about to take over from the Sunni community as the leading Muslim actor on the political scene. Moreover, when the February 1984 uprising led by the Amal movement and the PSP broke out, seasoned journalist Sarkis Naoum did not hesitate to make prophetic remarks. He announced to anyone who would listen in the corridors of the daily An-Nahar that Lebanon had entered the "Shiite era," as West Beirut had slipped out of Amine Gemayel's control!
And from that point on, the influence of political Sunnism would steadily shrink throughout the 1980s.
This current would lose its footing to another branch of Islam—a younger branch—that was asserting its rights both in the courts and on the battlefield.
Even the rise of Rafik Hariri to power from 1992 onwards, which offered a brief respite, was not enough to restore the luster of a community whose political ascendancy stretched back to the Mamluks and the Ottomans.
The rubble and the "resetting"
The rest of the story is well known: Mobilized and radicalized by Iran, organized through Amal and Hezbollah, and backed by the Alawite regime in Damascus, the Shiite community asserted itself—it must be admitted—against every other component of the Lebanese mosaic.
Yet, seized by the hubris that spares no one, it came to believe it could play in the big leagues. Among other blunders, it managed to alienate both the United States and the State of Israel, and it intervened militarily in the Syrian civil war—two fatal mistakes that would lead it straight to ruin and mire it in unwinnable conflicts. For Hezbollah, its armed wing, remotely controlled from Tehran, had believed that by supporting Bashar al-Assad it could maintain its grip over Sunni masses that were either exhausted or incapable of finding common ground.
Only a charismatic leader like Nasser could have united them and galvanized them out of their stupor. But such a hero, capable of carrying out a political "resetting," was slow to emerge. For a long time, "Sufianism" (3)—or political Sunnism—would keep a low profile, biding its time for better days.
"Sufianism" and the rise to power
But fate has a way of springing pleasant surprises and toppling even the most entrenched regimes. And so the Syrian people would rid themselves of the usurper Bashar al-Assad, while unfortunately harboring a deep and lasting resentment toward those who had attacked them—whether from Lebanon or from Iran.The latter, belonging to the Shia orbit and led by Hezbollah as their figurehead, had become militarily involved on the various fronts of the civil war. As a consequence, in the Syrian collective imagination, Umayyad Damascus had been desecrated, and the blood that had been shed was crying out for vengeance. This thirst for retribution—this eye-for-an-eye logic—will continue to poison relations between Lebanese Shiism and the Sunni heartland of Syria for a long time to come.
But in the meantime, the Sunni establishment, suddenly reinvigorated by Assad's fall, would henceforth refuse to endure in Lebanon the indignities it had suffered on a daily basis as long as the Alawite Assad dynasty sat enthroned in Damascus.
No encroachment upon its reserved share in the public administration or the state apparatus would henceforth be tolerated.
'Sufianism' would slowly, and even painfully, reconstitute itself, while Iran and its proxies were busy fighting Americans and Israelis elsewhere.
Yet this Sunni resurgence hardly meant that our President of the Council would be free, without hindrance, to take the initiative in governing! A quiet struggle would be waged at every political juncture to make one viewpoint prevail over the other.
And what about the Egyptian hypothesis, then?
As it happens, on August 7th, a defense agreement was concluded in Mecca between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. Some have seen in it a Sunni NATO designed to confront both Israel and Iran. This was no doubt reassuring for 'Sufianism,' yet a key player was conspicuously absent from the table: Egypt!
If the land of the Nile were to join the Mecca alliance, its contribution would be undeniable: possessing the largest Arab army, it would bring its diplomatic weight, strategic depth, and Arab legitimacy to the table. It would serve as a balancing factor, and some are already saying that its entry into the alliance 'would prevent it from being overtly anti-Iranian.' Who knows! In any case, Egypt would counterbalance Turkey, which has Finlandized Syria. And, last but not least, its new status would certainly raise eyebrows in Tel Aviv, whose relations with Ankara are already deteriorating. As far as Lebanon is concerned, however, an Egypt somewhat more engaged in regional rebalancing can only strengthen the position of our President of the Council and of the executive branch in general.Yet its most important role would be to temper the vindictive impulses of the Syrians toward a Lebanese confessional community whose militias blundered into a civil conflict that was not their own. And as far as we are concerned, that is precisely where Cairo could prove indispensable to our civil peace!
1) «Tafana al-muslimun hata fanu».
2) Which plainly meant: 'The Shia southern suburb represents a quarter of the homeland.' The message could not have been clearer: from now on, it had to be reckoned with!
3) Political 'Sufianism' (al-Sufianiya al-Siassiya) refers to Muᶜawiya ibn Abi-Sufian, founder of the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus.

US treasury secretary’s threats: psychological or real?
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 22, 2026
Although US President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to destroy Iran, the recent remarks by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent triggered a sharper, more furious reaction from the Iranian leadership. Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, a veteran negotiator and general, expressed outrage and announced that Tehran would draft new strategies to counter these threats. In a strikingly candid and significant address seemingly directed at the supreme leader and war-hawk military commanders, Qalibaf warned: “Regardless of our military strength, if our people are hungry and we suffer from financial scarcity and a lack of economic growth, we will not endure.”Following the failure to impose a military solution on Iran, the treasury secretary may prove to be Trump’s most successful Cabinet member and weapon. Bessent holds the keys to financial movement, and his comments have not been analyzed by the media. His statements appear to have been drafted in the White House; he did not merely threaten sanctions, but also vowed to topple the Iranian regime. Trump himself has stopped threatening the regime’s existence.
The treasury secretary’s remarks are likely part of a coordinated pressure campaign. While the impact of punitive steps will take a long time to emerge, this does not diminish their significance. Economic pressure triggered the first widespread protests in 2009, followed by a wave of demonstrations that ultimately led to negotiations with the Obama administration.Furthermore, intensified sanctions have a significant impact on psychological warfare. Although few objections have emerged from within Iran against the leadership’s insistence on war, most domestic complaints and criticisms now focus on the livelihood and economic consequences for Iranian society. The first of these was President Masoud Pezeshkian’s warning regarding the war’s impact on living conditions. Most recently, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami appeared, criticizing the negotiation policy itself and attacking its rigidity, despite risking accusations regarding his loyalty. The new threat confounds Iranian strategists who based their negotiations on backing Trump into a corner ahead of the midterm elections
The treasury secretary has vowed that the Trump administration will subject Iran to “the greatest coordinated economic isolation in history.” The nature of these measures, the time frame required for them to achieve their objectives, and the participating nations remain unclear. In the absence of specific details, these moves will be viewed as part of a psychological warfare campaign aimed at pressuring Iranian negotiators into accepting American terms.On the other hand, the new threat confounds Iranian strategists who based their negotiations on backing Trump into a corner ahead of the midterm elections, hoping for more concessions. In order to preempt the November polls, Iran launched a military campaign against Gulf states and shipping lanes, hoping to raise oil prices, and consequently increase energy and living costs in the US, to threaten Trump’s electoral standing.
This leaves us facing two wars: Iran’s oil weapon, and now the US economic sanctions weapon. The question is not about the efficacy of the sanctions, as they are undoubtedly capable of harming Tehran; rather, what hangs in the balance is time. How serious is the Trump administration, and how ready is it to adopt this as an actual strategy rather than mere rhetorical threats? Furthermore, does this mean the Trump administration has abandoned its plan to preempt the November elections with a political solution?
The Iranians view time as their winning leverage, striking every moving target in the hope of driving up American fuel prices and threatening Trump with defeat. When the treasury secretary announced the plan to isolate Iran and crush its economy, he may have been signaling that the administration is now prepared to challenge Iran’s game of time. Ten weeks separate us from the elections, and current readings do not suggest that Trump will lose. Oil prices remain below $100, yet the remaining time feels like an eternity. Theoretically, time plays in Iran’s favor until election day, but after that, the equation will flip against it.
For Trump to continue walking this long tightrope for all this time, he needs to sustain efforts to export large volumes through the Straits of Hormuz and Bab Al-Mandeb, which could renew violent military confrontations. Recent military activity has enabled the opening of the Omani corridor for oil tankers, and Saudi Arabia’s insistence on taking risks and exporting through the Red Sea is achieving the required political leverage.
Why is this required from a Gulf perspective? The reason is clear: the weakness of Trump’s negotiators before the Iranians, due to considerations that the oil market could ultimately lead to handing over the Strait of Hormuz to the Iranians and granting their militias a license to operate against regional states. Here, the primary losers of the Iranian game are the Gulf countries.

Crown Prince’s Paris visit extends historic partnership
Dr. Faisal bin Saud Al-Mujfel/Arab News/August 22, 2026
During his visit to Riyadh in December 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron, while describing the nature of relations with Saudi Arabia, said: “We have always been reliable partners to one another.” His description was not merely of a fleeting political moment but rather encapsulated a trajectory that spanned years and an evolution from political understanding to a multidimensional partnership. Since the meeting that brought together King Faisal and President Charles de Gaulle in Paris in 1967, one of the pillars of this relationship has taken shape: the pursuit of common ground on regional issues, while each country retains the independence of its political decision-making. The meeting between King Faisal and de Gaulle took place just days before the June 1967 war and marked a milestone in the trajectory of modern political relations between the two countries. It coincided with a French shift closer to the Arab perspective on the Palestinian cause, to the extent that Paris adopted the political concept of “France’s Arab policy,” alongside a Saudi desire to diversify its allies and international partnerships. In the decades that followed, the relationship expanded into economics, energy, and defense, and was reinforced by President Valery Giscard d’Estaing’s visit to Riyadh in 1977, and later by the growth of security and military cooperation. During the reigns of King Fahd and King Abdullah, Paris became a more prominent political and military partner. France’s participation in the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait reinforced mutual trust, while the relationship reached a remarkable level during Jacques Chirac’s presidency, built on political alignment with the Saudi leadership and shared ground on issues concerning Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq. After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Saudi-French dialogue gained added significance. With King Salman’s ascension to the throne, and within the framework of the transformations led by Saudi Vision 2030 under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s guidance, bilateral relations entered a more institutionalized and diversified phase.
During the crown prince’s visit to Paris in 2018, the two sides agreed on a framework for strategic partnership encompassing politics, defense, security, economy, culture, science, and education, while cooperation in the development of AlUla emerged as a model combining investment in tourism, heritage, and culture. Saudi-French relations have entered a more institutionalized and diversified phase. The importance that Paris holds in the crown prince’s vision for the Kingdom’s international relations can be understood within a broader approach based on diversifying partnerships to augment the transformation the Kingdom is undergoing. France is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, an influential European partner, and possesses advanced expertise in defense, energy, technology, culture, tourism, and heritage, which are fields that intersect with the priorities of Vision 2030. Moreover, France’s approach to strategic autonomy provides space for dialogue on both regional and international issues. This partnership was strengthened during Macron’s tenure through reciprocal visits and regular political dialogue, culminating in his visit to the Kingdom in December 2024. On that occasion, the two sides decided to elevate bilateral relations to a new level, launch a roadmap for the strategic partnership, and establish a Strategic Partnership Council co-chaired by the crown prince and the French president. Perhaps one of the most telling manifestations of this rapprochement came in 2025, when the Kingdom and France assumed joint presidency of the international conference at the UN on the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question and the implementation of the two-state solution. This marked a transition from bilateral coordination to joint work on shaping international diplomatic initiatives.
This partnership takes on a contemporary dimension with the crown prince’s visit to Paris, which is expected to include talks with the French president on bilateral relations, and regional and international issues of shared interest. The visit comes as an extension of a path of regular consultation at the highest levels, reflecting the continuity of the partnership and the two countries’ commitment to developing it amid accelerating international transformations. For his part, the crown prince encapsulated the spirit of this phase following his visit to France in 2022, when he affirmed that the talks demonstrated “our shared desire to strengthen the strategic partnership between our two friendly countries in all fields.”Between the crown prince’s affirmation of this “strategic partnership” and Macron’s description of the two countries as “reliable partners,” the nature of the relationship in its current phase becomes clear: a partnership grounded in a history of trust and understanding, moving toward the future, benefiting from the transformations taking place in the Kingdom and from France’s political, economic, and cultural standing in Europe and the world.
**Dr. Faisal bin Saud Al-Mujfel is Saudi Arabia's ambassador to France.

Triangulating the future: what the Islamabad-Riyadh-Ankara axis means for the region
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/August 22/2026
Too many alliances, not enough deterrence? Well, I hate to disappoint cynics, but the reality is they are missing the big picture regarding recent announcements coming out of Saudi Arabia and the new realities taking shape in the region.
Of course, after the war ends, there needs to be a review of what actually serves as an effective deterrent. Now, while the Gulf’s relationship and cooperation with the US are set in stone and ironclad, nobody can dismiss the need for additional — and different— security arrangements, and a new way of thinking, at a time when warfare itself has completely changed. Case in point is the use of drones, which means that bigger, or richer, is no longer necessarily mightier.
As for those who say that the 2023 Beijing Declaration or the defense pact signed with Pakistan last year did little to protect Saudi Arabia, I can only respond by asking: Are you sure?
Needless to say, Saudi Arabia — in its own right — is a religious, economic, military, and political heavyweight. That is sufficient reason for it to have been hit less than some neighboring countries. But who is to say that the Beijing Declaration, despite its later violation by Tehran, did not contribute to softening the blow? Or that a defense treaty with a nuclear power such as Pakistan, which happens to have a long border with Iran, did not contribute to protecting the Kingdom as well?
But before we dive deeper, we should remember that Riyadh has actually retaliated against both Iran and Iraqi militias, and done so unilaterally and not as part of the joint US-Israeli campaign. The Saudi response was done while giving Tehran and Baghdad prior knowledge, and with utmost care to avoid civilian casualties. This is a sign that reinforces the fact that Saudi Arabia is capable on its own and will absolutely respond to aggression, but the measured response is also a sign that Riyadh has no intention — at this moment — of escalating the conflict, which it does not currently see as serving its national interest.
Saudi Arabia will absolutely respond to aggression, but its measured response shows that Riyadh has no intention of escalating regional tensions.
Remember, Saudi Arabia ranks 25th in the world in terms of firepower, with superior weaponry in both quantity and quality. This is exactly the point we all need to remember: It is not what arsenal you possess, or the number of alliances or pacts you are in that matters. What matters is when you decide to activate those agreements or reach for the gun. The recently signed pact in Makkah with Turkiye and Pakistan and the Multinational Maritime Defense Alliance should not be seen as merely a way to outsource the fight on its behalf. This is a shallow view that fails to capture the whole picture. The new defense pacts strengthen collaboration and coordination among key strategic partners committed to regional stability. In terms of the Red Sea, the regionalization and internationalization of the waterway’s security is the main purpose here. If the Bab Al-Mandab Strait is blocked, it is not just Riyadh that is affected but also countries such as Egypt and Djibouti and whole continents like Europe, as well as the energy and commodities markets. While the agreement with Pakistan and Turkiye includes a collective security arrangement directly modeled on Article 5 of NATO, meaning that an attack on one is deemed as an attack on all, the bigger picture is not exclusively that, nor is it the current crisis.
Diplomats have been saying this is not an alliance against anyone in particular, and that is true, but to cynics who say it is too much bark and not enough bite: Do you actually want to try? And would they rather see a war erupt or stopped?
Needless to say, this alliance blends Saudi Arabia’s immense wealth and high-tech land and air fleets with NATO member Turkiye’s vast drone capability and industrial manufacturing base and Pakistan’s unmatched nuclear deterrence and human resource pool.
Instead of being cynical, pundits should be happy that two major regional powers, Riyadh and Ankara, have put their longstanding differences aside and decided to work together to bring stability.
Then there is the missile aspect. While Saudi Arabia possesses long-range strategic ballistic missiles such as the Chinese-derived DF-series, which carry heavy conventional payloads, Pakistan is the sole nuclear engine of the trio, maintaining a steady arsenal of about 170 strategic nuclear warheads.
If integrated into a joint defense framework, the combined active personnel pool of the three countries exceeds 1.38 million soldiers, which would instantly create one of the largest standing military coalitions on Earth. However, it is also true that all three countries see eye to eye and, perhaps more importantly, share a common interest in a stable, peaceful, and prosperous region — both for their individual sakes and even more so for the collective benefit. In this aspect, we should be reminded that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the pact was open to “all brotherly countries that seek peace, prosperity, and stability in our region.” We should also note that Saudi-Pakistani military cooperation has long been established and Saudi-Turkish ties have developed immensely and rapidly in recent years.
Instead of being cynical, pundits should be happy that two major regional powers, Riyadh and Ankara, have put their longstanding differences aside and decided to work together to bring stability. Also, they should remember that it was not long ago that Islamabad was seen as a source of trouble, while now it is leading the way in peace talks and mediation. Will other countries join the Makkah pact? I guess the rule of thumb is never to say never, and that time will tell. What is certain is that the escalation in the Gulf is far from over and, so far, Riyadh and its allies are determined to avert an all-out war. The new alliances, like the old ones, are there to be used as a last resort, and never to make matters worse.
*Faisal J. Abbas is the Editor-in-Chief of Arab News. X: @FaisalJAbbas

The Retreat of the Iranian Project
Mohammed al-Rumaihi/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 22, 2026
He said to his companion, as the two of them watched the Middle East unfold on the screen: I have a feeling the Iranian project in the region has entered a phase of decline — and perhaps the retreat is no longer gradual, as it was, but closer to a rupture. His companion asked: and your evidence? Then added: the most dangerous form of analysis is to underestimate the strength of your adversary. He said: I know that, and to reach a sound answer we need to go back a little. The Iranian project reached the peak of its expansion in the second decade of this century. In those years Tehran was present, directly or through its allies, across a broad expanse running from Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon to Yemen. Then the nuclear agreement of 2015 with the United States — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, reached with the P5+1 — came to give Iran, in the eyes of its leaders and its allies, recognition of its regional role and a chance to catch its breath, economically and politically.
Hassan Nasrallah was then the strongest player in Lebanon. Hezbollah had money, weapons, organization, and media, and could sway Lebanese decision-making, sometimes through consent and sometimes through fear. Nor did its activity stay within Lebanon's borders. Its forces entered the war in Syria alongside Bashar al-Assad's regime, and it took part in training groups tied to the Iranian project in more than one Arab arena.
In Syria, Iranian intervention began to widen from 2011, and by 2015 it had become a military and political fact that could not be ignored. Amir-Abdollahian, in his book The Morning of the Levant, spoke of undeclared understandings between Iran and America that allowed Tehran a wide margin of movement in exchange for restraint on other files, the nuclear one foremost among them. Whether those accounts are true or not, the result is before us: in those years Iran came to hold considerable influence in Damascus, especially after 2015.
Iraq, meanwhile, was the most important prize. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, Tehran spread through the Iraqi political fabric to an unprecedented degree. The 2010 elections are a clear illustration: Ayad Allawi's list won the largest number of seats, yet Nouri al-Maliki stayed on as head of government after negotiations and pressure in which Iran had the last word. For Tehran, Iraq was not merely a neighbor but a corridor to Syria and Lebanon, an economic market, and an important outlet.
In Yemen the arc was very nearly completed. The Houthis' seizure of Sanaa in 2014 gave Iran a card close to Bab al-Mandab, one of the most important maritime passages in the world. Thus, at a certain moment, the network of Iranian influence appeared to stretch from the south of the Arabian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean. It was no surprise that some Iranian officials spoke, at the time, in the language of the victor. Today the picture has changed.
Syria left the Iranian equation in 2024, and an important road connecting Tehran to Hezbollah was severed. The party took heavy blows that cost it a great many of its commanders, Hassan Nasrallah foremost among them. Its capacity for regional movement receded, and we find ourselves before a different Lebanese reality — with mounting internal and external pressure to confine weapons to the hands of the state, which has encouraged the state to open a negotiating track of its own.
In Yemen, the Houthis no longer operate in the environment that once permitted their expansion. Supply lines have grown more difficult, the Red Sea is more crowded with forces and alliances opposed to them, and the legitimate government is better prepared than it was in the war's first years. Their ability to control the Yemeni scene, or to use Bab al-Mandab as an absolute instrument of pressure, is no longer what it was. That leaves Iraq, and here lies the most important knot. Tehran knows that losing its influence in Iraq means severing the most important remaining link in its Arab project. So it holds on fiercely, and it sent Qalibaf to keep that link intact. But Iraq itself is changing. Iran's ability to impose names and choices at the summit of power is no longer what it was; official Iraqi talk of confining weapons to the hands of the state, and of ending the phenomenon of armed forces operating outside its institutions, has grown louder; and the political and economic cost of an unbalanced relationship with Iran has become clearer to Iraqis.
Here a deeper problem appears before Tehran. The project that was built over years on the weakness of the Arab states now finds itself facing states that have begun to recover something of their capacity, and societies that have paid a heavy price for the war of proxies and no longer regard the old slogans with the same enthusiasm. Influence that once looked like a gain has, in some places, become a burden. Iran itself, moreover, paid a large price in the recent military confrontations — in capabilities, resources, and prestige. The attacks that struck the Gulf states also widened the circle of anxiety about it, and weakened its ability to present itself as a force for regional stability. Does this mean the Iranian project is finished? Certainly not. Iran is a state with interests, and with networks that remain active, and it would be an error to believe that its present weakness means the disappearance of its influence tomorrow. But the difference between yesterday and today is clear: a decade ago Tehran was advancing and opening new arenas; now it is trying to preserve what remains. That is the most important shift. Small empires do not always fall with a single blow. Sometimes they begin by losing the peripheries, then the supply routes, then the allies, then the ability to impose their will. Last word: the question is no longer where Iran will expand, but how much of what it expanded into it can hold on to.

The Edge of the Abyss
Mishary Dhayidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 22, 2026
It is often said that the leaders of Iran's revolutionary Islamic regime possess a tactical craft in their many negotiations: the craft of brinkmanship. That is, going out to the last rock on the last cliff face, standing there on one leg, and waiting for the adversary to give ground — the alternative being a fall from the heights. Is this true? Perhaps. But what is the purpose of it? To fortify the system against concession, and to frighten the adversary with a madness managed by a calculating mind. Again, perhaps. But in the end there is a supreme interest, and all this calculated madness is done in order to preserve it.
So, what is that supreme interest? The survival of the system, the survival of its ideology, or the survival of the persons of its leaders? The last answer is not the right one, as proved by the system's ability to live with the killing of its senior leaders, foremost among them the supreme leader himself.
The first answer may well be right, but it is not certain, for these people behave like those prepared to see the system annihilated as an offering for the survival of the idea. So what is the idea? Earlier, US President Donald Trump described Iran's leaders as madmen, and said he did not understand how they think. But what escaped the American bulldozer businessman, the embodiment of the American utilitarian philosophy, is that there are motives driving political systems and groups — some of them — other than the customary practical ones. Intellectual closure is more dangerous than madness, for the man afflicted with it sees the world through his own particular spectacles and does not see it as the rest of humanity does. Here, addressing such a closed mind with logic and with the calculation of profit and loss as human beings understand it becomes impossible. He holds his own criteria of profit and loss, according to the idea and the exemplar in which he believes. When the new and absent Supreme Leader, Mojtaba, issued his first message after the killing of his predecessor and father, Ali Khamenei, in the notorious strike, his opening sentence rested on doctrinal ground. There are many parallels to this, more than there is room for here, that speak to this same ground. Setting out from doctrinal ground is not peculiar to the ideologues of the Iranian regime. There are many like them among Sunnis, and there are others like them among the millenarians of the Christian and Jewish worlds. But our discussion here is confined to explaining, or attempting to explain, this rigidity — incomprehensible by the ordinary instruments of understanding — on the part of most of those who hold decision-making power in Iran today. Most, not all. And this even as the harshest American and global economic war against Iran is about to begin. Is this madness? The answer depends on where you stand and on the spectacles through which you see the world.

Selected Face Book & X tweets on August 22/2026
Mark Carney is not a statesman; he is a traitor in a bespoke suit,
Saggezza Eterna
@FinalTelegraph
Mark Carney is not a statesman; he is a traitor in a bespoke suit, a globalist parasite who has spent his career serving foreign interests while pretending to represent Canadian prosperity. This former Goldman Sachs banker, this darling of Davos, this climate fanatic who lectures working Canadians about their carbon footprint while jetting between central bank boardrooms, has now delivered the final blow to Canadian sovereignty. The trade talks have collapsed, and Carney stands exposed as the architect of national humiliation, a man who approached negotiations with the weakness of a beggar and the arrogance of an academic who has never built anything in his life.
The economic devastation is already unfolding. The auto sector, the backbone of Ontario's economy, faces existential threat as supply chains fracture. Steel and aluminum producers, already battered by previous trade disputes, now confront a market that has slammed shut. Agricultural exporters watch their American customers vanish overnight. The Canadian dollar has cratered, inflation is accelerating, and the Bank of Canada that Carney once led is powerless to stop the bleeding he caused. This is not theoretical pain; this is layoffs, foreclosures, and ruined lives in real time.
And what does Carney offer? Platitudes about "diversifying trade" while his government simultaneously attacks the energy sector that could actually provide leverage. He speaks of "green jobs" that do not exist while real jobs evaporate. He promises "resilience" while dismantling the industrial base that made Canada wealthy. He is a man who would rather see Canadians poor and virtuous in his climate ideology than prosperous and independent in reality.
His betrayal is deeper than incompetence. Carney has spent his career embedding himself in the global elite, collecting board positions at Brookfield Asset Management and Bloomberg, positioning himself for the next international posting while Canada burns. He has no loyalty to this nation, no understanding of its people, no feel for the dignity of work. He is a cosmopolitan who views borders as inconveniences and national interest as provincialism. When he speaks of Canada, he speaks of a brand to be managed, a portfolio to be optimized, a population to be instructed in proper behavior.
The Americans smell this weakness and exploit it ruthlessly. Trump does not respect Carney because Carney does not respect himself. Trump sees a man who apologizes for Canadian success, who offers to pay for American protection, who treats his own nation as a problem to be solved rather than a civilization to be defended. The tariff is not is a recognition that Canada has become a soft target, a nation led by people who will absorb punishment rather than deliver it.
Carney's response to this crisis reveals the complete hollowness of the Canadian establishment. He cannot threaten retaliation because he has spent years dismantling the military that would enforce it. He cannot offer economic leverage because he has crippled the energy sector that provides it. He cannot appeal to national unity because he has spent his career dividing Canadians by region, class, and ideology. He is a man out of options because he is a man who never believed in the nation he was elected to lead.
The truth is brutal and must be spoken. Canada is being crushed by America because Canadian leaders like Carney invited the crushing. They believed that virtue signaling would substitute for strength, that international reputation would substitute for hard power, that the world would love them for their niceness. They were wrong. The world respects only strength, and Carney has made Canada weak.
Carney should resign in disgrace. He should face the contempt of the Canadian people whose lives he has destroyed. He should be remembered not as a distinguished public servant but as the man who lost Canada, who traded sovereignty for applause, who presided over national decline with a smile and a carbon tax. He is a traitor, a failure, and a warning to any nation that allows its leadership to be captured by globalist ideologues who view patriotism as a character flaw.

KORRINA
Regarding TomTurk's unacceptable statements:
1. If someone didn't know who he was, they would assume he was a member of the Erdogan government!!! The last paragraph is in complete contradiction with official US policy.
I remind Tom Turk that the United States officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights on March 25, 2019, when then-President Donald Trump signed a relevant presidential decree at the White House, in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

אהוד ברק@barak_ehud
Translated from Hebrew
Not all the details can be discussed. However, Netanyahu's deliberate escalation of tensions with Turkey is reckless and foolish—it's hard to decide which is greater. With a strong whiff of political intent to reach elections with a string of security tensions stirring public

Institute for the Study of War
NEW: There is no indication that economic pressure on the regime has changed the anti-concessions position of some top Iranian officials, even while a group of Iranian officials responsible for managing the economy (“realists”) are increasingly warning that worsening economic pressure could threaten regime stability. These officials also appear to openly advocate ending the war to reduce the economic cost to the regime.
Other Key Takeaways: The failure of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) appears to have further weakened the pro-concession, “realist” camp relative to Vahidi and other anti-concession officials. Regime decision-making may therefore take a long time to react, even as the economy gets much worse. Vahidi and other anti-concession officials appear to have a higher tolerance for domestic unrest because they may calculate that the regime can contain and suppress renewed protests without changing course. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is resisting US efforts to economically isolate Iran, but Chinese economic engagement cannot offset the blockade if Iran cannot physically supply its largest oil customer.

Michael C
https://x.com/Michaeach3/status/2090526187881644067/video/1
A Muslim resident in Canada tells a reporter on camera: we are making babies, you are not, and in forty years we will impose Sharia and Jizya on you.
The speaker explicitly ties migration and birth rates to political conquest.

The Calvin Coolidge Project
Just Now: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that Canada has officially suspended trade negotiations with the United States and has recalled their negotiating team

The Iran Watcher
The UAE has cut all trade and financial transactions with Iran, threatening a commercial lifeline that has accounted for roughly 30% of Iranian imports.The decision followed the latest escalation involving missiles targeting the UAE and comes at an especially dangerous time for the Islamic Republic.
The UAE, particularly Dubai, has been far more than another trading partner. It has served as a major re-export, import and financial hub, helping Iranian businesses obtain electronics, consumer goods, industrial inputs and other products despite sanctions. Now that pressure could spread to the remaining workarounds. Oman is especially important, with Khasab historically serving as an informal route for goods reaching southern Iran. Claims that this channel is also being restricted are circulating, although an actual Khasab shutdown has not been independently confirmed. Meanwhile, the United States is intensifying pressure on the remaining banks, shipping networks and foreign companies keeping commerce with the Islamic Republic alive. The regime is therefore being squeezed from multiple directions: oil revenue is being choked, foreign funds remain blocked, and now one of its biggest import and financial gateways is closing. The Islamic Republic fired missiles and gained nothing economically. Instead, its aggression is helping dismantle the very commercial escape routes that kept its sanctioned economy functioning.

mona saliba
Tom Barrack argues that any serious settlement in Lebanon has to involve Hezbollah and Iran.
"Otherwise, you can put every Lebanese faction around the table and still be negotiating around the actual power structure".
Barrack in an interview @MarioNawfal

Danielle Smith
I am deeply disappointed that Canada and the United States have not been able to reach a trade agreement. Alberta has always advocated for a tariff free relationship, and will continue to do so. No one benefits from a trade war. Tariffs and counter-tariffs hurt businesses, workers and families on both sides of the border, while weakening one of the most important economic and security relationships in the world. My first concern today is for the Albertans and Canadians whose livelihoods are at risk from these new tariffs and counter-tariffs. I welcome the federal government’s intention to provide relief for those businesses that are impacted. Alberta will continue to advocate for a strong tariff free relationship between Canada and the U.S. and I will be urging the federal government to restart negotiations as soon as possible.

Mark R. Levin
This dumb pos, Tom Barrack, Erdogan’s lapdog, should be immediately pulled. He’s going to trigger a war. Erdogan was building an illicit base in Syria threatening Israel. In fact, Erdogan is the invisible hand behind that government. Israel had warned them not to do it. But

Prime Minister of Israel
Erdoğan is an antisemitic dictator who has massacred Kurds, harbors Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus, and jails record numbers of journalists and politicians who oppose him. He now seeks to extend his aggression against Israel into Syria. Israel will not tolerate it. Erdoğan’s pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere.

Bruce Pearl
Turkey has a choice to make...Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Extremism or NATO and Western Civilization! Erdogan's hatred for the Jews and obsession with Zionism and Israel is keeping the region unstable.

Hiba Nasr
Israel is smart. They have one of the best intelligence organizations in the world. We all have great respect for them. We also understand they're in an election cycle, that these, these kind of issues which they have everywhere, which is unfortunate, can cause them to have irrational judgment on all these issues. The way to handle that is just have a discussion with Türkiye on a backchannel or front channel, rather than taking independent action.

@JayTC53
Gina is one of the best conservative pro Trump accounts on this platform.
She has always defended the administration tooth and nail. She has always defended conservatives when they have been wronged. She always will....She is a fighter for President Trump and has been since day one against the radical left. Gina followed me when we were both tiny accounts under 8k followers because we both defended Trump ruthlessly against the left and the jackals trying to destroy America. She is a good person, the attacks against her for defending Data were uncalled for. Just because you don't agree with someone doesn't mean they're paid or AI accounts.
She deleted her post about Sarah and Data and corrected the record... not many people do that on here. I am proud to call Gina a dear friend and I will always defend her. Hopefully people can move on and focus on the real issues. 🇺🇸