English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News
& Editorials
For February 11/2026
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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https://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2026/english.february11.26.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge
before the angels of God but whoever denies me before others will be denied
before the angels of God
Saint Luke 12/08-12/:”‘And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges
me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;
but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And
everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you
before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how
you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will
teach you at that very hour what you ought to “
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on February
10-11/2026
Farewell, Regina Kantara.. The Knight of Sovereignty and Free Speech/Elias
Bejjani/February 08/2026
Who Was Saint Maroun, After Whom the Maronite Church Is Named?/Elias Bejjani/February
09/2026
UN Force to Withdraw Most Troops from Lebanon by Mid-2027
Lebanon, Jordan Seek Solutions After Damascus Bans Non-Syrian Trucks
Israel cites Iran-linked threats in Syria and Lebanon ahead of Netanyahu's
Washington visit
Lebanese Army chief visits Saudi Arabia, discusses support and cooperation
US imposes sanctions on Jood SARL affiliated with Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association
Israel says busted West Bank cell directed by Lebanon-based operatives
Lebanese Forces delegation visits Damascus
Lebanon begins technical discussions with IMF
Residents of North Lebanon City Lose Neighbors, Livelihoods in Building Collapse
Time bomb buildings: What is the reason behind Tripoli's risk of building
collapse?
Hezbollah’s Sheikh Qassem: Lebanon Won’t Be Gateway for US-Israeli Hegemony
Lebanese village buries child and father killed by Israeli drone
Lebanon needs help with recovery, not more destruction/Nadim Shehadi/Arab
News/February 10, 2026
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published
on February
10-11/2026
Video-Link from IDSF - Israel's Defense and Security Forum to an interview with
Israeli General Amir Avivi
Netanyahu says will discuss 'first and foremost' Iran with Trump on US visit
Israel’s Netanyahu Is Meeting with Trump This Week to Push for a Far Broader
Iran Deal
Iran Warns of 'Destructive' Influence on Diplomacy ahead of Netanyahu's US Trip
Iran Offers Clemency to over 2,000 Convicts, Excludes Protest-related Cases
Israeli Minister Calls West Bank Measures ‘De Facto Sovereignty,’ Says No Future
Palestinian State
Israeli Drone Strike Kills 2 Cyclists in Gaza as Death Toll Mounts Despite
Ceasefire
Trump Opposes Israeli Annexation of West Bank
Indonesia Says Proposed Gaza Peacekeeping Force Could Total 20,000 Troops
Damascus Govt Takes Over Control of Rmeilan Field, Says Syria's Oil Belongs to
All
Syria Joining Anti-ISIS Coalition 'Marks New Chapter' in Global Security, US
Envoy Says
Over 4,500 ISIS Detainees Brought to Iraq from Syria, Says Official
Egypt Approves Cabinet Reshuffle, State Media Say
Video-Link from JNS TV to an interview with Malcolm Hoenlein: Expert Explains
Why Khamenei’s Regime Will Topple
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on February
10-11/2026
Why Helping Iran Would Not Lead the US into a New Quagmire/Janatan Sayeh/National
Interest/February 10/2026
'Project Vault': Trump's Latest 'Manhattan Project' in The Race with China for
21st Century Leadership/Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute/February 09/2026
Hamas's Secret Plan to Maintain Control of Gaza/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone
Institute/February 09/2026
Whose Interests Does a Partition of Iran Serve?/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/February
10/2026
Awaiting ‘False Prophets’/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
X Platform Selected twittes for 10/2026
The Latest
English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on February
10-11/2026
Farewell, Regina Kantara.. The Knight of Sovereignty and Free Speech
Elias Bejjani/February 08/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/02/151966/
In a sudden moment of time, the knight has dismounted from the saddle of her
struggle. Advocate Regina Kantara has departed, leaving behind a legacy of
dignity that absence can never erase. Regina was not merely a lawyer carrying
case files; she carried the cause of a nation in her heart, defending its soil
in every arena of the struggle for freedom, sovereignty, and independence.
Regina has left this fleeting world to walk the paths of light toward the
heavenly dwellings, where there is no pain or sorrow, but an eternal peace
befitting a soul weary from the longing for absolute justice.
We bid her farewell with hearts faithful to the words: “The Lord gave, and the
Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Who Was Saint Maroun, After Whom the Maronite Church Is Named?
Elias Bejjani/February 09/2026
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2026/02/95781/
The Feast of Saint Maroun
For more than 1,600 years, Maronites in Lebanon and throughout the world have
celebrated the annual commemoration of Saint Maroun on the ninth of February.
Each year, over ten million Maronites honor the founder of their Christian
Catholic Church—Maroun the priest, the hermit, the spiritual father, the leader,
and the saint. On this sacred day, Maronites remember their long and often
painful history since the fourth century, reflecting on both times of suffering
and moments of triumph. They look back at the past, assess the present, and
contemplate the future. Above all, they pray for peace, democracy, and freedom
in Lebanon—their homeland—and across the world.
The Origins of Saint Maroun
Who was Saint Maroun? How did he establish his spiritual movement? Where did he
live, and who are the people who carry his name? According to the late Lebanese
philosopher and historian Fouad Afram Al-Bustani, Saint Maroun was born and
raised in the city of Kouroch. This city lies northeast of Antioch (present-day
Turkey) and northwest of Hierapolis (Manbij), the capital of Euphrates Syria.
Kouroch still exists today, located about 15 kilometers northwest of the city of
Azaz and roughly 70 kilometers north of Aleppo in Syria.
The Hermit of Mount Semaan
Historians Father Boutrous Daou and Fouad Afram Bustani recount that Maroun
chose to live on Mount Semaan—formerly known as Mount Nabo, named after the
pagan god Nabo. Geographically, the mountain lies between Antioch and Aleppo. At
the time, it was completely abandoned and desolate.
The ruins of an ancient pagan temple on the mountain attracted Maroun. After
purifying the site, he used the structure only for celebrating Mass and offering
the Holy Eucharist, while spending the rest of his life outdoors. He devoted
himself entirely to prayer, fasting, and extreme asceticism, depriving his body
of all comfort and exposing himself to sun, rain, hail, and snow. His holiness,
faith, and miraculous healing powers soon became widely known. Thousands of
believers sought him for guidance, healing, and spiritual counsel. Saint Maroun
was also a learned and compelling preacher, unwavering in his belief in Christ
and Christianity.
A Mystic and Spiritual Reformer
Saint Maroun was a mystic who pioneered a unique ascetic and spiritual path that
attracted followers from across the Antiochian Empire. As a zealous missionary,
he sought not only to heal physical ailments but also to restore the souls of
pagans and Christians alike. His reputation reached great heights. Around 405
AD, Saint John Chrysostom sent him a letter expressing deep admiration and
asking for his prayers. Saint Maroun’s spirituality was profoundly monastic and
holistic. He saw no separation between the physical and spiritual worlds, using
the material world as a means to deepen his union with God. Through prayer and
solitude, he transcended physical suffering and entered into an intimate,
mystical relationship with the Creator. His spiritual magnetism drew hundreds of
monks and priests who became his disciples and devoted followers.
The Spread of the Maronite Mission
After Saint Maroun’s death, his disciples spread the Gospel throughout the
Antiochian Empire—modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel.
They built hundreds of churches, monasteries, and schools, becoming known for
their faith, devotion, and perseverance. Saint Maroun died peacefully around the
year 410 AD at the age of seventy, surrounded by his disciples. He wished to be
buried beside his spiritual mentor, the monk Zabena, in the town of Kena near
Kouroch. However, this wish was not fulfilled. Residents of a nearby town took
his body, buried it there, and built a grand church over his grave, which became
a major Christian shrine for centuries. Its ruins still stand today.
Persecution and the Rise of the Maronite Nation
Following his death, Saint Maroun’s disciples built a major monastery near the
Orontes River (Nahr Al-Assi) along the Syrian-Lebanese border. For centuries,
this monastery stood as a beacon of faith, education, holiness, and martyrdom.
In the early tenth century, during one of the most brutal periods of Christian
persecution, the monastery was destroyed, and more than 300 Maronite priests
were massacred. The surviving monks fled to the mountains of Lebanon. There,
together with the Marada and the native Lebanese population, they laid the
foundations of the Maronite nation, transforming Lebanon’s mountains into a
stronghold of faith, endurance, and resistance.
Saint Maroun and Lebanon
The Maronite presence in Lebanon began early, particularly through Saint
Maroun’s disciple Abraham of Cyrrhus, known as the Apostle of Lebanon.
Recognizing the persistence of paganism in the region, Abraham worked to convert
the population to Christianity by spreading Saint Maroun’s teachings.
Saint Maroun is thus regarded as the father of the spiritual and monastic
movement that became the Maronite Church. This movement profoundly influenced
northern Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, and eventually many countries worldwide where
Maronites settled. Today, the largest Maronite community outside Lebanon is in
Brazil, home to more than six million Lebanese descendants following major waves
of emigration in the early twentieth century.
The Maronite Identity
The renowned historian Fouad Afram Boustani (1904–1994) described the Maronite
faith as one of intelligence, life-affirmation, unwavering Catholic belief, love
for others, continuous struggle for righteousness, openness to all
civilizations, and readiness for martyrdom. The Maronites played a central role
in establishing the modern state of Lebanon, making it a refuge for persecuted
minorities in the Middle East. They embraced and practiced pluralism and
multiculturalism, helping create Lebanon’s unique national identity. Since the
fourth century, the Maronites and Lebanon have been inseparable—each defining
the other. Throughout history, the Maronite people transformed defeat into
victory, sorrow into joy, and despair into hope. Through faith, sacrifice, and
perseverance, they fulfilled the four pillars of nationhood: land, people,
civilization, and political independence. They have always fought for their
rights and never surrendered to despair.
Prayer to Saint Maron
O Saint Maron, man of prayer, sacrifice, and freedom, intercede for us before
God. Pray for Lebanon,
wounded and occupied, that it may be healed from its pain and freed from
injustice, corruption, and fear.
O spiritual father of the Maronites, lead your people back to your faith, to the
values of holiness, truth, courage, and fidelity, to love of Christ and devotion
to Lebanon. Pray for peace in our troubled world,
for all who suffer and are oppressed, that light may overcome darkness, truth
overcome falsehood,
and hope overcome despair. Through your intercession, O Saint Maron, protect
Lebanon and its people,and strengthen our faith. Amen.
UN Force to Withdraw Most Troops from Lebanon by
Mid-2027
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon plans to withdraw most of its troops
by mid 2027, its spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday, after the peacekeepers'
mandate expires this year. UNIFIL has acted as a buffer between Israel and
Lebanon for decades and has been assisting the Lebanese army as it dismantles
Hezbollah infrastructure near the Israeli border after a recent war between
Israel and the Iran-backed group. Under pressure from the United States and
Israel, the UN Security Council voted last year to end the force's mandate on
December 31, 2026, with an "orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal" within one
year. Spokesperson Kandice Ardiel, said that "UNIFIL is planning to draw down
and withdraw all, or substantially all, uniformed personnel by mid-year 2027",
completing the pullout by year end. After UNIFIL operations cease on December 31
this year, she said that "we begin the process of sending UNIFIL personnel and
equipment home and transferring our UN positions to the Lebanese
authorities".During the withdrawal, the force will only be authorized to perform
limited tasks such as protecting UN personnel and bases and overseeing a safe
departure.
Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of
hostilities with Hezbollah, Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon,
mainly saying it is targeting Hezbollah, and has maintained troops in five
border areas. UNIFIL patrols near the border and monitors violations of a UN
resolution that ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and which forms
the basis of the current ceasefire. It has repeatedly reported Israeli fire at
or near its personnel since the truce. Ardiel said UNIFIL had reduced the number
of peacekeepers in south Lebanon by almost 2,000 in recent months, "with a
couple hundred more set to leave by May". The force now counts some 7,500
peacekeepers from 48 countries. She said the reduction was "a direct result" of
a UN-wide financial crisis "and the cost-saving measures all missions have been
forced to implement", and unrelated to the end of the force's mandate. Lebanese
authorities want a continued international troop presence in the south after
UNIFIL's exit, even if its numbers are limited, and have been urging European
countries to stay. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in Beirut this
month that Lebanon's army should replace the force when the peacekeepers
withdraw. Italy has said it intends to keep a military presence in Lebanon after
UNIFIL leaves.
Lebanon, Jordan Seek Solutions After Damascus Bans
Non-Syrian Trucks
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
Lebanon and Jordan are seeking a solution with Syria after the latter barred
foreign trucks from entering its territory, officials from both countries told
AFP on Tuesday. Damascus had issued a decision on Saturday stipulating that
"non-Syrian trucks will not be allowed to enter" the country, and that goods
being imported by road must be unloaded at specific points at border crossings.
The decision exempts trucks that are only passing through Syria to other
countries. Dozens of trucks unable to enter the country were lined up on the
Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing on Tuesday, an AFP photographer saw.
Ahmad Tamer, head of land and maritime transportation at the Lebanese transport
ministry told AFP that discussions were underway with Damascus over the
decision. He said the issue was not specifically targeting Lebanon -- which is
trying to reset ties with Damascus after the fall of Bashar al-Assad -- adding
that he hoped to hold a meeting with the Syrian side soon. Lebanon sends around
500 trucks to Syria per day, according to Tamer. In Jordan, also affected by the
decision, transport ministry spokesperson Mohammed al-Dweiri told AFP that
"discussions are currently underway, and we are awaiting a response from the
Syrian side regarding allowing foreign trucks to enter and cross". Dweiri said
that Jordanian trucks were continuing to unload their cargo at the free zone at
the Nassib border crossing with Syria despite some "confusion". Around 250
Jordanian trucks travel to Syria daily, according to him. A source in the Syrian
General Authority for Ports and Customs told AFP that the decision aimed to
"regulate the movement of cargo through the ports".Representatives of unions and
associations in Lebanon's transport sector denounced the decision on Tuesday and
warning of "negative repercussions", according to the state-run National News
Agency. Syria is the only land route Lebanon can use to export merchandise to
wealthy Gulf markets. As part of continued attempts to rekindle ties, the two
countries signed an agreement on Friday to hand around 300 Syrian convicts over
to Damascus.
Israel cites Iran-linked threats in Syria and Lebanon
ahead of Netanyahu's Washington visit
LBCI/February 10/2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kept the region in a tense
security posture stretching from Lebanon to Syria and as far as Iran, under the
pretext of growing threats to Israel's national security. Ahead of his departure
to Washington, where he is scheduled to hold talks on Wednesday with U.S.
President Donald Trump, Netanyahu received new reports from Israeli military
intelligence warning of what it called the danger posed by Iran's regional
allies, with a particular focus this time on Syria. In recent days, the Israeli
army has highlighted what it says is expanding activity by an Islamic group
operating in Lebanon. Israeli forces announced Monday that they had abducted one
of the group's members, and claimed the group's presence was extending into
Syria. The Israeli military said its Maglan unit, operating under the 210th
Division, discovered a weapons storage site belonging to the group near the town
of Beit Jann in Syria. The army said the site contained weapons, mines, and
communications equipment, and that it destroyed the cache. At the same time,
Israel kept Lebanon on its agenda, saying it was closely monitoring developments
there.As part of its military activities, the Israeli army also carried out
large-scale training exercises that peaked at around 5 p.m. with a maneuver
involving massive explosions.The military said residents were informed in
advance. The army placed particular focus on the northern town of Qiryat Shemona,
where residents have been pressuring the government, accusing it of neglect and
of failing to provide minimum guarantees for their security and for their return
to their homes.
Lebanese Army chief visits Saudi Arabia, discusses support and cooperation
LBCI/February 10/2026
Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolph Haykal visited Saudi Arabia on February
8 and 9, 2026, following an official invitation from Saudi Chief of the General
Staff Gen. Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwaili. Haykal attended the World Defense Show,
organized by Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Military Industries under the
patronage of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and reviewed the latest
technologies in the defense and security industries. During the visit, Haykal
met his Saudi counterpart to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between the
Lebanese and Saudi armies in light of current challenges and regional
developments. The talks also addressed preparations for an upcoming conference
supporting the Lebanese Army. Both sides stressed the need to support the
Lebanese military on multiple levels, citing its role in maintaining Lebanon's
security and stability and extending state authority across the country. They
also highlighted the army's role in counterterrorism efforts and in preventing
smuggling and drug trafficking. Haykal expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia
for standing by the Lebanese Army and Lebanon amid the country's ongoing
difficulties. Haykal also visited the Lebanese Embassy in Saudi Arabia, where he
was received by Ambassador Ali Karanouh, who hosted a dinner in his honor and
praised the military's role in safeguarding national security. The Lebanese Army
commander met with members of the Lebanese community in the kingdom and
expressed appreciation for expatriates' role in supporting Lebanon.
US imposes sanctions on Jood SARL affiliated with Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association
LBCI/February 10/2026
The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Tuesday on the gold
exchange company Jood SARL, which is affiliated with Hezbollah's Al-Qard Al-Hasan
Association. In a statement, the Treasury said, "Mohamed Nayef Maged and
U.S.-designated Ali Karnib are co-owners and managing partners of Jood, and they
operate the company on behalf of Al-Qard Al-Hassan."
Israel says busted West Bank cell directed by
Lebanon-based operatives
Naharnet/February 10/2026
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency has thwarted the activities of a “terrorist
cell” operating in the occupied West Bank whose members were “directed by
operatives in Lebanon,” Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee
said on Tuesday. The Lebanon-based operatives, Mujahed Dahsha and Moussa Abou
Seif, “instructed members to photograph a town in the Samaria area (West Bank)
and conduct shooting drills in preparation for a planned attack,” Adraee said.
He added that detained cell member Mohammad Sadaqa revealed that he had
“traveled to Lebanon, where he was recruited by a terrorist operative named
Moussa Abou Seif, nicknamed Jibril, to carry out attacks in Judea and Samaria
(West Bank) and to recruit members to form battlefield cells.”“After returning
from Lebanon to Judea and Samaria (West Bank) via Jordan, Sadaqa recruited
several other individuals to carry out attacks, including Mohammad Khalil, a
resident of Ramallah, and Mohammad Barahmeh, a resident of Anza, both of whom
were also arrested for questioning by the Shin Bet,” Adraee said. “The
interrogation of Sadaqa revealed that, up until his arrest, he continued to
communicate with the Lebanese terrorist group via social media and a gaming
application,” Adraee added. “Separately, another cell activated by the same
Lebanese terrorist group was uncovered. Two residents of the village of Tel in
Samaria, Diaa al-Din Hamad and Nasser Asida, both in their twenties, were
arrested and transferred to the Shin Bet for interrogation,” he said. Adraee
noted that Mujahed Dahsha is a resident of Lebanon with ties to Hamas
operatives.
Lebanese Forces delegation visits Damascus
Naharnet/February 10/2026
A Lebanese Forces delegation was on Tuesday meeting in Damascus with Syrian
Information Minister Hamza Mustafa, MTV reported. The delegation consisted of MP
Melhem Riachi, who is a former information minister, and the LF’s foreign
relations officer, Tony Darwish.
Lebanon begins technical discussions with IMF
LBCI/February 10/2026
Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber said the government remains committed to
adopting responsible policies that balance social and economic needs while
protecting financial and monetary stability. Jaber's remarks came as technical
discussions between Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) began on
Tuesday at the Finance Ministry, as part of a weeklong visit by an IMF
delegation to review the latest developments in the country's financial and
monetary situation. He said the IMF visit comes at a sensitive time, as Lebanon
faces growing spending pressures, warning that any poorly planned step could put
public finances on an unsustainable path and negatively affect economic
stability. Jaber said the Lebanese government is counting on the talks with the
IMF to make tangible progress toward reaching a staff-level agreement, which he
described as a key starting point for reviving the Lebanese economy and placing
it on a recovery track. He added that the delegation's meetings with Lebanese
authorities will also focus on a draft law addressing the financial gap and a
medium-term fiscal framework, which he said are essential elements for reaching
a program with the IMF.
Residents of North Lebanon City Lose Neighbors,
Livelihoods in Building Collapse
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
Rubble is all that remains of the building once home to Adnan Mardash's grocery
shop in north Lebanon's Tripoli after it collapsed, killing 14 people and
shining a spotlight on the impoverished city's neglect. Mardash, 54, said he
shut the small ground-floor store where he worked for more than three decades
and went to his nearby home shortly before the disaster on Sunday afternoon.
"Our neighbors and loved ones died... people lost their livelihoods," said the
father of four, who has no other income. "We felt the building's situation
wasn't good and we contacted the municipality but got no response," he told AFP.
Only eight people were pulled out alive after the building, home to 12
apartments, collapsed in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood. People were angry and
grieving on Monday, some peering over balconies to watch emergency workers
remove debris after the disaster, which came just over two weeks after another
building in the city collapsed, killing two people. "Officials come, put on a
show then leave, they're all liars... nobody cares about the poor people. If an
official had lived in this building, it would have been fixed in seconds,"
Mardash said. Naser Fadel, 60, who has lived all his life in the neighborhood,
stood at his small store weeping. "We live here in extreme poverty. We've gone
through wars... There are no words to express what we have been through," he
said. Those who died were "the best people, they were poor and humble," he said.
'Rich people' -
Even before a years-long economic crisis began in Lebanon in 2019, more than
half of the city's residents lived at or below the poverty line, according to
the United Nations. The building that collapsed is on a crowded street that
divides the predominantly Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood from the mainly
Alawite Jabal Mohsen. Buildings still bear the scars of recurring clashes
between the two neighborhoods from 2007 to 2014. The fighting, and a 2023
earthquake that hit Türkiye and neighboring Syria, not far from Tripoli,
worsened the situation.The Tripoli municipality on Sunday declared the city
"disaster-stricken" and urged the Lebanese state to bear its responsibilities.
After an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said
authorities had decided to evacuate 114 buildings at risk of collapse and
provide a year of housing allowances for the affected families. Tripoli Mayor
Abdel Hamid Karimeh told AFP that at least 600 other buildings needed "direct
intervention to reinforce them" but he warned that the real number could be much
higher. He said the municipality has recently evacuated 12 buildings and
relocated residents to a hospitality institute.
In the Qubbeh neighborhood near to Bab al-Tebbaneh, Yousef Ahmed, 80, had moved
in with his daughter after losing his home in last month's deadly building
collapse. "Nobody has given us any help... there are lawmakers and rich people"
in the city but "nobody asks about our situation", he lamented.
'Without oversight' -
Lebanon is dotted with derelict buildings, and many inhabited structures are in
an advanced state of disrepair. Several buildings have collapsed before in
Tripoli and other parts of the country over the years, with the authorities
failing to take appropriate measures to ensure structural safety. Many buildings
were built illegally, especially during the 1975-1990 civil war, while some
owners have added new floors to existing residential blocks without permits.
Abir Saksouk, co-founder of research and design firm Public Works Studio, said
authorities had allowed buildings to fall into disrepair and noted a lack of
oversight and legislative gaps. She said a public safety decree dating to the
early 2000s fails to provide a mechanism for restoring buildings constructed
before it was issued. Many buildings were also built "without oversight", she
told AFP, while decrying neglect of the issue and "unjust housing policies".
Many residents have little choice but to stay in their dilapidated homes.
Mohammed al-Sayed, 56, has remained in his building despite pieces falling from
a second-floor balcony. He said the municipality had repeatedly warned about
cracks after four additional floors were built on the original two. But he said
he was unable to leave the building where he has spent almost his whole life."I
have no shelter or alternative place to live," he said.
Time bomb buildings: What is the reason behind Tripoli's risk of building
collapse?
LBCI/February 10/2026
In the Dahr al-Moghr area of Tripoli, the danger is not only visible above
ground; it is also infrastructure beneath it. The hillside neighborhood,
stretching between Qobbeh and down toward the Abu Ali River, sits on land that
was historically crossed by natural water channels. Decades ago, drainage pipes
were installed underground to redirect the flow. However, over the years, due to
neglect, lack of maintenance, and no rehabilitation, water has increasingly
overflowed under buildings, above them, and along their edges. After every
winter storm, runoff now floods streets and narrow alleyways, seeping into the
foundations of residential blocks and weakening their structural stability.
Unregulated construction and the absence of proper drainage outlets have further
trapped the area, leaving Dahr al-Moghr surrounded by water from multiple
directions. Engineers warn the situation could trigger soil slippage, shifting
buildings, and potential collapses—similar to incidents that have occurred
recently. Widespread building violations, including the construction of
additional floors on top of older structures, compound the risk. The added
weight exerts pressure on fragile soil, increasing the likelihood of failure. In
Qobbeh, a district built on one of the city's highest rocky hills, the soil
itself is not considered the main threat. Instead, the concern centers on aging
sandstone buildings, many of which have had additional stories added over the
past five decades.The additional load has caused visible cracking, and with
water infiltration, residents and specialists say collapse remains a real
possibility at any moment. The problem extends to other parts of the city,
including Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen, and Syria Street, where multiple
buildings show signs of severe damage. In Bab al-Tabbaneh, the situation is even
more complex. The area, which borders Jabal Mohsen, still bears the scars of
years of fighting and armed clashes. While some buildings have undergone
reinforcement and repairs, much of the work has remained superficial and failed
to address weakened foundations. Residents and municipal officials say the
problem has worsened as people continue to build on top of old structures and
add unauthorized floors. On the other side of Syria Street, toward the sea,
buildings appear newer, with some dating back no more than 40 years. Yet many
were not constructed to proper standards, experts say. Among the problems cited
are insufficient concrete pillars and the use of salty sea sand, which has
contributed to corrosion in columns and ceilings, particularly in lower floors.
The lack of routine maintenance and unresolved sewage issues has also led to
water pooling in basements, further weakening the structures. The combination of
these factors has raised serious concerns about structural safety across several
Tripoli neighborhoods. Specialists warn that parts of the city now contain what
they describe as "ticking residential time bombs." Officials say the measures
approved by the government, alongside efforts by the municipality and relevant
agencies, have become a race against time—as the collapse of any building in
these areas, or elsewhere in the city, remains possible without warning.
Hezbollah’s Sheikh Qassem: Lebanon Won’t Be Gateway for
US-Israeli Hegemony
Marwa Haidar/Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem affirmed on Tuesday
that no one can prevent resistance in Lebanon because it is constitutionally
guaranteed, warning that Lebanon will not be a gateway for the US-Israeli
hegemony. During a memorial ceremony for Hezbollah commander Ali Salhab (Hajj
Malek), Sheikh Qassem said the Resistance and its people stood with heads held
high despite all ordeals they face during the 2024 Israeli war on Lebanon. His
eminence pointed to weakness of both the Israeli enemy and the US, saying that
the Zionist entity stands exposed and hollow if stripped from the US weapons. He
noted that even the US is weaker than ever as it amasses the hostility of
nations and peoples. Sheikh Qassem saluted the Islamic Republic of Iran on
anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, praising Supreme Leader Imam Sayyed Ali
Khamenei for elevating the Islamic Republic to the ranks of key and influential
nations.
Late Commander Salhab
Hezbollah’s Sheikh Qassem hailed late commander Ali Salhab (Hajj Malek), saying
he advanced through numerous positions and responsibilities, consistently
demonstrating competence, dedication, and unwavering determination. His eminence
said that the late commander took responsibility for several battlefronts and
participated in special operations against the Israeli enemy such as Aramta,
Ghajar, and operations to capture Israeli soldiers. “Hajj Malek was entrusted
with military command in the Bekaa region, where he played a decisive and
influential role in confronting Takfiri terrorist groups.”
Salute for Iran, Pakistan
The Hezbollah S.G. congratulated the Islamic Republic of Iran on the 47th
anniversary of the Islamic Revolution as he offered condolences to Pakistan over
the ISIL attack on a mosque in Islamabad. “We salute Islamic Iran and
congratulate the Iranian nation on the great victory of the Islamic
Revolution.”He stressed that the Islamic Revolution “emerged as a pillar of
support for the oppressed, revitalizing resistance against the US and raising
the banner of Palestine liberation.”“Imam Khamenei has elevated the Islamic
Republic to the ranks of key and influential nations, built upon a foundation of
faith and scientific advancement.”“I offer condolences to the Pakistani nation
for the martyrs of the heinous crime perpetrated by ISIL (Daesh) at the Khadija
Al-Kubra Mosque in Islamabad.”
Hezbollah memorial service Ali Salhab
Resistance Constitutionally Guaranteed in Lebanon
Shifting into Lebanese affairs, Sheikh Qassem said the Resistance in Lebanon
fights in defense of both Lebanon and Palestine as the two neighbors have one
enemy. His eminence called on the Lebanese State to embrace Resistance in a bid
to build the future. “Building the future requires the Lebanese State to embrace
the resistance as a vital support, grounded in its experience, faith, and
unwavering will.”In this context, Sheikh Qassem warned that no one in Lebanon
can prevent resistance as it is constitutionally guaranteed. “There was a great
man in Lebanon named Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who was martyred to preserve the
strength and honor of the homeland.”
Resistance National Asset
The Hezbollah leader, meanwhile, noted that the region is being reshaped to
serve the US-Israeli hegemony, stressing that Lebanon “won’t be a gateway for
this dominance.”He said that both the US and the Zionist entity are weaker than
ever. “Despite all its military capabilities and experience, ‘Israel’ has failed
to achieve its objectives in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen,” Sheikh Qassem
addressed the memorial service in Brital. “Israel is weaker than ever; stripped
of the US weapons, it stands exposed and hollow. It is being run by the American
administration and is losing its presence and self-governance.”“Even the US is
weaker than ever, amassing the hostility of nations and peoples while its
so-called model erodes under mounting internal crises.”He affirmed that the
Resistance constitutes a vital national asset that must be preserved, vowing
that Hezbollah will remain committed to denying the enemy “any sense of borders,
stability, or security.”Sheikh Qassem stressed, meanwhile, that the Resistance
stood with its head held high following the 2024 Israeli war, “despite the pager
massacre, the targeting of the Resistance’s capabilities of power and control
and the martyrdom of leaders Sayyed Nasrallah and Sayyed Safieddine.”He
announced that Hezbollah has decided to offer housing for three months to those
whose homes were destroyed during the 2024 war, noting however, that providing
shelter is the Lebanese State’s responsibility. Sheikh Qassem also called for
working to ensure the success of the upcoming parliamentary elections,
underlining importance of holding the vote on schedule.
Lebanese village buries child and father killed by
Israeli drone
AP/February 10, 2026
YANOUH, Lebanon: Mourners in southern Lebanon on Tuesday buried a father and his
young son killed in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a Hezbollah member.
Hassan Jaber, a police officer, and his child, Ali, were on foot when the strike
on Monday hit a passing car in the center of their town, Yanouh, relatives said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the boy was 3 years old. Both were killed at the
scene along with the car driver, Ahmad Salami, who the Israeli military said in
a statement was an artillery official with the Lebanese militant group. It said
it was aware of a “claim that uninvolved civilians were killed” and that the
case is under review, adding it “makes every effort to reduce the likelihood of
harm” to civilians. Salami, also from Yanouh, was buried in the village Tuesday
along with the father and son. “There are always people here, it’s a crowded
area,” with coffee shops and corner stores, a Shiite religious gathering hall,
the municipality building and a civil defense center, a cousin of the boy’s
father, also named Hassan Jaber, told The Associated Press. When the boy and his
father were struck, he said, they were going to a bakery making Lebanese
breakfast flatbread known as manakish to see how it was made. They were standing
only about 5 meters from the car when it was struck, the cousin said. “It is not
new for the Israeli enemy to carry out such actions,” he said. “There was a car
they wanted to hit and they struck it in the middle of this crowded place.”
Jaber said the little boy, Ali, had not yet entered school but “showed signs of
unusual intelligence.”“What did this innocent child do wrong, this angel?” asked
Ghazaleh Haider, the wife of the boy’s uncle. “Was he a fighter or a
jihadi?”Attendees at the funeral carried photos of Ali, a striking child with
large green eyes and blond hair. Some also carried flags of Hezbollah or Amal, a
Shiite party that is allied with but also sometimes a rival of Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, of which the child’s father was a member,
said in a statement that the 37-year-old father of three had joined in 2013 and
reached the rank of first sergeant.The strike came as Israel has stepped up its
campaign against Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon. The night before the
strike in Yanouh, Israeli forces launched a rare ground raid in the Lebanese
village of Hebbarieh, several kilometers (miles) from the border, in which they
seized a local official with the Sunni Islamist group Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, or
the Islamic Group in English. The group is allied with Hezbollah and the
Palestinian militant group Hamas.After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on
Israel triggered war in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets from Lebanon into
Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinians. Israel responded with
airstrikes and shelling. The low-level conflict escalated into full-scale war in
September 2024, later reined in but not fully stopped by a US-brokered ceasefire
two months later.Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild
and has carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon that it says target Hezbollah
militants and facilities. Israeli forces also continue to occupy five hilltop
points on the Lebanese side of the border. Hezbollah has claimed one strike
against Israel since the ceasefire.
Lebanon needs help with recovery, not more destruction
Nadim Shehadi/Arab News/February 10, 2026
The 20th-century poet Nadia Tueni wrote of Lebanon: “I belong to a country that
commits suicide every day while it is being assassinated.” One of the symptoms
today is that when I recently enquired about a promising youth movement I had
not heard from for a while, I was told that, out of the 82 members, only two
remained and 80 had left the country. This is the brain drain that Prince Hassan
bin Talal of Jordan described as better than brain in the drain. We are getting
all the help we do not need — the impression is that the International Monetary
Fund wants to kill the banks and the US government wants to kill the cash
companies and add sanctions to the toxic mix. In addition, we are told that we
will get help, not for recovery but for the army if it will fight Hezbollah. As
if Lebanon needs even more destruction. This will not fix the drain; it will
only make it worse.
Lebanon does need help, but the figures just do not add up in the government
plan to return people’s deposits. I do not understand the logic myself. In the
attempt to decrease the gap, large depositors are considered the enemy, but in
any economic recovery they should be allies, the investors you want to attract
back. There is an attempt, of dubious legality and practicality, to declare a
significant portion of deposits as illegitimate in order to decrease the gap.
This will make it certain that nobody will ever trust the country or invest in
it again. The age of governments taking over private property is gone forever,
let alone in Lebanon. This is not the way to regain trust.
A recent House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on US policy toward Lebanon and
obstacles toward dismantling Hezbollah’s grip on power offered several
recommendations. Among them was the US supporting the Lebanese army and
government. There was also the dismantling of the cash economy used by Hezbollah
to launder funds, sanctioning the cash companies and Lebanese politicians and
supporting Lebanon’s recovery. While the intentions are good, there are many
ways in which such moves could also do more harm.
Lebanon does need help, but the figures just do not add up in the government
plan to return people’s deposits
There is no military solution in Lebanon. If Israel could not disarm or destroy
Hamas in a war that lasted more than two years, the Lebanese army cannot wage an
internal war against Hezbollah to disarm it. The unfortunate incident between
Lebanon’s army chief, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, and Sen. Lindsey Graham last week
illustrated this misunderstanding. Graham wanted Haykal to admit that Hezbollah
is a terrorist organization, which would logically lead to the army fighting it.
But Haykal was in Washington asking for help building capacity to deploy the
army in the south, not to pick a fight with Hezbollah.
Also, any expansion of the army’s role would have an economic cost as well as a
political one. The object of achieving peace on the Israeli border should be to
decrease military spending, rather than the military budget becoming
unsustainable. Politically, the fact that we have had four presidents appointed,
not elected, from the army is a sign of the failure of the political process.
Reviving the economy and the political process means a careful recalibration of
the power and cost of the army. The solution is a political one, not a military
one: it is a fight for the constituency of Hezbollah and not against it. Most
important is that such a solution will impact every country where the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps has taken root within the community — Lebanon, Iraq,
Yemen, Palestine and Iran itself. Over a period of 40 years, militias have
invested in hijacking and indoctrinating whole communities in these countries.
The Shiite community is the main victim of Hezbollah. Its accumulated wealth and
institutions are held hostage, the result of generations of investment both in
Lebanon and in the diaspora. This is the classic dilemma of rescuing the hostage
while inflicting the minimum damage — and this includes the cash economy.
But what about the cash economy and the cash companies that are now under
attack? The story is that, while the government, the IMF, the central bank and
the banks exchange blame for the crisis and bicker over the solutions, all have
a long way to go before they regain people’s trust.
Reviving the economy and the political process means a careful recalibration of
the power and cost of the army
In the meantime, the Lebanese survive as best they can and manage within a
cash-based economy. They use local versions of digital finance or peer-to-peer
apps like Whish or OMT, some of which partner with international transfer
companies like Western Union or MoneyGram. In a dollarized economy, taxi drivers
ask you to pay through the app because of the scarcity of small denominations.
Supermarkets and small businesses too. Some of these companies have grown and
provide services like paying bills and collecting pensions. The major banks have
created their own apps to enter the market, but frankly they cannot compete and
have been heavily damaged by the crisis.The cash companies generally operate
under license from the central bank but control is obviously limited. The result
is that the whole cash economy is under attack, accused of money laundering for
Hezbollah. While it is undoubtedly true that Hezbollah uses the cash economy and
its instruments, it will always find alternatives if they are shut down. In
fact, Lebanon is among the top 20 users of cryptocurrency and stablecoins.
Sanctioning these cash companies before the banks are operational and have
gained confidence will disrupt the little that is left functioning and is the
equivalent of strangling the Lebanese economy while it is in desperate need of a
recovery. The damage could be irreversible.The captured state is the other
victim, similar to the way in which Latin American drug cartels capture
societies through violence, extortion and gang control. Like Latin America, the
problem also transcends borders and controlling it in one place makes it emerge
in others. Not only is a solution regional there, it is also linked through drug
smuggling, money laundering and other criminal activities to that of the IRGC’s
control. In a country where the state is captured and society taken hostage, the
objective is to liberate them and help them recover, but some of the solutions
discussed for Lebanon may finish them off or make them even more reliant on
Hezbollah. Lebanon, with its history of building consensus and coexistence, is
where a solution can succeed and become a model for others.
**Nadim Shehadi is an economist and political adviser. X: @Confusezeus
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports
And News published
on February
10-11/2026
Video-Link from IDSF - Israel's
Defense and Security Forum to an interview with Israeli General Amir Avivi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUemJ6nHPog
February 10/2026
Gen. Avivi breaks down why Israel sees a NEW, very dangerous threat from Iran –
missiles, US response, and what could happen next.
In this focused briefing, IDF Brigadier General Res. Amir Avivi explains why
Israeli leadership believes the risk of war with Iran is rising sharply — and
why time for meaningful diplomacy may already be running out.
In this episode, Gen. Avivi breaks down:
Why Israel now sees the Iran threat as more urgent than ever, and what has
changed.
How Iran rebuilt its military and advanced ballistic missile capabilities
Why Netanyahu rushed to meet the US President at this moment
What Iran’s regional strategy and proxies mean for a wider war
How Israel is expanding security oversight in Judea and Samaria
You’ll hear a clear, professional assessment of:
What an Israel–Iran war could actually look like
How Iran’s missile arsenal changes the strategic balance
What signs to watch for in the coming days and weeks
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Why Israel calls the Iran situation “very dangerous”
02:46 – Negotiation with Iran or military strike?
04:00 – Iran's enhanced ballistic missiles
06:30 – Regional strategy and partnership during war with Saudi Arabia
12:00 – Israeli Knesset decisions regarding legal status in Judea and Samaria
Netanyahu says will discuss 'first and foremost' Iran with
Trump on US visit
Agence France Presse/February 10/2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said he would prioritize
discussions on negotiations with Iran when he meets with U.S. President Donald
Trump in Washington this week. "On this trip we will discuss a range of issues:
Gaza, the region, but of course first and foremost the negotiations with Iran. I
will present to the President our views regarding the principles for the
negotiations," Netanyahu said before heading to the United States, where he will
meet Trump on Wednesday. Their meeting comes days after arch-foes Iran and the
United States held talks in Oman last week, after which Trump said another round
of negotiations would follow.
Israel’s Netanyahu Is
Meeting with Trump This Week to Push for a Far Broader Iran Deal
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Washington on Tuesday to
encourage President Donald Trump to expand the scope of high-stakes nuclear
talks with Iran. The negotiations resumed last week against the backdrop of an
American military buildup. Israel has long called for Iran to cease all uranium
enrichment, dial back its ballistic missile program and cut ties to militant
groups across the region. Iran has always rejected those demands, saying it
would only accept some limits on its nuclear program in return for sanctions
relief. It's unclear if Iran's bloody crackdown on mass protests last month, or
the movement of major US military assets to the region, has made Iran’s leaders
more open to compromise, or if Trump is interested in broadening the already
difficult negotiations. Netanyahu, who will be in Washington through Wednesday,
has spent his decades-long political career pushing for stronger US action
toward Iran. Those efforts succeeded last year when the US joined Israel in 12
days of strikes on Iran's military and nuclear sites, and the possibility of
additional military action against Iran is likely to come up in this week’s
discussions.
Decisions are being made
Netanyahu's visit comes just two weeks after Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff
and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, met with the
prime minister in Jerusalem. The US envoys held indirect talks in Oman with
Iran's foreign minister on Friday. “The Prime Minister believes that any
negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the
Iranian axis,” Netanyahu's office said over the weekend, referring to
Iran-backed armed groups like the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Years of nuclear talks have made little progress since Trump scrapped a 2015
agreement with Iran, with strong encouragement from Israel. Iran has shown
little willingness to address the other issues, even after suffering repeated
setbacks. But the meeting with Trump gives Netanyahu an opportunity to shape the
process and may also bolster his standing back home.“Clearly these are the days
when decisions are being made, America is expected to complete its force
buildup, and it’s trying to exhaust the prospect of negotiations,” said Yohanan
Plesner, head of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based think tank.
“If you want to have influence on the process, only so much can be done via
Zoom.”
Israel fears a narrow agreement
rump threatened a military strike against Iran last month over the killing of
protesters and concerns of mass executions, moving a number of military assets
into the region. Thousands were killed and tens of thousands detained at Iranian
authorities crushed the protests over widespread economic distress. As the
protests largely subsided, Trump shifted his focus to Iran's nuclear program,
which the US, Israel and others have long suspected is aimed at eventually
developing weapons. Iran insists its program is entirely peaceful and says it
has the right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.Sima Shine, an Iran expert
formerly with Israel's Mossad spy agency who is now an analyst at Israel's
Institute for National Security Studies, said Israel fears that the US might
reach a narrow agreement with Iran in which it would temporarily halt uranium
enrichment. A deal in which Iran halts enrichment for several years would allow
Trump to claim victory. But Israel believes any such agreement that does not end
Iran's nuclear program and reduce its ballistic missile arsenal will eventually
require Israel to launch another wave of strikes, she said.
Iran might be unable to enrich uranium after last year’s strikes, making the
idea of a temporary moratorium more appealing.In November, Iranian Foreign
Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was no longer enriching uranium due to the
damage from last year's war. The US and Israeli airstrikes killed nearly 1,000
people in Iran, while Iranian missile barrages killed almost 40 in Israel.It's
unclear how much damage was done to Iran's nuclear program. Inspectors from the
International Atomic Energy Agency have been unable to visit the bombed nuclear
sites. Satellite images show activity at two of them.
Netanyahu faces election this year
Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has long touted his close ties
to world leaders, particularly Trump, who he has praised as the best friend
Israel has ever had in the White House. This week's meeting allows Netanyahu to
show Israelis he is a player in the Iran talks. “The issue of relations between
Netanyahu and Trump will be the issue of the campaign, and he is saying, ‘Only I
can do this, it’s only me,’” Shine said.Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving
prime minister, having held the office for a total of over 18 years. His
government, the most nationalist and religious in Israel's history, is expected
to survive until the election in October, or close to it.
Netanyahu was originally scheduled to visit Washington next week for the Feb. 19
launch of Trump's Board of Peace, an initiative that was initially framed as a
mechanism for rebuilding Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war but has taken on a
larger mandate of resolving global crises. Netanyahu agreed to join the
initiative, but is wary of it because it includes Türkiye and Qatar, countries
he does not want to have a presence in postwar Gaza because of their relations
with Hamas.Moving the visit up could provide an “elegant solution” that allows
Netanyahu to skip the launch without offending Trump, Plesner said. Netanyahu's
office declined to comment.
Iran Warns of 'Destructive'
Influence on Diplomacy ahead of Netanyahu's US Trip
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
The secretary of Iran's top security body arrived in Oman on Tuesday, amid
Iranian warning of "destructive" influence on diplomacy ahead of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington for talks expected to focus on
US negotiations with Tehran. "Our negotiating party is America. It is up to
America to decide to act independently of the pressures and destructive
influences that are detrimental to the region," said Iranian foreign ministry
spokesman Esmail Baqaei in a weekly press briefing. "The Zionist regime has
repeatedly, as a saboteur, shown that it opposes any diplomatic process in our
region that leads to peace." Ali Larijani, who heads the Supreme National
Security Council, is expected to hold talks with Haitham bin Tariq, the Sultan
of Oman, and Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi, Iran's state news
agency IRNA reported. They will discuss the latest regional and international
developments as well as economic cooperation between Iran and Oman, the news
agency said. Tehran and Washington resumed talks in Muscat on Friday, months
after earlier negotiations collapsed following Israel's unprecedented bombing
campaign against Iran last June, which triggered a 12-day war. During the
conflict, Israel targeted senior Iranian military officials, nuclear scientists
and nuclear sites, as well as residential areas. The United States later joined
the campaign, launching its own strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran
responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel and by targeting the largest
US military base in the Middle East, located in Qatar. "The June experience was
a very bad experience. Therefore, taking these experiences into account, we are
determined to secure Iran's national interests through diplomacy," Baqaei said.
He insisted that Iran's focus would remain strictly on the nuclear file in
return for sanctions relief. Tehran has repeatedly said it rejects any
negotiations that extend beyond that issue. On Saturday, Netanyahu's office said
in a statement that the Israeli premier "believes any negotiations must include
limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian
axis" -- referring to Iran's allied armed groups in the region. The talks
followed threats from Washington and the deployment of a US aircraft carrier
group to the region after Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests
last month. Iranian authorities said the protests, which erupted in late
December over the rising cost of living, began as peaceful demonstrations before
turning into "riots" involving killings and vandalism, which they said were
inflamed by the United States and Israel.
Iran Offers Clemency to
over 2,000 Convicts, Excludes Protest-related Cases
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei granted pardons or reduced sentences on
Tuesday to more than 2,000 people, the judiciary said, adding that none of those
involved in recent protests were on the list. The decision comes ahead of the
anniversary of the Iranian revolution, which along with other important
occasions in Iran has traditionally seen the supreme leader sign off on similar
pardons over the years. "The leader of the Islamic revolution agreed to the
request by the head of the judiciary to pardon or reduce or commute the
sentences of 2,108 convicts," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said. The
list however does not include "the defendants and convicts from the recent
riots", it said, quoting the judiciary's deputy chief Ali Mozaffari. Protests
against the rising cost of living broke out in Iran in late December before
morphing into nationwide anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8
and 9. Tehran has acknowledged that more than 3,000 people died during the
unrest, including members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, and
attributed the violence to "terrorist acts".Iranian authorities said the
protests began as peaceful demonstrations before turning into
"foreign-instigated riots" involving killings and vandalism. International
organizations have put the toll far higher. The US-based Human Rights Activists
News Agency (HRANA) says it has verified 6,964 deaths, mostly protesters.
Israeli Minister Calls West
Bank Measures ‘De Facto Sovereignty,’ Says No Future Palestinian State
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
A top Israeli official said Tuesday that measures adopted by the government that
deepen Israeli control in the occupied West Bank amounted to implementing “de
facto sovereignty,” using language that mirrors critics' warnings about the
intent behind the moves. The steps “actually establish a fact on the ground that
there will not be a Palestinian state,” Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Israel’s
Army Radio. Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights groups have called the
moves announced Sunday an annexation of the territory, home to roughly 3.4
million Palestinians who seek it for a future state. Cohen’s comments followed
similar remarks by other members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister
Israel Katz. The moves — and Israeli officials’ own descriptions of them — put
the country at odds with both regional allies and previous statements from US
President Donald Trump. Netanyahu has traveled to Washington to meet with him
later this week.Last year, Trump said he won’t allow Israel to annex the West
Bank. The US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that aimed to stop the
war in Gaza also acknowledged Palestinian aspirations for statehood.
Widespread condemnation
The measures further erode the Palestinian Authority’s limited powers, and it’s
unclear the extent to which it can oppose them. Still, Hussein Al Sheikh, the
Palestinian Authority’s deputy president, said on Tuesday "the Palestinian
leadership called on all civil and security institutions in the State of
Palestine" to reject them.In a post on X on Tuesday, he said the Israeli steps
“contradict international law and the agreements signed with the Palestine
Liberation Organization."A group of eight Arab and Muslim-majority countries
expressed their “absolute rejection” of the measures, calling them in a joint
statement Monday illegal and warning they would “fuel violence and conflict in
the region.”Israel’s pledge not to annex the West Bank is embedded in its
diplomatic agreements with some of those countries. United Nations Secretary
General Antonio Guterres said he was “gravely concerned” by the measures. “They
are driving us further and further away from a two-State solution and from the
ability of the Palestinian authority and the Palestinian people to control their
own destiny," his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said on Monday.
What the measures mean
The measures, approved by Netanyahu's Security Cabinet on Sunday, expand
Israel’s enforcement authority over land use and planning in areas run by the
Palestinian Authority, making it easier for Jewish settlers to force
Palestinians to give up land. Smotrich and Katz on Sunday said they would lift
long-standing restrictions on land sales to Israeli Jews in the West Bank, shift
some control over sensitive holy sites — including Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque,
also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs — and declassify land registry records
to ease property acquisitions.
They also revive a government committee empowered to make what officials
described as “proactive” land purchases in the territory, a step intended to
reserve land for future settlement expansion. Taken together, the moves add an
official stamp to Israel’s accelerating expansion and would override parts of
decades-old agreements that split the West Bank between areas under Israeli
control and areas where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy.
Israel has increasingly legalized settler outposts built on land Palestinians
say documents show they have long owned, evicted Palestinian communities from
areas declared “military zones” and villages near archaeological sites it has
reclassified as “national parks.”More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied
West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought
by the Palestinians for an independent state along with the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians are not permitted to sell land privately to Israelis. Settlers can
buy homes on land controlled by Israel’s government. The international community
overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction to be illegal and an
obstacle to peace.“These decisions constitute a direct violation of the
international agreements to which Israel is committed and are steps toward the
annexation of Areas A and B,” anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now said on
Sunday, referring to parts of the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority
exercised some autonomy.
Israeli Drone Strike Kills 2 Cyclists in Gaza as Death Toll
Mounts Despite Ceasefire
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
An Israeli drone strike killed two Palestinians on bicycles Tuesday, hospital
officials said, marking the latest deaths since an October ceasefire that hasn't
halted deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the two
men were hit near the ceasefire line that divides Gaza, with one half under
Israeli military control. They were hit in eastern Deir al-Balah, the hospital
said, adding that it also received the body of a woman who was killed by Israeli
gunfire in central Maghazi refugee camp. Israel's military did not immediately
respond to questions about either strike. It has previously said its forces
respond to ceasefire violations or attacks on its soldiers. Gaza's Health
Ministry on Tuesday said reported 586 Palestinians had been killed since the
start of the ceasefire, bringing the cumulative toll to 72,037 killed since the
start of Israel's offensive. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led
government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally
reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Deadly Israeli strikes have
repeatedly disrupted the truce since it took effect on Oct. 10. The escalating
Palestinian toll has prompted many in Gaza to say it feels like the war has
continued unabated. Yet parts of the agreement outlined in last year’s ceasefire
are moving forward. After a chaotic first week, officials say more Palestinians
are entering and leaving Gaza for Egypt via the reopened Rafah crossing. Plans
for an international peacekeeping force meant to provide security in Gaza are
also beginning to take shape. Indonesia — the world's most populous
Muslim-majority country — said Tuesday that its military had begun training
personnel to serve in Gaza, specifically for reconstruction and humanitarian
response. Its army chief of staff said between 5,000 and 8,000 troops were
preparing to deploy. Vahd Nabyl Achmad Mulachela, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s
Foreign Affairs Ministry, said Indonesian troops would not take part in
disarmament — one of the most contentious and unresolved elements of the peace
plan. Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto told the UN General Assembly in
October that his country planned to contribute troops, even as details about the
force’s role and mandate was unclear. The commitment came as Prabowo sought
closer ties with US President Donald Trump.Israel and Hamas remain divided over
the timeline and scope of Israel’s withdrawal and the demilitarization of the
enclave after nearly two decades of Hamas rule. The temporary International
Stabilization Force outlined last year in Trump’s 20-point peace plan — among
the key components of the demilitarization effort— is envisioned as a later
phase of the plan. The war began when Hamas-led fighters stormed into southern
Israel and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7, 2023. The
251 hostages taken in the attack were returned to Israel in various ceasefire
agreements, with the remains of Israeli police officer Ran Gvili — the final
body in Gaza — were found and returned in January, paving the way for the
advance of the ceasefire agreement. The war has sparked worldwide protests and
brought allegations of genocide that Israel denies.
Trump Opposes Israeli
Annexation of West Bank
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
A White House official on Monday reiterated US President Donald Trump's
opposition toward Israel annexing the West Bank. "A stable West Bank keeps
Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in
the region," the official said. Israel's security cabinet approved a series of
steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank
to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over
Palestinians, Israeli media reported. Saudi Arabia and seven other Muslim
countries on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the
West Bank and pave the way for more settlements on the occupied Palestinian
territory. The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for
a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with
limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Palestinian Authority
(PA).
Indonesia Says Proposed Gaza Peacekeeping Force Could Total
20,000 Troops
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
A proposed multinational peacekeeping force for Gaza could total about 20,000
troops, with Indonesia estimating it could contribute up to 8,000, President
Prabowo Subianto’s spokesman said on Tuesday. The spokesman said, however, that
no deployment terms or areas of operation had been agreed.Prabowo has been
invited to Washington later this month for the first meeting of US President
Donald Trump's Board of Peace. The Southeast Asian country last year committed
to ready 20,000 troops for deployment for a Gaza peacekeeping force, but it has
said it is awaiting more details about the force's mandate before confirming
deployment. "The total number is approximately 20,000 (across countries) ... it
is not only Indonesia," presidential spokesman Prasetyo Hadi told journalists on
Tuesday, adding that the exact number of troops had not been discussed yet but
Indonesia estimated it could offer up to 8,000, Reuters reported. "We are just
preparing ourselves in case an agreement is reached and we have to send
peacekeeping forces," he said. Prasetyo also said there would be negotiations
before Indonesia paid the $1 billion being asked for permanent membership of the
Board of Peace. He did not clarify who the negotiations would be with, and said
Indonesia had not yet confirmed Prabowo's attendance at the board
meeting.Separately, Indonesia's defense ministry also denied reports in Israeli
media that the deployment of Indonesian troops would be in Gaza's Rafah and Khan
Younis.
"Indonesia's plans to contribute to peace and humanitarian support in Gaza are
still in the preparation and coordination stages," defence ministry spokesman
Rico Ricardo Sirat told Reuters in a message. "Operational matters (deployment
location, number of personnel, schedule, mechanism) have not yet been finalised
and will be announced once an official decision has been made and the necessary
international mandate has been clarified," he added.
Damascus Govt Takes Over
Control of Rmeilan Field, Says Syria's Oil Belongs to All
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
The Damascus government kicked off on Monday measures to assume control of the
Rmeilan oil field, Syria's second largest, in the northeastern Hasakah province.
The move took place after it took over Qamishli airport in line with an
agreement with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that was reached on
January 29. A Syrian Petroleum Company delegation visited Hasakah oil fields on
Monday as part of the process to bring the Rmeilan and Sweidiyeh fields back
under state administration, reported the official news agency SANA. The
delegation, accompanied by Hasakah’s Internal Security chief Marwan al‑Ali, met
field managers and held a brief press conference addressing questions on future
operations, fuel prices once production resumes, and whether part of the
revenues could support the local area. The Company vowed that Syria's oil
"belongs to everyone" and that workers at the Rmeilan field will keep their
jobs. Security at the field will be handled by guards from the region. The team
toured al‑Awda field in rural Qamishli to assess conditions and hear from
workers. Deputy CEO Walid al‑Youssef said several agreements are already in
place to support the oil and gas sector and improve infrastructure in Rmeilan.
He noted that the current staff will remain in their positions with salary
increases, reported SANA.The Company officials said the visit aims to establish
direct communication with technical teams as preparations begin for the
handover. Hasakah Fields Director Dhiab Khalif described the visit as
successful, noting that while most fields are in good condition, some require
maintenance. Upcoming steps include agreeing on production levels and boosting
output to improve energy supply.The Syrian Petroleum Company recently began
pumping raw gas from the Jibseh fields in Hasakah to the Furqlus gas plant in
Homs, part of efforts to increase national production and support electricity
generation.
Syria Joining Anti-ISIS
Coalition 'Marks New Chapter' in Global Security, US Envoy Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
The US-led international coalition to fight the ISIS has welcomed Syria in the
fight against the extremists, saying that the priorities include the swift
transfer of ISIS detainees to Iraq and third-country repatriation of families
linked to ISIS held in two camps in Syria. The State Department also welcomed a
recent ceasefire that ended fighting between Syrian government forces and the
US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that were a main force in the
fight against ISIS in Syria, The AP news reported. Representatives from Syria —
which officially joined the global coalition against ISIS in November during a
historic visit by Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s to Washington — attended a
meeting on Monday of some officials from the 90-member coalition in Saudi
Arabia. “Regional solutions, shared responsibility. Syria’s participation in the
D-ISIS Coalition meeting in Riyadh marks a new chapter in collective security,”
Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, said in comments posted on X on Tuesday. The
US military began transferring some of the about 9,000 ISIS detainees held in
northeastern Syria last month to secure facilities in Iraq, following clashes
between government forces and the SDF. Monday's State Department statement said
coalition members “underscored their readiness to work closely with the Syrian
government” and encouraged members to provide direct support to Syrian and Iraqi
efforts. It said that in addition to the transfer of detainees to Iraq, the
participants reaffirmed their priorities that include “dignified reintegration”
of families from the al-Hol and Roj camps, in northeast Syria, to their
communities of origin. Syria's government took over al-Hol in late January. The
camps house more than 25,000 mostly women and children linked to ISIS militants,
the vast majority of them from Syria and Iraq. The State Department called on
dozens of countries other than Syria and Iraq to repatriate their citizens from
al-Hol and Roj camps. “Officials commended Iraq’s efforts to securely detain
ISIS militants” the statement said, adding that they also welcomed Syria’s
assumption of responsibility for detention facilities and displacement camps
housing ISIS militants and their family members. The SDF, which controls much of
the detention facilities in northeast Syria, will merge into the national army
as part of a deal reached with the central government last month. Part of the
deal reached last month, government delegations visited over the past days the
Qamishli International Airport in the predominantly Kurdish city of Qamishli as
well as some oil fields and the headquarters of a national oil company as SDF
members withdraw from some of their positions. Government forces also entered
parts of the northeastern city of al-Hassakeh. In the near future, Syria’s
central authorities are supposed to take over border crossings with neighboring
Iraq and Türkiye.
Over 4,500 ISIS Detainees Brought to Iraq from Syria, Says
Official
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
spected extremists have been transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US
operation to relocate ISIS group detainees, an Iraqi official told AFP on
Tuesday.The detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began
transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held
territory where they had been held by Kurdish fighters. They include Syrians,
Iraqis and Europeans, among other nationalities. Saad Maan, a spokesperson for
the Iraqi government's security information unit, told AFP that 4,583 detainees
had been brought to Iraq so far. ISIS swept across swathes of Syria and Iraq in
2014 where it committed massacres. Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed the
defeat of ISIS in 2017, while in neighboring Syria the Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces ultimately beat back the group two years later. The SDF went
on to jail thousands of suspected extremists and detain tens of thousands of
their relatives in camps. In Iraq, where many prisons are packed with ISIS
suspects, courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to
those convicted of terrorism offences, including many foreign fighters. This
month Iraq's judiciary said it had begun investigations into detainees
transferred from Syria
Egypt Approves Cabinet Reshuffle, State Media Say
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 10/2026
Egypt's House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, approved a
relatively limited cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, state media reported. Mohamed
Farid Saleh, who previously served as the executive chairman of the country's
Financial Regulatory Authority, was appointed minister of investment and foreign
trade, Reuters reported. Ahmed Rostom was named minister of planning. He was a
senior financial sector specialist at the World Bank. The head of Egypt's State
Information Service (SIS), Diaa Rashwan, will lead a revived Ministry of
Information. Meanwhile, the ministers of finance, foreign affairs, petroleum,
supply, defense and interior kept their posts.
Video-Link from JNS TV to
an interview with Malcolm Hoenlein: Expert Explains Why Khamenei’s Regime Will
Topple
JNS TV/February 10/2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng706UuAv7o
What if the biggest human-rights massacre you’re not hearing about is happening
right now...while the West looks the other way?
Our guest today, Malcolm Hoenlein, claims the death toll from Iran’s crackdowns
is far higher than reported...describing hospitals turned into killing fields,
communications blackouts, mass arrests of doctors and public executions on a
staggering scale. You’ll learn what’s really driving the unrest (economic
collapse, water and electricity failures, fear inside the regime), why
succession politics after Khamenei could make things even more dangerous, how
Qatar/Turkey/China-linked influence campaigns shape Western campuses and what a
realistic “day-after” plan might look like if Iran cracks. Plus, why Israel’s
regional strategy is shifting from pleading for recognition to building facts on
the ground.
The Latest
LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on February
10-11/2026
Why Helping Iran Would Not Lead the US into a New Quagmire
Janatan Sayeh/National
Interest/February 10/2026
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/why-helping-iran-would-not-lead-us-a-new-quagmire
Iran is already a thoroughly integrated and educated nation-state under the
repressive rule of the ayatollahs.
The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier accompanied by
guided-missile destroyers, has boosted US striking power in the Middle East.
President Donald Trump has hinted at military action to support Iran’s latest
protest wave, at times even using the sensitive term “regime change.” But the
legacy of bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan arouses fears that the fall of
Iran’s clerical regime could unleash even more violence and extremism.
This analogy rests on a poor understanding of Iranian society after half a
century of Islamist rule. It obscures how fundamentally different Iran is from
the Iraq and Afghanistan of two decades ago. Iran’s anti-regime movement is
inherently anti-Islamist; Iranians possess a strong and ancient national
identity; the economy would not be structurally dependent on foreign aid once
sanctions are lifted; and society is well-versed in the mechanics of elections
despite decades of clerical control that rendered them neither free nor fair.
For the United States, Iran offers something Iraq and Afghanistan never did: a
chance to gain a durable ally in a turbulent region without requiring a troop
deployment or costly reconstruction. If US military action tipped the scales,
empowering the Iranian people to overthrow a hated dictatorship, the result
could be transformative, and the costs to Washington limited.
Unlike Iran, the main anti-regime currents in Iraq and Afghanistan had deep
Islamist roots. Saddam Hussein suppressed both Sunni and Shia jihadists as
threats to Baathism, but together they formed an Islamist opposition that surged
after his fall. In Afghanistan, Islamism crystallized into Jamiat-e Islami and
Hezb-e Islami by the early 1970s, including a failed 1975 uprising against the
Daoud Khan government.
Iranian society is increasingly moving away not only from political Islam but
from the religion itself. Surveys across ten Middle Eastern countries showed
Iran had the lowest mosque attendance in the region. This decline in religious
observance was reflected in the regime’s 2023 complaints that roughly 50,000 of
Iran’s 75,000 mosques were closed due to a lack of worshippers.
A leaked 2024 regime survey revealed that 85 percent of Iranians had become less
religious than five years earlier, with only 11 percent attending prayers.
During the first days of the ongoing movement, protesters deliberately targeted
mosques and Shia shrines as embodiments of Islamism.
Iranians are filling that identity void with nationalism rather than
sectarianism, like Iraq, or tribalism, like Afghanistan. In 2016, crowds
gathered at Pasargadae to chant pro-monarchy slogans at the tomb of Cyrus the
Great. By 2023 and 2025, Persepolis and other landmarks had become the country’s
most-visited heritage sites, a trend that clashes with the regime’s Islamist
project.
Despite the presence of armed separatist movements in Balochistan and Kurdistan,
Iranian national identity has overridden ethnocentric grievances. During protest
waves, non-Persian regions have not rallied around separatism but instead echoed
nationwide slogans such as “death to the dictator,” “long live the king,” and
“Pahlavi will return,” reflecting a shared political and national frame rather
than ethnic fragmentation.
Iranians have preserved a continuous language and culture; even under Turkic,
Mongol, and other non-Persian dynasties, Persian remained the official and
administrative language. The people of Iran increasingly view their pre-Islamic
past as a foundation for the future, and in their political imagination,
national identity precedes sect or tribe.
Without that same sense of identity, Afghanistan reverted to tribalism, and Iraq
turned to sectarianism. Although Saddam Hussein sought to appeal to Iraqi
nationalism by invoking ties to ancient Babylon, the reality was that modern
Iraqis differ in language, religion, and culture from the empires that once
ruled the same territory. As a result, Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds developed
distinct and often competing identities that the Iraqi leader used to divide and
rule. If there was any hope for a peaceful transition, it died with the decision
of Sunni extremist insurgents to target Shia civilians and provoke a civil war.
In Afghanistan, where the country’s ethnic and tribal structures shape politics,
Pashtun elites sought to impose their language and social mores on others,
resulting in a country that splintered as the United States invaded. It is a
country united solely by force.Another factor that bodes well for Iran’s
independent economic future, once the theocracy is out of the way, is education.
In Afghanistan, 52 percent of men are literate, while only 23 percent of women
are. Iraq has just over 100 universities and technical colleges for a population
of 46 million people, compared with more than 2,500 universities and a
population that is more than 90 percent literate in Iran.
Iranians are familiar with the mechanics of democracy, even though elections in
the Islamic Republic are a facade. The Guardian Council, appointed by the
supreme leader, vets candidates to enforce regime loyalty. Yet the system still
holds regular elections and exposes citizens to campaigns, party formation,
institutional competition, and the language of checks and balances, with
democratic forms ultimately repurposed for authoritarian rule.
Another concern in Washington is the financial cost of post-collapse involvement
in Iran. From 2001 through withdrawal, Washington spent roughly $140 billion on
foreign aid in Afghanistan, with total war costs exceeding $2 trillion.
Similarly, from 2003 through the US drawdown, the Iraq war cost roughly $2
trillion overall, with estimates of over $60 billion directed toward
reconstruction.
But, achieving US goals doesn’t have to involve boots on the ground, which
nobody wants, inside or outside Iran. It requires air support, targeted strikes
against the repression apparatus, and a disciplined messaging campaign that
synchronizes military pressure with action by Iranians on the ground, allowing
them to mobilize once the leadership is neutralized. As for post-transition aid,
the Trump administration has dialed back foreign assistance. In Iraq and, to a
degree, Afghanistan, the feeling that America broke it meant America had to fix
it. That would not be the case in Iran.
Iran clearly has the means to finance its own recovery from decades of
corruption and mismanagement. Iran ranks second in natural gas and among the top
four in petroleum reserves, and even under sanctions, earns nearly $50 billion
annually in oil export revenue. With sanctions relief and investment in
extraction and transport, those revenues will rise significantly.
Unlike Iraq, Iran’s wealth extends well beyond hydrocarbons. Manufacturing
accounts for roughly 15 percent of GDP, industry employs over 30 percent of the
workforce, and Iran has been a leading automobile producer in the region.
Services employ about 50 percent of the workforce and include education, health
care, engineering, finance, and logistics, reflecting a sizable skilled labor
pool, with roughly 1.5 physicians per 1,000 people and about 2,200 researchers
per million residents.
This is not to say change would come easily. The Islamic Republic has its own
stakeholders, and those who have benefited from enforcing the regime’s will. The
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is unlikely to yield easily, both
because of its loyalty to the current regime and because it is the main
beneficiary of Iran’s economy. For now, it is true that the mass slaughter of
protesters—with estimates of the death toll running as high as 36,000—beat back
the wave of protests that crested in early January. Yet, even if street protests
have waned, the movement is not defeated. Strikes continue, the country remains
in collective mourning, and everyday life has not resumed and may never entirely
do so. Missing the current momentum risks alienating the Middle East’s most
pro-American population and squandering a rare opportunity to cultivate a
strategic ally.
**About the Author: Janatan Sayeh
Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
focused on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republic’s regional malign
influence. Prior to joining FDD, he was the research lead at the International
Republican Institute, where he also worked on countering China’s authoritarian
influence globally. Sayeh has previously contributed to research on US policy
towards Iran at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the American
Enterprise Institute. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, he studied Hebrew and
Arabic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and received his BA in political
science from the University of California, Berkeley.
'Project Vault': Trump's Latest
'Manhattan Project' in The Race with China for 21st Century Leadership
Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone
Institute/February 09/2026
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22264/project-vault
With "Project Vault," President Donald Trump is looking to break China's
stranglehold on the supply of critical rare earth elements. President
Donald Trump is taking an important page from World War II's Manhattan Project,
when the United States raced to secure supplies of the rare element uranium
needed to create the war-winning atomic bomb. When strategic amounts of the
element were found in Africa, deep in mines in the Belgian Congo, a "cover"
entity called the Combined Development Trust was created by the U.S. to purchase
all supplies and thereby deny Nazi Germany access to the coveted uranium.
The 21st Century has changed the concept of the types and amounts of strategic
minerals that will be required to protect the nation's future --and few
recognize that need more acutely than Trump.
Today the strategic minerals needed are "rare earths," and Trump is about to
launch a strategic stockpile campaign to ensure our national economy is not held
hostage by China, which has significant deposits of these vital resources.
Called "Project Vault," his campaign for rare earth elements will combine $1.67
billion in private sector funds with a $10 billion loan from the US
Export-Import Bank. Our defense companies currently have sufficient amounts of
rare earths for our weapons and aircraft, but the president's campaign is
designed to protect our consumer-driven economy beyond his term by stockpiling
rare earths for automakers, technology firms and others who require these
minerals for such products as smartphones, batteries, and commercial jet
engines.
While our historic race for uranium comes to mind, the president's campaign also
reflects the wisdom behind our current Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Instead of
oil, however, Project Vault will look to acquire and stockpile minerals such as
lithium, gallium and cobalt. The purpose of this unprecedented effort is obvious
if one looks at China's track record of holding hostage its vast supplies of
rare earths. Trump is looking to break that stranglehold and strategically
reduce our dependence on China's supply chain of these critical elements. This
is but one step in Trump's responding to China's rare earth threat. He has also
invested directly in American companies to boost their mining, production and
processing of "rare earths" safely within our borders. The White House also
recognizes that Project Vault has the means to dampen volatile price swings for
rare earth commodities. Published accounts of the proposed campaign report that
companies that commit to buying a specified amount of minerals at a set price
will contractually commit to purchasing the same amount at the same price in the
future. This decision reflects Trump's appreciation of how market forces have
the potential to derail a plan designed to protect both our nation's economy and
national security.It is expected that later this week will see Project Vault
officially unveiled in Washington, D.C., with America's allies at the table to
fully appreciate the scope of what is being proposed. What will become obvious
to all is that, once again, the lessons learned by studying America's past are
applicable to protecting our future for generations to come.
**Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
© 2026 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Hamas's Secret Plan to Maintain Control of Gaza
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/February 09/2026
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22263/hamas-secret-plan-to-maintain-control-of-gaza
"[T]he document outlines an operational framework in which the technocratic
government appears to function, while the actual management of systems, the flow
of information, and control over the civil administration remain in Hamas's
hands." – Elior Levy, Channel 11 Kan News, February 2, 2026.
Hamas wants Trump's Board of Peace and the technocratic committee to focus on
reconstruction, economic projects, and paying salaries to Palestinian civil
servants while it continues, through a shadow government, to effectively rule
the Gaza Strip, manufacture stockpile weaponry and prepare for a new attack on
Israel, similar to its October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel's southern
communities.
There can be no peace, security or stability in the Gaza Strip if the same
terrorists who murdered, tortured, and mutilated thousands of Israelis and
foreign nationals on October 7 are given new uniforms, rearmed and allowed to
serve as a paramilitary force. There also can be no peace, security, or
stability in the Gaza Strip so long as Hamas is permitted to function as a
shadow government in the Gaza Strip. The talk about allowing Hamas to "freeze"
or "store" its weapons is misguided and falls short of the full disarmament
(decommissioning weapons) required by the Trump plan.
With countries such as Qatar, Turkey and Pakistan sitting on Trump's Board of
Peace, it is hard to see how Hamas could ever be forced to lay down its weapons
and give up control of the Gaza Strip. These countries -- longtime sponsors and
funders of Hamas -- will never take part in any effort to disarm Hamas or remove
it from power. What we are witnessing is a clear attempt by Hamas and its Arab
and Muslim sponsors to hoodwink the Trump administration and the rest of the
international community.
Will Trump choose to fall for it and join the Legacy of Losers -- like British
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain? Chamberlain will forever be recalled waving
a fraudulent piece of paper and idiotically claiming that he had achieved "peace
for our time." Is that how Trump would like to be remembered throughout
history?Hamas wants Trump's Board of Peace and the technocratic committee to
focus on reconstruction, economic projects, and paying salaries to Palestinian
civil servants while it continues, through a shadow government, to effectively
rule the Gaza Strip, manufacture stockpile weaponry and prepare for a new attack
on Israel, similar to its October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel's southern
communities. More than four months after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip went
into effect, Hamas has still not laid down its weapons despite repeated warnings
by US President Donald J. Trump. Hamas, in fact, not only continues to rule
large parts of the Gaza Strip that are still under its control but also seems to
be working hard to rearm, regroup and reassert its control over areas of the
Gaza Strip from which the Israel Defense Forces have withdrawn.
According to Israeli security sources: "Hamas recently strengthened its control
over the Gaza Strip by stealing humanitarian aid and selling it to local
residents, recruiting young men in mosques, collecting taxes, and kidnapping and
torturing anyone who dares to speak out against the terror group."A secret
document obtained by Israel's Channel 11 Kan News reveals how Hamas is planning
to control and run the Gaza Strip under the nose of the newly established
Palestinian technocratic committee: "A confidential internal document sent by
Hamas leadership to the organization's civil administration officials in the
Gaza Strip, ahead of the arrival of the technocratic government, reveals how
Hamas plans to continue controlling the management of the Strip even after the
new government takes office.""The document, obtained by Kan News, includes
detailed instructions for Hamas's administrative officials regarding their
day-to-day conduct vis-à-vis the technocratic government. "According to the
document, all officials are instructed to continue their regular work routine as
if nothing has changed — thereby effectively preserving the existing mechanisms
of control.
"The document further states that officials are strictly forbidden from
attacking members of the technocratic government or its head on social media, in
order to avoid overt friction or public confrontation.
"At the same time, officials are given a clear directive not to establish any
personal contact with members of the government, nor to pass on any information
or intelligence — except through the 'relevant authority,' which in practice is
Hamas itself.
In this way, the document outlines an operational framework in which the
technocratic government appears to function, while the actual management of
systems, the flow of information, and control over the civil administration
remain in Hamas's hands."
The document shows that Hamas is intent on preserving its role as a major actor
in the Gaza Strip while ignoring Trump's new "Board of Peace" and the
Palestinian technocratic committee. Hamas wants Trump's Board of Peace and the
technocratic committee to focus on reconstruction, economic projects, and paying
salaries to Palestinian civil servants while it continues, through a shadow
government, to effectively rule the Gaza Strip, manufacture stockpile weaponry
and prepare for a new attack on Israel, similar to its October 7, 2023 invasion
of Israel's southern communities.
Commenting on the Hamas document outlining the terror group's plan to maintain
control of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian political analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib
wrote: "Hamas's police force in Gaza is going full throttle to demonstrate that
it alone is in control of the Strip and cannot be replaced, producing slick
propaganda videos and footage proving its continued presence. At least half of
its officers are current terror operatives who participated in al-Qassam
Brigades activities and are attempting to rebrand themselves as mere civil
servants. The new technocratic committee, tasked with implementing President
Trump's plan, must never allow these officers to be part of the new security
architecture of the Gaza Strip. The US administration must not allow these
terrorists to respawn and ensure that Hamas's grip on Gaza lives on."
He added: "Hamas in Gaza is not going anywhere; it's 100 steps ahead of the US,
Israel, the Arabs and the international community, ready to pounce on the newly
established technocratic committee." As part of its plan to maintain its
security control over the Gaza Strip, Hamas is seeking to incorporate its 10,000
police officers into a new US-backed Palestinian administration, Palestinian
sources told Reuters.
"In a letter to staff, seen by Reuters, Gaza's Hamas-run government urged its
more than 40,000 civil servants and security personnel to cooperate with the
technocratic committee but assured them it was working to incorporate them into
the new government... The militant group is still believed to possess rockets,
which several diplomats estimated to number in the hundreds."If true, this means
that Hamas is seeking to take advantage of Trump's 20-point plan for ending the
Gaza war to rebrand and renew itself. There can be no peace, security or
stability in the Gaza Strip if the same terrorists who murdered, tortured, and
mutilated thousands of Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7 are given new
uniforms, rearmed and allowed to serve as a paramilitary force. There also can
be no peace, security, or stability in the Gaza Strip so long as Hamas is
permitted to function as a shadow government in the Gaza Strip. The talk about
allowing Hamas to "freeze" or "store" its weapons is misguided and falls short
of the full disarmament (decommissioning weapons) required by the Trump plan.
With countries such as Qatar, Turkey and Pakistan sitting on Trump's Board of
Peace, it is hard to see how Hamas could ever be forced to lay down its weapons
and give up control of the Gaza Strip. These countries -- longtime sponsors and
funders of Hamas -- will never take part in any effort to disarm Hamas or remove
it from power. What we are witnessing is a clear attempt by Hamas and its Arab
and Muslim sponsors to hoodwink the Trump administration and the rest of the
international community. Will Trump choose to fall for it and join the Legacy of
Losers -- like British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain? Chamberlain will
forever be recalled waving a fraudulent piece of paper and idiotically claiming
that he had achieved "peace for our time." Is that how Trump would like to be
remembered throughout history?
**Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
**Follow Khaled Abu Toameh 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
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Whose Interests Does a Partition of Iran Serve?
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/February
10/2026
https://english.aawsat.com/opinion/5239111-whose-interests-does-partition-iran-serve
A new episode in this season of the “series” America VS Iranian ended yesterday
in the Omani capital, Muscat. Both sides striking a note that it was a
“positive” start amid a torrent of speculation and divergent projections.
Some await an imminent military showdown spurred by Israel. That remains a
possibility given the bond shared by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the latter’s desire to spread chaos and
accelerate fragmentation across the Near East.
Others do not rule out a new “deal” between two capitals that have made a habit
of reducing political solutions to such “deals.” The Iranian–American “nuclear
agreement,” we should remember, was concluded after a “deal” had been struck,
(also in Muscat) following secret negotiations conducted between 2013 and 2015
under Barack Obama. True, much has changed since then. Most consequently,
Washington withdrew from this “agreement” after Donald Trump assumed the
presidency for the first time. He then took a harder line toward Tehran in his
second term.
The regional scene has also changed on the Israeli side. Netanyahu has embraced
the principle that “offense is the best form of defense...” and the best way to
fight corruption charges.
According to some Israeli critics, Netanyahu silenced the Israeli popular
opposition, and even rode the wave of its radicalization, through a series of
expansionist total wars in the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and
Syria. These wars reached a “point of no return” in Gaza... before moving on
toward second and third wars in the West Bank and Lebanon, and perhaps Syria.
These wars would not have been so easy were it not for a series of factors,
first among them the unconditional support of Washington. This support, as we
see, takes multiple forms: from brandishing accusations of antisemitism to the
full logistical and backing for the Israeli war machine’s plans. All of this
proceeds from the premise that the interests of the Israeli right (not merely
Israel as a state) are deeply rooted in Washington’s principles, philosophy,
religious culture, and strategic interests.
Second, the growing influence of racist and fascist right-wing movements in
Europe and elsewhere. This influence is visible at the heart of institutions of
power and media in the United States and Western Europe, even amid popular
solidarity of millions with the victims of the “genocide” in Gaza!
Third, there has been a decline of Arab solidarity amid Western hostility to
Arabs and Muslims, especially the second generation migrants. It is now obvious
that there is no effective, unified Arab strategy for confronting the mounting
regional crises. Moreover, “Israeli hegemony” in the Near East has been
disorienting the Arab world’s priorities and hindering the emergence of
approaches required of them to address the (both material and potential)
consequences of this “hegemony.”Fourth, the influence of Israel's expansionist
right’s supporters has become increasingly apparent, notably in the spheres of
communication technologies, cybernetics, and artificial intelligence. This
factor, in my view, will be a major threat over the coming months, not years.
Data “harvesting” storage, and exploitation wars are ongoing. It seems that the
principal player in this “war” is Israel, whether directly or through American
billionaires, their giant corporations, and their influential businesses and
networks.
Washington, backed by Tel Aviv, is launching another round of blackmail against
this background. Meanwhile, we seem to be spectators with neither cards to play
nor calculations to make!
The Arab region, especially the Near East and the Gulf, has suffered greatly
over the past three decades. Since 2003, the Iranian leadership has been
empowered by global tolerance as the world encouraged it to overreach and pursue
greater ambitions. However, sensible figures in the Iranian top brass “know”
Washington well. They know the Western, pragmatic mindset. It is not driven by
sentiment or illusions of “friendship.” We also see cunningly using political
“taqiyya” and keenly avoiding “red lines” that must not be crossed, even amid
bombastic slogans and liberationist one-upmanship.
This approach, which became visible after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, has been
shaping the political scene as Israeli leaders seek to "micromanage" the
American clash with Tehran. It may not be in Washington’s interest, at present,
to partition Iran. This may also reflect the sentiments of segments of the Arab
public, including many of Iran’s adversaries, because the price of containing an
Iranian collapse could be exorbitant...
But for Netanyahu and his regional project, war- even if it leads to partition
and chaos- could serve as a model and means for imposing submission across the
Arab world.
Awaiting ‘False Prophets’!
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/February
10/2026
https://english.aawsat.com/opinion/5239207-awaiting-%E2%80%98false-prophets%E2%80%99
In times of transition, when
everything is in flux as uncertainty and apprehension prevail, bewildering the
mind and rendering it incapable of processing the strange and uncanny
hotchpotches popping up everywhere, superstition and fraud become widespread,
with an exponential rise in the number of people claiming to see the unseen.
Religions, major turning points in history, were not frugal in their calls for
caution against such phenomena. In the New Testament, Christ repeatedly warns
his disciples and apostles to be wary of false prophets and the Antichrist, and
he regularly urges believers to vigilantly question their aims and intentions.
The message they bring to humanity does not come from God; indeed, it opposes
God’s commands. Their message, even when it speaks to our desires and passions,
yields nothing but “rotten fruit.”
Before Christianity, the Book of Kings relayed a story told by the prophet
Micaiah in which God asks the divine counsel what should be done with the false
prophets. The “Period Of The Judges” was notorious for spiritual chaos, with the
people abandoning Yahweh and turning to idols, clinging to them as the
neighboring pagan peoples did.
After Christianity, with Islam, false prophecies and false prophets are
prohibited, as Prophet Muhammad is the “Seal of the Prophets.” Accordingly,
Musaylima is characterized as “the Liar,” and so were the many others who shared
his claims during the “Wars of Apostasy.”
All civilizations have witnessed similar phenomena. In sixteenth-century
Florence, for example, Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola took hold after the
Medici, architects of its great Renaissance, were expelled. Savonarola
proclaimed to be a divine messenger and sought to turn the city into a “New
Jerusalem,” burning- “purifying by fire”- books, manuscripts, paintings,
jewelry, and every other precious object that he believed to reflect its owner’s
hubris and pride.
Sabbatai Zevi was one such figure to emerge during the Ottoman era, in the
seventeenth century, claiming to be the Messiah before eventually claiming to
have converted to Islam. As for his “Dönmeh” community of followers, its rise
coincided with critical challenges to the Ottoman state and the Inquisition in
Europe, which led many Jews there to believe in the arrival of the “Messiah”
they had been awaiting. As we know, Zevi and the Dönmeh later became prominent
themes of an emergent Arab and Islamic antisemitism, offering an abundance of
material for future conspiracy theories.
Russia witnessed the same; as the Tsarist order was crumbling, the charlatan
mystic Grigori Rasputin declared himself a holy man and worked his way into the
Romanov family by convincing that he was the doctor who could save their child
and heir to the throne, Alexei, who had been suffering from hemophilia.
These are only a few cases of what mad eras can do to humanity and reason, and
there are several reasons to think that we are currently living through one.
Anticipation, both innocent and construed, collides with bizarre worlds like
that of Elon Musk and other high-tech pioneers. No sooner does the bewilderment
recede a little than another world- filthy, racist, and brimming with machismo,
a world with Jeffrey Epstein and his island at the center of it- looms and
raises questions about the intersections of politics, wealth, and public
relations, as well as politics’ own relationship with morality. From a third
vantage point, our own countries, the penchant for self-absolution and
self-purification surges among those who insist that such things do not happen
“here,” or “in our authentic culture,” only in “capitalist Western society.”
Before the wounds opened by the COVID-19 pandemic have had time to heal- wounds
that exposed the fragility of humanity and undermined its reassurance in its
capacities, and showing that it had globalized its fragilities faster than its
strengths- our declining ability to distinguish truth from falsehood is only
growing. After the emergence of a “post-truth” world in which social media
fueled the falsification of facts, the artificial intelligence revolution, for
all its virtues, is undermining our ability to make these distinctions further
and entrenching the weaknesses we had previously accumulated, as well as
perpetuating anxiety about the repercussions of scientific progress for human
prosperity and happiness.
As we are repeatedly and relentlessly told that the Enlightenment did not
enlighten and that modernity did not modernize, and amid escalating and
increasingly perplexing questions around sexual identity, “scandals” and
“deals,” crude racism, and reports of eugenic “enhancement” dominate global news
cycles. As we individually sink into isolation, apocalyptic images of massacres
in Gaza, Sudan, and elsewhere weigh on the world’s chest as the number of
casualties in the Russian–Ukrainian war approaches two million. As human
helplessness becomes apparent in the face of impending desertification that
threatens to leave vast swaths of our world uninhabitable, Europe, the jewel of
the world, is rearming and raising military spending decades after it was
thought to have turned that page and become an oasis of peace. With the expiry
of New START, the last remaining treaty on nuclear arms restrictions between the
United States and Russia, serious fears of an open-ended arms race return to
center stage.Accordingly, we are facing massive leaps backward that penetrate
and hinder huge leaps forward as we enter a transition period whose riddles only
conspiracy theories can claim to solve.
This seems like a long tunnel, and no light can be seen at the end of it. This
is the contemporary state of our world, and it is awaiting false prophets and
antichrists of every kind to crash down on it.
X
Platform Selected twittes for 10/2026
Dr Walid Phares
An estimated 1.75 million Lebanese have already visited Israel.
Around 750,000 Lebanese residing in Lebanon visited Israel by land between 1982
and 1985, and later between 1985 and 2000, primarily from South Lebanon.In
addition, approximately one million members of the Lebanese diaspora visited
Israel between 2000 and 2026, mostly on pilgrimage trips, traveling directly
from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Europe, and Africa.
And Hezbollah knows this.
Avi Kaner ابراهيم אבי
6–9 million people of Lebanese origin can visit Israel visa-free today - from
Brazil, the U.S., Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the UK, and Mexico.
Soon, those living in Lebanon will as well.
February 9, 2026 | "Iran: Diplomacy or War?" with Beni
Sabti
Middle East Forum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX49EuKHpOU
As U.S.–Iran talks resume in Oman, Washington faces a familiar but sharpened
dilemma: diplomacy, deterrence, or confrontation.
In this episode of the Middle East Forum Podcast, Lauri Regan speaks with Beni
Sabti, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, about
the strategic moment confronting the Islamic Republic and the United States.
Sabti examines why negotiations narrowly focused on Iran’s nuclear program fail
to address the regime’s broader missile development, regional proxy warfare, and
internal repression.
He explains how Tehran has misread recent military signals, continuing its
destabilizing behavior even after direct confrontation with Israel and the
United States. The discussion also explores Iran’s internal unrest, the regime’s
violent response to popular protests, and the limits of Western support for the
Iranian opposition. Sabti assesses the prospects for regime change, the risks
and constraints facing Israel and the United States, and whether sustained
pressure could alter Iran’s trajectory. The episode concludes with an
examination of U.S.–Israeli coordination and the strategic uncertainty shaping
Washington’s current approach.
Speaker:
Beni Sabti, Iran Expert, Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)
Host:
Lauri Regan, Middle East Forum
No protesters released as Tehran offers clemency to more
than 2,100 convicts
Euronews/February 10, 2026
rs released as Tehran offers clemency to more than 2,100 convicts
None of the people involved in recent nationwide protesters in Iran were
included among the more than 2,100 people granted pardons or reduced sentences
by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday, according to the judiciary.
The announcement comes ahead of the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on
Friday, an occasion that — along with other significant national dates — has
been marked by the ayatollah approving similar pardons in past years.
"The leader of the Islamic revolution agreed to the request by the head of the
judiciary to pardon or reduce or commute the sentences of 2,108 convicts," the
judiciary's Mizan Online website said.
However, this does not include "the defendants and convicts from the recent
riots," it said, quoting the judiciary's deputy chief Ali Mozaffari.
Protests against the cost of living broke out in Iran in late December before
evolving into nationwide anti-government demonstrations that peaked on 8 and 9
January. Authorities responded with a crackdown that killed thousands of people
and saw tens of thousands more detained. It was the bloodiest unrest since the
1979 Islamic Revolution. Tehran has said that at least 3,000 people died during
the protests, including security forces and innocent bystanders, and attributed
the violence to "terrorist acts," but activists, insiders in Iran and
international organisations have put the death toll far higher.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says it has verified
6,964 deaths, mostly protesters. The actual death toll — which remains difficult
to determine due to a Tehran-instituted media blackout in the country — is
feared to have surpassed 30,000, sources told Euronews.
Iranian security forces have launched a campaign to arrest figures within the
country's reformist movement, according to recent media reports in the country.
Detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi on Saturday received
another prison sentence of at least seven years, said a group supporting her.
The human rights activist's sentence includes six years imprisonment for
assembly and collusion against national security and up to one-and-a-half years
for propaganda against the government.
'Regime change in Iran should come from within,' former Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert says Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi sentenced to seven
additional years in prison. Local media reports quoted officials in the
reformist movement, which seeks to change Iran's theocracy from inside, as
saying at least four of their members had been arrested. It signals a widening
effort to silence anyone opposed to the bloody suppression of unrest by Iran's
theocracy as it faces new nuclear talks with the United States. US President
Donald Trump has repeatedly warned he could launch an attack on the country if
no deal is reached.