Wall Street Journal: Until now, the Trump administration hadn’t asked Israel to tone down any of its campaigns against Hezbollah, the U.S.-designated terrorist group that operates from Lebanon with Iranian support. But Trump was concerned that the fighting could undermine the cease-fire and efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. official said, as both Iran and cease-fire mediator Pakistan complained that Israel’s Lebanon war was a truce violation..
Israel Agrees to Talks With Lebanon but Keeps Striking Hezbollah
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel vowed on Thursday to continue striking Hezbollah in Lebanon, hours after he appeared to make a concession by saying his country would start talks with the Lebanese government about trying to disarm the Iran-backed paramilitary group.
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have put immense strain on the shaky two-day-old cease-fire in the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, and further complicated tense relations between Washington and its NATO allies. The United States and Israel have said that Lebanon was not included in the cease-fire, while Iran said it was and several leaders of NATO countries insist it must be part of the truce…
NATO Labors to Avoid Becoming Another Casualty of the Iran War
President Trump is citing the unwillingness of European nations to back the United States in the conflict as another reason to scale back or abandon the alliance. And he still wants Greenland…
Trump vented at Rutte over NATO inaction on Iran during turbulent meeting
“It went shit,” said the first European official. “The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.” Trump “apparently threatened to do just about anything.”
That official and the person familiar with the matter said Trump also signaled he was considering options for reprisals, but didn’t go into detail…
What Trump’s blowup with Rutte was really about
The president’s tirade against NATO chief Mark Rutte stemmed from his frustration that allies wouldn’t let the U.S. access military bases for attacks against Iran…
Trump Warns Iran Against Collecting Tolls in the Strait of Hormuz
President Trump said Iran is “doing a very poor job” of letting oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz and warned the country against collecting tolls from ships traveling through the strategic waterway. An Iranian lawmaker said earlier that Tehran was charging some ships $2 million. About 20% of the world’s oil is transported through the strait…
Israel Complicates Trump’s Push for Peace With Iran
Mr. Netanyahu cares far more about the presence of Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon than about the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran militarized in response to the war, while Mr. Trump’s overriding priority appears to be allowing oil to pass through the waterway.
Mr. Netanyahu sees Iran’s regime as vulnerable and would prefer not to let up military or economic pressure on Tehran. Mr. Trump appears eager to conclude a war that has spiked gas prices, troubled his supporters and threatened his political standing…
Netanyahu Can’t Stop Fighting. But Is He Winning the War?
Netanyahu positioned himself as Israel’s warrior king after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and has kept up the fight for more than 2½ years. Israel has won battle after battle, sometimes in spectacular fashion. It has hit Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group with everything from airstrikes and ground assaults to exploding pagers.
But for many in Israel, fatigue is growing over living in a constant state of war, and there is mounting criticism that despite the success on the battlefield the country hasn’t yet won the war…
Iran Shows You Don’t Have to Be a Superpower to Wage Economic Warfare
With Tehran’s chokehold on the strait Iran joins U.S., China as countries that weaponize economic pinch-points…
Iran’s Battered Leaders Emerge From War Confident — and With New Cards
For Iran’s theocratic rulers, just surviving the U.S.-Israeli onslaught means victory. But the seeds of their next crisis may already be planted…
How Iran’s Information War Machine Operates Online
In late March, Iran circulated a shaky video supposedly showing an American F/A-18 under attack. Iranian officials claimed they had destroyed the jet, though the Pentagon denied that. The video quickly earned millions of views online, demonstrating how Iran has exploited the global media ecosystem to propagate an image of military prowess…
Why Gulf Nations Would Bear the Brunt of Hormuz Tolls
Economists say that a $1-a-barrel toll would have little impact on oil prices or the world economy. Since oil is a globally priced commodity, producers in the Persian Gulf, such as Kuwait and the U.A.E., couldn’t simply add a surcharge because in the longer term they compete with oil from regions that don’t have to pay the toll, such as the U.S. That means Gulf producers would need to eat the cost.
This fact could make a toll more likely as an outcome of the cease-fire talks that are set to start this weekend, said Guntram Wolff, economics professor at Belgium’s Université Libre de Bruxelles. “This could be the mother of all deals.”…
Trump Lashes Out at Prominent Conservatives Over Iran War Criticism
In a lengthy social media post, the president attacked Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and others in starkly personal terms. He also criticized the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal…
White House Warns Staff Not to Place Bets on Prediction Markets Amid Iran War
The warning came in a staff-wide email from the White House Management Office on March 24, according to people familiar with the matter. The day before, Trump had announced the pause via Truth Social. About 15 minutes before the sudden shift in policy, a mysterious flurry of activity kicked off in the futures markets…
Iran ceasefire undercuts Benjamin Netanyahu’s election pitch
“Three years after October 7, Hamas rules Gaza, Hizbollah rules Lebanon, and instead of an 86-year-old Khamenei ruling Iran, a 56-year-old Khamenei rules Iran,” said Yair Lapid, head of the largest opposition grouping, Yesh Atid, referring to the Islamic republic’s supreme leaders. “For the thousandth time, it has been proven: military force without a diplomatic plan does not lead to decisive victory.”…
North Sea oil prices hit record high as Iran keeps hold over Strait of Hormuz
Forties Blend, a marker for oil for immediate delivery, hit almost $147 a barrel on Thursday, above the highs reached on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis as traders scrap for oil cargoes to replace huge volumes now trapped in the Gulf, according to LSEG data.
The physical barrels from the North Sea were trading far above the $97 price of Brent, the international benchmark, for delivery in June — another sign of fear of shortages in the oil market…
Trump officials deny threatening Vatican over Pope Leo’s criticisms
The Trump administration is trying to calm a furore over claims it threatened Pope Leo XIV’s ambassador to Washington in an effort to pressure the Vatican to fall in line behind Washington’s military policies…
After Trump pauses war, Iranians fly flags of victory, not surrender
“As of now, I see a return to the war as a more likely outcome than a meaningful settlement,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House, a London think tank.
“This is a breather,” Vakil said. “All sides are approaching this with a degree of skepticism, really, because the positions and the demands are very maximalist, and it’s very hard to see where compromises can be found in a two-week time frame.”…
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Now would be a great time to send US ambassadors to the Middle East
A deal or a mirage? Trump’s Iran ceasefire collides with chaos on the ground