Bruno Finel

Lebanese Christian leader Samir Geagea delivered a verdict Tuesday that many Lebanese have long wanted to hear but few dared to say out loud: Hezbollah is "finished" in Lebanon,  and Iran, not the Lebanese state, will foot the bill for the destruction it caused.

Lebanon has taken the extraordinary step of declaring Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani persona non grata, ordering him to leave Lebanese territory by Sunday at the latest,  in a move that marks one of the most significant diplomatic ruptures in the two countries' modern history.

Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Iran's population has been subjected to one of the most sustained and suffocating propaganda systems in modern history. A regime built on lies requires a media built on lies,  and the Islamic Republic has constructed exactly that.

Egypt has strongly condemned on Saturday the terrorist and sabotage plots targeting the security and stability of Gulf states, most recently the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait,  following the successful dismantling of Hezbollah-linked networks in both countries.

The US Treasury announced Friday it had sanctioned a "global network diverting funds for the benefit of Hezbollah", comprising 16 individuals and entities led by Hezbollah financier and former Lebanese public investment official Alaa Hassan Hamiyé, according to Lebanese daily L'Orient Le Jour.

The Israeli military announced Friday the elimination of Ismail Ahmadi, identified as the "chief of the Basij intelligence branch », killed overnight in the latest wave of Israeli airstrikes against Iran.

The Trump administration is actively considering plans to occupy or blockade Iran's Kharg Island, the country's most critical oil export terminal, as leverage to force Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported Friday, citing four sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations.

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi has broken with diplomatic convention to accuse the United States of being "dragged into war" by Israel, at a moment when a nuclear deal was, in his words, "genuinely within reach."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi declared Wednesday that Tehran had "no intention of returning to the pre-war status quo" regarding the Strait of Hormuz, signaling that Iran views the world's most critical energy chokepoint as a permanent bargaining chip.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is devastated. Absolutely beside himself. On Tuesday, he took to the podium in Ankara to condemn Israel's "illegal political assassinations" of Iranian "statesmen and politicians."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Tuesday that Ali Larijani, Iran's security chief, had been killed in an Israeli strike. Tehran has not confirmed or denied the claim.

Drive through the main arteries of South Lebanon today and the landscape tells a story that Beirut's government would rather not acknowledge: this is not Lebanon. This is Hezbollah's territory — and it looks like an Iranian province.