Mena Today

The United States and Iran on Friday appeared to have sharply different understandings of the contents of an emerging pact to end their war, though both sides signalled that an agreement was close.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has delivered a stinging assessment of Iran's role in his country's affairs, telling the British daily The Times that Tehran's rejection of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire agreement was not merely a political stance,  it was a deliberate signal that Iran considers itself the ultimate decision-maker in Lebanon.

Hezbollah is confident that Iran will insist on Lebanon being included in a deal with the United States, a leading Hezbollah politician said on Friday, as hopes grew for an agreement between Tehran and Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump denied on Friday that the United States has made major concessions to Iran and a senior U.S. official called an emerging pact "performance-based" with Tehran getting no frozen assets until its part of the agreement is fulfilled. 

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has moved to quash speculation about a potential Syrian military intervention in Lebanon, insisting that his country's approach is aimed at ending the war there, not extending it.

Somaliland has a right to choose its own relationships and pressure tactics from Beijing and Mogadishu have not succeeded in altering its friendship with Taipei, its top diplomat in Taiwan said on Friday at the opening of a new office.

Hopes grew on Friday for peace between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump said a deal could be signed as soon as this weekend, even as Tehran said it had not made a final decision on a pact. 

France is hosting a conference Friday bringing together civil society groups and foreign ministers from dozens of countries to push for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the UN-backed New York Declaration on Palestinian statehood.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said the United States and Iran could sign a peace deal as soon as this weekend that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, but Iran countered that it had not reached a final decision on an agreement.

Slovenia's government has revoked a 2025 decision banning the export and transit of weapons and military equipment to Israel, as well as most arms imports from the country, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

The team of the ousted leader of Turkey's main opposition, Ozgur Ozel, has resigned from the party's assembly, his office said on Thursday, adding that the move should legally trigger an extraordinary congress to re-elect a chairman.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to take over Kharg Island, Iran's oil infrastructure hub. Analysts say the U.S. military could seize the island quickly, but the move could leave U.S. troops in great peril and prolong rather than shorten the war.