Orientul Mijlociu

As usual, Tehran will make surface-level concessions and play for time. But it will never commit to genuine counter-terrorism regulation.

Excerpt

The Islamic Republic of Iran is touting its decision to conditionally ratify the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) as a diplomatic breakthrough and a signal that Tehran is finally ready to cooperate with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In doing so, it may regain access to the global financial system. The move is nothing of the sort, and no one should buy it.

Hamas, in short, has decided to eliminate any Palestinian opposed to terrorism and supportive of coexistence with Israel.

Hamas’s actions also demonstrate that the terror group is determined to exploit the current ceasefire to reassert its control over the Gaza Strip.

The issue of centralization and decentralization in Syria is a structural issue that goes beyond intellectual debate to touch the essence of state reconstruction, defining the features of national identity and the form of governance. Centralization, although considered by some to be a guarantee of the unity of the country, experience has shown that it has deepened marginalization and weakened political participation. On the other hand, many political components view decentralization as a gateway to comprehensive institutional reform, but accelerating its adoption may threaten stability and sovereignty, especially in light of the complexities of the Syrian reality.

Gaza’s fragile ceasefire faced its first major test Sunday as Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes, saying Hamas militants had killed two soldiers, and an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory was halted.

Lavrov a suggéré qu’ils pourraient faciliter l’envoi d’aide à l’Afrique, mais il est également possible qu’ils accueillent des pourparlers militaro-diplomatiques complexes entre toutes les parties prenantes en Syrie tout en aidant ses forces armées à maintenir l’unité nationale en les rééquipant, en les formant et en les conseillant également.

ISIS remains active across the Syria–Iraq and Syria–Lebanon border belts, primarily through dispersed sleeper cells that stage low‑signature attacks to prove presence, test security responses, and cultivate new recruitment streams.

Recent field reporting and official statements point to a tactical adjustment: fewer mass‑casualty operations, more pinprick bombings, assassinations, and roadside attacks in remote terrain—especially the Syrian Badia, the Deir ez‑Zor countryside, and eastern Hasakah—along with infiltration corridors that abut Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Lebanon’s rugged frontier. Coalition and local security services warn that pressure lapses could open space for an escalation.

Forging a durable, just, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East should mimic the construction of a bridge. On one side, the architects of peace must build forward from where they stand today: negotiate a cease-fire agreement, uphold it, and point it toward a lasting settlement. On the opposite side, others must define the contours of that permanent settlement and then reverse engineer it to link up with current efforts.

For the first time in nearly four decades, Iran is on the cusp of a change of leadership—and maybe even of regime. As Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s reign nears its end, a 12-day war in June laid bare the fragility of the system he built. Israel battered Iranian cities and military installations, paving the way for the United States to drop 14 bunker-busting bombs on Iranian nuclear sites. The war exposed the enormous gulf between Tehran’s ideological bluster and the limited capabilities of a regime that has lost much of its regional power, no longer controls its skies, and exercises diminished control over its streets. At the war’s conclusion, the 86-year-old Khamenei emerged from hiding to declare victory in a raspy voice—a spectacle meant to project strength that instead underscored the regime’s frailty.