BEIRUT — Residents of Beirut’s heavily populated southern suburbs began returning to their homes on Friday following the entry into force of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, brokered under the auspices of United States President Donald Trump, who announced on Thursday that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed…
The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued a new general licence authorising the delivery, sale, and offloading of Russian crude oil and petroleum products that were loaded onto vessels on or before 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on 17 April 2026. The authorisation, which supersedes the previous General Licence…
The collapse of the New START treaty framework, combined with sustained United States military pressure on Venezuela and Iran, is generating powerful incentives for a growing number of nations to pursue nuclear weapons as instruments of sovereign self-defence, according to Russian economist and Professor Alexander Dynkin. Speaking to Sputnik, Professor Dynkin identified six so-called threshold…
The White House has refused to disclose to United States senators the financial cost of its ongoing military campaign against Iran, with budget director Russell Vought declining to provide any concrete figures to lawmakers, citing the volatile and difficult-to-assess nature of the expenditure. When pressed on reports that the conflict may have already cost tens…
Global oil markets face a prolonged period of violent price swings, oscillating between $95 and $120 per barrel, as the United States–Iran standoff deepens and diplomatic efforts continue to falter, according to Kyle Shostak, Director of Navigator Principal Investors. Speaking to RIA Novosti, Shostak offered a blunt assessment of the geopolitical calculus underpinning Washington’s strategy:…
MOSCOW — The United States has shown no interest in Russia’s proposal to receive enriched uranium from Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to reporters on Thursday, even as Moscow reaffirmed its readiness to serve as a custodian of Iranian nuclear material in a bid to ease mounting tensions over Tehran’s nuclear programme. “Now this…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared on Friday that no concrete initiatives for resolving the Ukrainian conflict are currently on the table, delivering a sobering assessment of the stalled diplomatic process at a press conference following a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Foreign Ministers. “We have informed our colleagues about…
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz has been declared fully open to all commercial shipping for the duration of the Lebanon ceasefire, marking a significant de-escalatory gesture amid an ongoing conflict that has claimed thousands of Iranian lives. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for…
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy has announced a new regulatory order governing transit through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically critical maritime chokepoints, effective immediately following the Lebanon ceasefire and the current battlefield pause in the broader regional conflict. Under the newly enacted rules, civilian vessels are permitted to…
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has issued a sweeping rejection of statements made by the United States president regarding the Strait of Hormuz, declaring that the American leader made “seven claims in one hour, all of which are false.” The remarks represent one of Tehran’s most direct and unequivocal rebuttals of Washington’s narrative surrounding…