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Ever since the United States adopted a policy of sanctions and economic pressure on Iran, negotiations between the two parties have made no progress. The visit of Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdulrahman Al Thani to Tehran on Thursday aimed to revive these talks, particularly with a view to facilitating smoother passage through the Strait of Hormuz. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi skillfully seized on the visit to make a cautious overture toward the United States. Posting a photo with the Qatari official on his X account, he accompanied it with a message stating that returning to the negotiating table "is not impossible."

“Blessed are the peacemakers.” Perhaps no phrase better captures what Lebanon needs today than the one Pope Leo XIV carried with him during his visit to Lebanon and made a central message to the Lebanese people. His visit came to a country exhausted by wars, crises, and divisions, placing peace at the heart of Lebanon’s public discourse, not as surrender or concession, but as an act, a responsibility, and a project for the future. Yet Lebanon’s paradox is that we, who have lived through so much war, have sometimes come to fear the very word “peace.” Why? Why must a Lebanese justify calling for peace? And why do some feel that merely using the word can put them in the dock, as though they had relinquished their rights, accepted surrender, sought normalization, or abandoned the cause?

The escalating tensions in Lebanon, Gaza, the Red Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz are fueling fears of a scenario that Iran and its allies have already employed before: a series of military provocations that would gradually intensify to counter the American economic D-Day. The Israeli military says it is preparing for a possible "multi-front flare-up," on the eve of a series of Jewish holidays beginning on September 11. While Iran is careful not to provoke Israel directly—to avoid a retaliation that would cost it dearly—it would not hesitate to encourage its allies to act as troublemakers, should the American economic vice tighten further around it.

How does one speak of a man who loathed making noise? Who shunned grand gestures and every form of display, even though his brilliance and nobility, much to his own chagrin, were locked in thoroughly unfair competition with his extreme modesty? The task is particularly difficult. All the more so because the man himself, never fond of the media, interviews, honors or public exposure, would have disapproved of the rather perilous exercise undertaken by the author of these lines. And yet it is precisely because Sheikh Michel el-Khoury, who passed away on July 4, 2026, just shy of one hundred, had chosen the path of silence and discretion, faithful to his leitmotif that “one must serve rather than serve oneself,” with the state and its primacy taking precedence over everything else, that speaking of him now seems absolutely necessary, at a time when Lebanon is undergoing such profound decay. All the more so because his vision of Lebanon and of its role remains more relevant than ever.

In Damascus, Tuesday evening's announcement by the leader of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of the group's dissolution and the integration of its fighters into the Syrian army remains a landmark event due to its highly symbolic significance. It speaks to President Ahmad al-Sharaa's determination to rebuild a state capable of embracing all Syrian communities and ethnic groups — some of which, like the Kurds, had eventually developed their own institutions. This is precisely what the Turkish presidency noted on Wednesday, stating that "at this stage, the dissolution of the SDF represents an important step toward stability in Syria."

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump rightly drew attention to an aspect of the war in Iran that some Western political leaders and media outlets have conspicuously overlooked: the humanitarian dimension of the Iranian crisis, and, more specifically, the murderous and appalling conduct of certain power centers within the ruling establishment in Tehran. As part of their campaign of repression and coercion, they have resorted to the near-daily execution and public hanging from cranes of schoolchildren, teenagers under 18 and young university students, seeking to terrorize the population and create an atmosphere of fear designed to suppress any attempt at a popular uprising.