Today's Essential

US President Donald Trump increased pressure on Tehran by threatening Iran with total destruction. "The entire country could be destroyed in a single night, and that night could well be tomorrow (Tuesday)", the American president said during a press conference. Trump had set a Tuesday evening ultimatum before bombing energy infrastructure in Iran. He stated that he was not "worried" about the risk of committing war crimes when a journalist questioned him about his threat to destroy power plants. « The "war crime" would be to let Iran acquire nuclear weapons », the president retorted, referring to the mullahs' regime's repression of demonstrations: "They kill protesters. They are animals". However, the world had hoped for de-escalation after reports of mediation by third countries. But Iranians and Americans almost simultaneously rejected truce offers on Monday, with President Trump nonetheless hailing a "very significant" step in the conflict. The White House confirmed that mediating countries had proposed a 45-day cessation of hostilities, adding that Donald Trump had not "validated" this idea. "It's not good enough yet, but it's a very significant step," the American president himself said during an exchange with journalists on the sidelines of an Easter ceremony at the White House. Donald Trump also stated that "if it were up to him," he would seize Iranian oil but added that "unfortunately, Americans would want us to go home." "They are stupid," he replied to the journalist who asked him what he thought of the opposition of a majority of Americans to the conflict, confirmed in all polls. According to the American news website Axios, Turkish, Egyptian, and Pakistani mediators discussed a two-phase proposal: a 45-day ceasefire to first allow negotiations, before leading to an agreement to end the war, which began on February 28. Meanwhile, the Iranian news agency Irna stated that Tehran had rejected a ceasefire proposal, whose content was not specified, brought by Pakistan. Trump's latest demands focused on a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial choke point for global oil and gas trade, now de facto controlled by Iran. He had, however, previously stated several times that the fate of the strait was indifferent to him and insisted that he would make the decision to conclude military operations or not, independently of any negotiation. Two Iranian petrochemical complexes hit On the ground, two Iranian petrochemical complexes were struck. According to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, "about half of the country's petrochemical production" was destroyed. The Iranian news agency Fars reported "several explosions" at this gigantic site, which also houses the country's largest gas facility. These Israeli strikes are strategically essential because Iran produces a portion of the solid fuel used in missile manufacturing there. Western intelligence agencies reported the arrival, in Iranian ports located before the Strait of Hormuz, of several shipments of chemical precursors used in the missile industry, originating from China. In addition to infrastructure, Iranian leaders were targeted : the Revolutionary Guards announced that their intelligence chief, Majid Khademi, had been killed. The Israeli army also announced on Sunday that it had eliminated the commander of the special operations unit of Iran's Quds Force, the branch responsible for the Guards' external operations, during a strike in Tehran. In Lebanon, new information regarding the strike that targeted an apartment in Ain Saadeh reported the presence of a tenant for a few days preceding the attack. Investigators found a revolver and water bottles on site. Other media, citing a Lebanese army statement, had announced that the apartment was uninhabited. Executions continue in Iran On another front, Iran on Monday hanged another man sentenced to death in connection with the January protests, as executions of individuals considered by NGOs to be political prisoners multiply amidst the war against Israel and the United States. Seven men had been sentenced to death in February. Four of them, including teenagers, have since been executed, leaving the other three exposed to an imminent risk of execution, according to NGOs. After an initial pause following the outbreak of war on February 28, Iranian authorities executed several political prisoners, according to the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR). IHR states that the accused were "subjected to torture and deprived of access to a lawyer," then sentenced to death after an expedited, "grossly unfair" trial, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati. This judge was sanctioned in 2019 by the United States, which claims he is known as the "judge of death" due to his frequent use of capital punishment. "These executions are part of the Islamic Republic's survival strategy, which is waging a war against its own people in the shadow of an external conflict," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. "The international community must react urgently. The situation of prisoners and the regime's systematic use of the death penalty must become a central condition for any negotiation or engagement with the Islamic Republic," he added. For Amnesty International, these executions show that the judicial system is "a tool of repression, sending individuals to the gallows to sow fear and take revenge on those who demand fundamental political change."

It was, of course, to be expected… Wielding the threat of a deluge of fire that could soon fall upon Iranian strategic infrastructure, President Donald Trump reminded the leaders of the Islamic Republic that the last 10-day deadline he had given them to endorse the 15-point plan presented by Washington expires in 48 hours (i.e., Monday) or to ensure free maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. “Iran has 48 hours before facing hell,” President Trump declared. Saturday evening, April 4, no indication yet allowed for forecasting a possible breakthrough capable of avoiding a large-scale escalation in military operations, but last-minute twists are obviously not to be excluded in this kind of situation. The Revolutionary Guard Corps reiterated its firm position on Saturday, stating that it was not willing to meet American negotiators “in the coming days,” asserting, in any event, that the American demands (formulated in the fifteen-point plan) are “unacceptable.” The coming days will tell whether this is a matter of principle to strengthen the Iranian negotiator’s position or if, on the contrary, this attitude truly reflects an intransigent line of conduct based on a rigid ideological foundation whose essence is to go all the way in the standoff engaged with the United States, and the West in general. The question that also arises in this context is to what extent the Pasdaran have become the sole masters of the situation in Iran and to what extent the camp described as “moderate” and “pragmatic” has lost all influence on the internal scene, under the overwhelming weight of the radicals. At the American level, the brief statement made on Saturday by President Trump encourages reflection and can open the door to all sorts of speculation. The head of the White House indeed gave the mullahs’ regime 48 hours to “conclude an agreement” (the fifteen-point plan) or restore free circulation in the Strait of Hormuz. The “ or” makes all the difference… Does this mean that the White House would be content with this last point to end the war? In which case – very unlikely, but in such a context nothing is truly impossible – President Trump would have abandoned his repeatedly proclaimed objectives, concerning the nuclear program, the ballistic arsenal, and the abandonment of destabilizing regional expansionism, maintained through proxies subservient to the Revolutionary Guards. Therefore, apart from a total capitulation of the government in Tehran – also unlikely – it would be hard to imagine President Trump resolving to end military operations on the basis of a lame solution that would not resolve any of the disputes underlying this war and which, by that very fact, would maintain the roots of evil and plunge, in the more or less short term, the region and the international community into a new acute existential crisis, or even a new armed conflict. Late on Saturday evening, certain sources indicated that Washington had informed Tel Aviv that contacts with the Islamic Republic were at an impasse. As if to confirm this information, official Israeli sources affirmed that the US Administration could give its green light “this week” to strikes against energy facilities, which would represent a very severe blow to the Iranian economy, and by rebound to the regime in power. Major industry already targeted While awaiting the expiration of this deadline set by the US president, developments in military operations currently indicate that the balance is clearly, distinctly, tilting towards escalation. Proof of this is that American and Israeli air forces have targeted a highly strategic sector in the last forty-eight hours that they had been careful to spare since the beginning of the war, namely heavy industry. Important petrochemical infrastructures have thus been heavily bombed and damaged. This is particularly the case for the large petrochemical complex in the Ahwaz region which, according to various sources, provides no less than 70 percent of the Iranian market's needs for gasoline and fuels. The blows dealt to this vital sector will have a disastrous impact on the Iranian economy as a whole, which has already been going through a critical phase for several months. At the same time, the Israeli air force raged on Friday night to Saturday against the military, strategic, and administrative installations of the vast Revolutionary Guards apparatus in the Tehran region. The escalation in raids also reached steel complexes, which constitute another vital part of the Iranian economy. A notable fact in this context: Iranian posts on the border with Iraq were bombed by Israeli aviation. Alongside these military operations, US special forces continued their search throughout Saturday day and evening for the second pilot of the F-15 aircraft that had been shot down at the end of the week. Elite units have been deployed in Iranian territory as part of these rescue efforts and have been operating deep inside Iran for two days without being in the least bothered by any hostile force, which speaks volumes about the state of the armed and security units of the Islamic Republic. New raids against the southern suburbs On the Lebanese front, the Israeli army indicated on Saturday that its air force had bombed Hezbollah infrastructures in the southern suburbs as well as positions of “the Lebanon brigade, within the Jerusalem brigade.” It is only since the middle of last week that this “Lebanon brigade” within the “Jerusalem brigade,” which constitutes the armed wing of the Pasdaran in the Middle East, has been openly discussed. Concomitant with the raids against the southern suburbs, the Israeli air force particularly focused its bombings on Saturday on certain important localities in West Beqaa, a new hotspot on the “Lebanese front” which risks being soon at the center of Israeli operations, in parallel with the southern area.

All attention remains focused on this new phase towards which the region seems resolutely to be heading, given Tehran's clear refusal to initiate a dialogue with Washington, based solely on the conditions set by the Trump administration for a halt to the military offensive launched on February 28. It must be said that nothing official has been announced on this subject so far by the Islamic Republic, whose leaders have already indicated that Washington's 15-point proposal is unworkable and excessive, and that they themselves have conditions for a dialogue. Among these conditions are, notably, an end to targeted attacks and assassinations in Iran, as well as solemn guarantees that the offensive will not resume. Tehran would also demand respect for “Iranian sovereignty” over the Strait of Hormuz, which it presents as a “right”. Barring a last-minute turnaround by Sunday, the deadline set by President Donald Trump for Tehran to respond to his proposal - before American and Israeli air forces begin targeting Iranian infrastructure, particularly energy-related - the situation appears to be a total stalemate, leaving the field open to all speculation about the course of events. This stalemate is again reinforced by the words of the American president who, on his social network, Truth Social, on Friday, downplayed the importance of Tehran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while implying that a reopening by force remains possible. “With a little more time, we can easily open the Strait of Hormuz, take the oil, and make a fortune. It would be a real ‘manna‘ for the world”, he wrote. Facing Iran's refusal to back down, the Gulf countries had seized the United Nations Security Council, calling on it to give its green light to the reopening of the Strait. This body was supposed to meet on Friday to work on the request of the Gulf monarchies and, to that end, vote on a Bahraini draft resolution authorizing the use of force, but under certain conditions. However, the meeting was postponed due to the absence of a consensus on the matter. Tehran had warned against this vote, cautioning that it would only complicate an already very complicated situation. The Islamic Republic thus remains totally indifferent to the threats hanging over it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that “Tel Aviv will continue its attacks against the Iranian regime, in coordination with Washington”, specifying that his army had destroyed “70% of Iran's steel production capacity,” with its two largest steel mills halted. “This is a considerable achievement that deprives the Revolutionary Guards of both financial resources and the ability to produce many weapons”, he declared. On this day, April 3, the exchange of threats via media sources intensified, while the field remains marked by violent Israeli-American strikes on various targets particularly related to the development of Tehran's ballistic and nuclear arsenal, as well as by the continued Iranian firing against Israel and the Gulf countries. The Islamic Republic continues to target civilian infrastructure there. A power plant and a water desalination plant in Kuwait thus suffered significant damage after being directly hit by Iranian missiles, while in Abu Dhabi, missile debris that was intercepted temporarily put out of service the Habshan gas facilities, particularly due to a fire they caused. A F-15 Shot Down in Iran A significant event of the day, on the ground, remains the crash of an American F-15 fighter jet, shot down by the air defense system. This is the first time since the beginning of the war that Tehran has managed to shoot down an American warplane. According to the Iranian news agency Fars, quoted by AFP, the Iranian army has launched searches to find the pilot who reportedly managed to eject from the aircraft. Iranian television, for its part, announced a reward for whoever finds him alive, while according to the al-Hadath media, the American air force was conducting a sustained sweeping and search operation. Meanwhile, Israel also continues to blow hot and cold regarding Lebanon. According to the Jerusalem Post, citing an Israeli military source, the Tel Aviv army reportedly recognized that its goal of disarming Hezbollah is unrealistic, “as it would require launching a full-scale invasion of the country, which it will not do”. According to this media, the main challenge to disarming Hezbollah lies “in the stocks of self-propelled rockets scattered north of the Litani River”. “Israeli divisions deployed in Lebanon are expected to complete the takeover of territories located eight to ten kilometers from the border with Israel during the next week. This advance aims to reduce Hezbollah's ability to fire anti-tank missiles into Israel and to increase the warning time for missile launches from Lebanon”, the Israeli newspaper states, adding that the Israeli war cabinet is expected to decide next week on the continuation of its operation in Lebanon, with the disarmament of Hezbollah being “a major military priority”, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reaffirmed on Friday, at a time when Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that he plans “to further extend the security zone in southern Lebanon”. Israel Katz again recalled that his country dissociates the Lebanese and Iranian issues and that for now the important thing is to ensure the security of northern Israel. In this perspective, the Israeli army continued to establish a buffer zone by blowing up homes in border villages. Yesterday, it blew up several dwellings in Aïta el-Chaab. The explosions were heard as far as Tyre. It also blew up two bridges between Sohmor and Machghara, in the Beqaa, as part of its strategy to disrupt the transfer of weapons and ammunition to the south of the Litani, whose residents were again ordered on Friday to move north. The same evacuation warning was addressed by the Israeli army to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut. Also on Friday, the Israeli army announced it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon and “eliminated” approximately 1,000 Hezbollah fighters in one month, alongside its ground offensive in the south of the country.

The ten-day deadline Washington had given Tehran to respond to the fifteen conditions for a cessation of hostilities expires on Sunday, with no concrete sign of a possible de-escalation on the horizon. Positions, on the contrary, seem to be hardening, as the United States and Iran sharpen their weapons in anticipation of a possible new phase of the military conflict and confusion still reigns regarding possible talks between the two states. The violent reaction of the Islamic Republic to President Donald Trump's eagerly awaited speech to Americans on Wednesday evening, coupled with counter-threats, reveals the difficulty of the mission undertaken by mediators to push the two main belligerents to initiate a dialogue. At the heart of the standoff remains this constant in the form of a question: what should be established first, dialogue or a ceasefire? Iran, which is not hostile to the principle of dialogue, but which rejected Washington's 15 conditions, deeming them excessive and unachievable, continues to demand that the United States end its offensive, which President Trump again rejected on Wednesday. The tone has thus risen again between the two. In Washington, where preparations are being made strenuously for a ground offensive that could be the grand finale articulated around the control of strategic Iranian sites, there is a promise to "bring Iran back to the Stone Age," in the absence of an agreement, while Tehran brandishes the threat of "devastating" attacks against the United States and Israel. Donald Trump thus announced to Americans in his speech, on Wednesday night, that the strikes, which he deemed necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, would not cease anytime soon. He recalled in this regard the "decisive" victories recorded, emphasizing that he is "close to achieving" his objectives in Iran, "We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the Stone Age where they belong," he launched. He again threatened to attack Iranian energy infrastructure, stating that in the absence of an agreement, the United States would "hit each of their power plants very hard and probably simultaneously." Washington had decided to postpone these attacks pending Tehran's response to its 15 conditions. Enriched uranium The American president did not elaborate on possible talks, reaffirming what he repeatedly states on the subject, namely that it is the Iranians who wish to engage in dialogue and that they themselves have called for a ceasefire, which the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quick to deny. He also refrained from mentioning a possible deployment of ground troops, a very unpopular prospect in the United States. Donald Trump briefly mentioned the issue of Iran's enriched uranium reserves, assuring that they were very deeply buried, implying that satellite surveillance would suffice for the time being. He also quickly touched on the subject that worries Americans and has caused him to slump in polls for a month: the surge in gasoline prices. This is, according to him, a "short-term" phenomenon. The American economy has "never been stronger," he reassured. Donald Trump also recalled that the United States, an oil exporter, did not depend on supplies transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, blocked by Iran. Meeting around Hormuz The countries suffering from the blocking of this strategic maritime route must "deal with it," he declared, while promising not to "abandon" his Gulf allies. He did not reiterate his virulent attacks against NATO, particularly European countries, which, however, risk being forced to intervene to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's main lever in its standoff with the United States. In this context, it should be noted that the foreign ministers of some forty countries, including Japan, held a virtual meeting on Thursday to discuss the closure of this essential artery for international trade, over which Tehran threatens to exercise total control by imposing transit fees. During these exchanges, the head of British diplomacy, Yvette Cooper, announced another meeting, to be held at the military level to discuss joint action aimed at ensuring a lasting reopening of the strait and the security of oil tankers and cargo ships, once the war is over, without specifying which countries would be represented. France, for example, remains firmly opposed to a military operation for this purpose. Its president, Emmanuel Macron, on a state visit to Seoul, thus described any military operation to unblock the Hormuz passage as "unrealistic." "It is never the option we have chosen," he commented, believing that it risks "taking an infinite amount of time" and would involve "numerous risks." Except that, while waiting for a hypothetical unblocking, fuel prices continue to soar, affecting the entire international economy. Intensification of strikes Another lever of pressure for Iran is the attacks against Gulf countries, which intensified after Donald Trump's speech, simultaneously with coordinated missile strikes against Israel. This intensification of strikes, which continued throughout Thursday, followed Iranian threats of "devastating" attacks against the United States and Israel, subsequent to the American president's address. The operational commander of the Iranian army assured, in a statement broadcast by state television, that this war would continue until the "humiliation" of Iran's enemies. Its proxies remain fully engaged in this same strategy, totally indifferent to its consequences for the countries from which they originate. This is notably the case of Hezbollah which, like Iran, simultaneously intensified its strikes against northern Israel on Wednesday night into Thursday and throughout Thursday. This increase in cross-border violence in the south prompted Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz to address his threats directly to Hezbollah leader Naïm Qassem, "and his colleagues who will pay the price for launching rockets into Israel during the Jewish Passover." "We will purify southern Lebanon of Hezbollah and its supporters and pluck the fangs of this snake throughout Lebanon," he further threatened while his army proceeded to destroy homes in the border area. Salam's declaration On the Lebanese political front, at the end of the Council of Ministers which he chaired in the morning, the head of the Lebanese government, Nawaf Salam, denounced the scorched-earth policy applied by Israel in southern Lebanon to establish a buffer zone, but he simultaneously criticized the adventure into which the pro-Iranian faction had dragged the country, "which has become the theater of other people's wars," with an excessively high human, social, material, and economic cost. "Nothing should consecrate a link between the conflict on our territory and the wars of others, in which we have no interest, including military operations announced as joint and coordinated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard," he stigmatized, emphasizing that his government is striving to extricate the country from this war by political and diplomatic means.

Once again, public opinion and the populations of the Levant, and the Middle East in general, are confronted with a cascade of contradictory statements and indiscretions leaked to the media, concerning the evolution of the war launched on February 28 in the region. President Donald Trump thus reaffirmed this Wednesday, April 1 st , the existence in Tehran of a «new regime», indicating that the «president of this new power has just asked us for a ceasefire». « We will decide on the expediency of this ceasefire when the Strait of Hormuz is reopened to free maritime circulation, President Trump declared. Otherwise, we will continue to bomb the infrastructure in order to bring Iran back to the Stone Age ». The optimistic remarks of the White House chief about the positive attitude of the « president of the new Iranian regime » that has emerged in Iran « and who proves to be smarter than his predecessors » were, however, denied by official sources in Tehran. A statement attributed to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs thus categorically denied any request for a ceasefire that would have been presented to President Trump. For his part, the Vice-President of the Iranian Parliament affirmed that « the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, and no negotiations are underway on this matter ». These contradictory positions raise several questions: is President Trump displaying measured optimism to make the Iranian regime assume responsibility for a forthcoming escalation in military operations, which would take the form of a landing or targeted, punctual commando operations? Does a « more Cartesian new regime » truly exist that would have emerged in Tehran? Is the current power in Tehran seriously shaken by a deep divide between a pragmatic wing and a radical current represented by the Pasdaran? Only tangible facts and developments in military operations will provide fragments of answers to these questions. It remains that some parameters are far from supporting the thesis of the emergence of a « new regime in Tehran », as demonstrated by the savage repression targeting Iranian opponents and the executions of political prisoners that continue without respite. Furthermore, new American reinforcements have been sent to the region, including several thousand Marines and paratroopers, which tends to highlight the fact that the general climate among the real decision-makers in Iran remains largely bellicose. Military operations In any event, raids, bombardments (by naval units) and missile launches continued on a large scale on Wednesday. American and Israeli air forces resumed their intensive raids in the areas of Tehran and Isfahan, targeting strategic, military and industrial infrastructure. In the late afternoon on Wednesday, unconfirmed reports even mentioned the deployment of large American B-52 bombers. On Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, a significant Israeli attack, by sea, hit a convoy of cars in the Jnah suburb, a neighborhood not usually targeted by raids. The toll of this strike is particularly heavy, no less than seven killed and more than 25 wounded according to the latest assessment from the Ministry of Health. The identity of the targeted person was only communicated at midday by the Israeli army, specifying that it was Youssef Hachem, a senior Hezbollah official, responsible for the Southern front and for launching rockets and drones towards northern Israel. Hezbollah only confirmed the information several hours later. This seasoned fighter, who has some forty years of militia activities to his credit in the ranks of the party of God, played an essential role in the restructuring of the party's armed wing, following the 2024 debacle. Hezbollah also announced the death of another of its officials, Mohammad Baqer al-Naboulsi, in the same strike. He is probably the other « high-ranking fighter » in the pro-Iranian militia, whom the Israeli army announced it had killed in the same convoy. The other assassination of the day (related to Lebanon), announced by the Israeli army on its X account on Wednesday, is that of « Mahdi Vafaei, head of the engineering branch of the Lebanese Quds Force in the Mahallat region, Iran ». « Vafaei carried out underground projects (tunnels) in Lebanon and Syria, leading efforts to set up and manage underground terrorist infrastructure sites for Hezbollah and the Assad regime », the former Damascus regime having fallen in December 2024, an Israeli statement indicates. The IDF claimed another strike south of Beirut, in the locality of Khalde, at dawn, which left two dead and three wounded. The Hadeth neighborhood in the southern suburbs of the capital was also targeted by powerful strikes at dawn on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in South Lebanon, fighting continues to rage and Israeli advances are ongoing, while the Israeli army and Defense Minister, Israel Katz, continue to threaten Lebanon with a broader occupation. On the ground, the only villages not yet fully evacuated, mainly Christian, are more than ever caught up in the war following the « redeployment » of the Lebanese army, criticized for having withdrawn in the face of Israeli advances and for having abandoned the residents who are resisting in their villages. In response to these criticisms on Wednesday, the Lebanese army explained that its repositioning aimed to avoid any encirclement and isolation of its supply routes, assuring that it maintained patrols in the villages concerned. A measure that could reassure populations living in growing anguish, cut off from the outside world. European statement on UNIFIL On the other hand, the targeting of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) continues to cause waves among European countries, which contribute to the peacekeeping force. A statement from the European Union « strongly condemns the recent attacks against UNIFIL contingents, which inexplicably caused casualties among peacekeepers ». The statement calls for calm, expresses solidarity with Lebanon, and holds Hezbollah responsible for this new war. For her part, the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Alice Rufo went to Lebanon to « express her solidarity and support for Lebanese sovereignty ». She also testified to « France's solidarity with the Indonesian UNIFIL soldiers, who lost three of their own during attacks on March 29 and 30, 2026 ». No mention of the attacker's identity, the Israeli army. From Khamenei to Qassem And it is in this tense climate, both on the Lebanese and Iranian fronts, that a statement attributed to Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, invisible since the start of the conflict, reaffirms the Islamic Republic's support for Hezbollah and its Secretary-General, Naïm Qassem, who is just as invisible as the former as he preferred to communicate these last two speeches in writing. Amidst the Israeli advance in South Lebanon, and against the backdrop of a toll of over 1300 deaths since the beginning of this conflict opened to avenge his father's death - to use Hezbollah's terms - Mojtaba Khamenei congratulated Qassem's party for its actions, assuring it of Iran's continued support and asking it to continue thwarting Israeli plans. Other allies of Iran, the Houthis of Yemen, are increasingly involved in the war, and announced on Wednesday missile launches in coordination with Iran and Hezbollah, against Israel. According to Israeli emergency services, 14 wounded fell on Wednesday in the Tel Aviv region. A serious development was recorded in Iraq, related to another Iranian ally, Iraqi Hezbollah: an American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was kidnapped by this group in Baghdad, which was confirmed by the US State Department, through Dylan Johnston, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, on his X account. In Iran On the Iranian front, Israeli-American strikes continue, hitting, in recent hours, several steel production sites. Strong explosions shook Tehran during the night, and it turned out that one of them targeted the vicinity of the former headquarters of the American embassy in the Iranian capital. A highly symbolic place for Americans and Iranians: it was there that the 1979 hostage crisis took place, after the Iranian revolution. The embassy, which never reopened its doors, had become a museum of the revolution. Two days ago, US President Donald Trump swore that he « would avenge everything the Revolutionary Guards had inflicted on Marines and American nationals for 47 years ». It is in this context that relations are further deteriorating between the United States and its European allies, who still refuse to enter a war « that is not theirs », as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reiterated on Wednesday. According to remarks reported by AFP, Donald Trump thundered that « if France or another country wants to have its oil or gas, it should buy it from the United States or go directly to the Strait of Hormuz (...) to get it ». For its part, the European Union called on Iran to « guarantee freedom of navigation » in the strait, at a time when Tehran is talking about imposing a right of passage on ships.

Two strategically significant regions took center stage in overnight military operations from Monday, March 30, to Tuesday, March 31, amid the ongoing Middle East conflict that began on February 28: Isfahan in Iran and West Bekaa in Lebanon. In the overnight hours of Monday, U.S. air forces carried out particularly intense raids on Isfahan, targeting major weapons and ammunition depots belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. sources reported Tuesday morning that large bunker-busting bombs, each weighing over a ton, were used to destroy deep underground weapons caches. Video footage released Tuesday morning, following a night of devastation in the Isfahan region, captures scenes of apocalyptic explosions and towering columns of dense flames rising from the sites struck by American aircraft. These intensive raids on the Isfahan area are particularly significant due to the presence of energy, nuclear, industrial, and military facilities operated by the Pasdaran. The escalation of U.S. airstrikes in such a strategic hotspot like Ispahan is likely motivated by the Trump administration’s clear intent to inflict heavy losses on the mollah’s regime, pressuring them to comply militarily with the conditions set out in Washington’s 15-point plan to end the war. In this context, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth echoed, on Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s reference to a “new power” in Tehran, urging it to exercise “wisdom.” Like the president, he stressed that strikes against the regime would intensify if Tehran refused to endorse the agreement proposed by the U.S. administration. Analysts interpret these statements as confirming that the intense bombings in Isfahan during the night of Monday were meant to give the mollahs a stark “preview” of the consequences of rejecting the American plan. There is growing speculation that a U.S. commando operation could be launched to seize and remove from Iranian territory the 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent currently held by the Pasdaran. A ground assault to take control of the strategic Kharg Island is also reportedly under consideration. As the course of military operations continues to unfold, nearly 2,500 Marines arrived in the region earlier this week. They are expected to be joined shortly by several thousand additional paratroopers and Marines, who would be deployed in preparation for potential targeted missions inside Iranian territory. Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force has intensified its raids against military and industrial infrastructure. An IDF source told on Tuesday that, in the past 24 hours alone, airstrikes have struck nearly 250 sites, including missile launch ramps. West Bekaa The second “hotspot” in the ongoing military operations is West Bekaa. During the night of Monday, the Israeli Air Force carried out a series of intensive air raids on several localities in West Bekaa, notably Yohmor, Sehmor, and surrounding villages. The strikes aimed to isolate West Bekaa from southern Lebanon by rendering the main roads connecting the two regions impassable. The Bekaa and Baalbek areas have drawn particular attention from analysts because of the risk of escalation in these regions, as Hezbollah reportedly uses the region to launch missiles toward Israel. Lebanese Army Withdrawal The most significant development on the ground on Tuesday was the Lebanese army’s decision to withdraw from the Bint Jbeil area, specially from the Christian border villages of Debel and Rmeich. This retreat could signal the beginning of a battle centered around the town of Bint Jbeil. On the diplomatic front, the UN Security Council held an emergency session on Tuesday evening (Beirut time) at France’s request to discuss the situation created by recent attacks on UNIFIL, which left three peacekeepers dead. Beyond the formal statements, the session was notable for an intervention by Lebanon’s permanent UN representative, who strongly condemned Hezbollah for dragging the country into a war against the government’s will. In a related move, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note to the Lebanese UN mission instructing it to inform UN bodies that the Cabinet has decided to consider any military or security presence of Hezbollah in Lebanon as illegal.

We are witnessing a new kind of war, one that has pitted the American and Israeli armies against the Islamic Republic of Iran since February 28. To reduce it to its barest outline, we might say that what confronts us is a conflict that blends, in the popular idiom, “the stick and the carrot” in so entangled a fashion that it becomes difficult to read between the lines and discern the share and degree of truth, of manoeuvre, of outright falsehood, or of deliberate concealment on the part of each belligerent. Monday, March 30, 2026, illustrated this complexity in all its dimensions. President Donald Trump returned to the subject in an interview with the New York Post , noting the presence in Tehran of a “new regime that is proving Cartesian and rational” in its conduct, one that is “more flexible than the leaders who were eliminated” at the outset of the war. Trump maintained that talks with this “new regime” are proceeding in the right direction, while simultaneously acknowledging that he is “not certain” any agreement can be reached, going so far as to suggest that “in all likelihood, there will be no deal.” Declining to identify the senior Iranian official with whom Washington is in negotiations, he confined himself to noting that he might reveal his identity within “a week.” The elementary question this raises is twofold: does a genuine “new power” actually exist in Tehran, and if so, is it truly “more Cartesian and rational” than its predecessor, as President Trump has repeatedly claimed? If this new Iranian interlocutor, assuming he exists, is as Cartesian as the American president contends, what evidence do Washington’s leaders have that his posture really reflects a new mode of thinking in Tehran? Past experience has shown that the mullahs’ regime, from whose ranks this mysterious “new interlocutor” necessarily emerges, has become a consummate practitioner of taqiyya , the concealment of the real thinking of the person or party in question, while waiting for the storm to subside and the geostrategic circumstances to shift in a more favourable direction, in this precise case toward the Islamic Republic. Given this well-established fact, can one genuinely place trust in a personality or a faction drawn from the ranks of a regime that spent 47 years constructing its power on a theocratic, totalitarian, and obscurantist ideology, profoundly anti-Western in its orientation, on terrorism, bloody repression, and above all taqiyya ? President Trump underscored on Monday, in one of his statements, his determination to exact retribution for every act of aggression perpetrated by the mullahs’ regime over 47 years against the American military, notably in Beirut in 1983, and against American nationals in Lebanon as well. Can one simply wipe the slate clean on nearly half a century of belligerence, by taking the same actors and naively starting over? The Iranian position All these questions, or rather these unknowns, press with even greater urgency given that they are confirmed by the public stances displayed by official Iranian sources (which do not necessarily reflect reality, taqiyya being what it is). Those sources again denied on Monday that any talks are underway with the Trump administration, stating only, as they have done in preceding days, that what exists is an “exchange of messages” through intermediaries, presumably Pakistani. In any event, the same sources reaffirm that the 15-point plan proposed by the United States is unacceptable to the Islamic Republic. Trump denied this on Monday, in his New York Post interview, asserting that the “new power” has accepted “most of the 15 points.” The military data Faced with the shadows enveloping the positions of each side, and while waiting for the situation to clarify, observers have nothing left, in this Holy Week, but to adopt the stance once taken by Saint Thomas, grounding themselves in real and tangible facts. The American administration thus displays the will to engage in direct talks toward a comprehensive agreement ending the current conflict, while simultaneously routing significant reinforcements into the region, among them the aircraft carrier George Bush, as well as detachments of thousands of Marines, paratroopers, and elite units. There is persistent talk in this context of targeted commando operations on land and of a landing on Kharg Island that would allow the United States to control Iranian oil production and exports, a strategic factor of the highest order that could well rank among Washington’s objectives. Moreover, even as constructive talks with the “new Iranian interlocutors” are said to be ongoing, American and Israeli air strikes against the full range of Iranian military, industrial, and strategic installations have continued at an intensive pace around Tehran and Isfahan, extending on Monday, for the second time, to the Caspian Sea zone in Iran’s far north, in proximity to the Russian border. On the Lebanese front, Monday morning was marked by several strikes against the southern suburbs of Beirut, where a senior Hezbollah military commander was killed, while in South Lebanon the Israeli army pressed its systematic encroachment on further stretches of Lebanese territory, reaching, according to Lebanese sources, the Litani River, with advances penetrating 14 kilometres from the border between the two countries. These military developments unfolded as a summit was convening in Saudi Arabia, bringing together Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and King Abdullah of Jordan.

It would be stating the obvious to point out that the post-war Middle East and Iran will not be the same as before February 28, the date of the launch of the American-Israeli offensive against the Iranian mullah regime. This war is entering its second month this Saturday, March 28, without us being able to perceive, at the current stage, the light at the end of the tunnel. One thing, for now, is certain: contacts and message exchanges have been initiated between the United States and the Islamic Republic thanks to the mediation of Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt. A meeting between the two parties could be held next week, but it remains uncertain due to the Iranians' request that it be preceded by a global ceasefire, which President Donald Trump reportedly refused. The Iranian regime also reportedly demanded a seven-day deadline to elaborate its official response to the 15-point plan presented by Washington. This seven-day period would be necessary to consult the different centers of Iranian power, which reflects the complete vagueness that continues to surround the real situation of the current power in Tehran. In any case, the current negotiations are taking place 'in the heat of the moment,' in the sense that American and Israeli air forces are intensifying their raids against military infrastructures and strategic centers throughout Iran, while at the same time the United States is dispatching reinforcements, including the aircraft carrier George Bush as well as no less than 8,000 Marines and paratroopers, to the combat zone. As military operations thus continue apace, President Donald Trump had an informal discussion with journalists late Friday evening (Beirut time) during which he practically outlined the new political landscape that could emerge after the end of the war. The White House chief paid a vibrant tribute to the Gulf countries, with a special mention for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, and the monarchs of the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar. "They showed greater courage than NATO leaders," President Trump declared, not hiding his bitterness about the position of certain European countries. The US President indicated in this context that Washington has always provided sustained support to NATO, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, and when the USA engaged in the war against the Islamic Republic, the member countries of the Atlantic Alliance remained passive. Addressing these countries, Mr. Trump declared: "Given your attitude, we are no longer obliged to stand by your side." This short sentence, added to the strong tribute paid to the Gulf States, seems to indicate that a dual US positioning could emerge during the post-war period: a cooling in relations with European countries and a crisis within NATO, on the one hand, and a significant strengthening of relations with the Gulf, with large concomitant investments in a context of peace revival in the Middle East, on the other hand. Military operations It remains that at the current stage, weapons speak, and on this front, Americans and Israelis seem to be working overtime to maximally destroy the military, nuclear, and ballistic infrastructure of the Islamic Republic. On Friday night, President Trump revealed that the American army had just dealt a "great blow" to Iran and that, as a result, "we have never been so close to a situation allowing the liberation of the Middle East from Iranian threats (...) and Iranian nuclear blackmail." He specified in this regard that the "military database" of the Israeli-US offensive still contains 3,550 targets. And he added: "Our armed forces annihilated Iranian nuclear positions during a shock operation tonight, at midnight (Friday). We are therefore on the verge of liberating the Middle East from Iranian terrorism and blackmail." The White House chief noted in this context that this war waged by the United States against the Iranian regime aims not only to "defend Israel but also the countries of the region." In practice, American and Israeli air forces launched about fifteen raids on Friday night and Saturday morning targeting the Bushehr nuclear power plant, "whose situation is strongly deteriorating," a qualified Russian source affirmed on Saturday. As a reminder, the Russian experts and technicians stationed at this plant were evacuated three days ago. Meanwhile, no less than 50 Israeli planes carried out raids targeting Iranian nuclear facilities "in three regions," the IDF announced on Saturday. Concurrently, the Israeli air force violently bombed numerous military and civilian industrial infrastructures in the Tehran region and other Iranian areas. Other developments on Saturday: the Houthis, a pro-Iranian Yemeni militia, intervened on Saturday by launching two missiles towards Israel. Meanwhile, Iranian missile fire on Saturday damaged radar installations at Kuwait Airport, as well as the port in Oman and an American military base in Saudi Arabia, where two American servicemen were injured. Political sessions at the Lebanese Forces headquarters In Lebanon, Israeli air forces continued on Friday night and Saturday to bomb the southern suburbs and several villages in the southern region. One of these raids killed six high-ranking Iranian officials who were presented by Tehran as "diplomats," whereas their obituaries show photos of them in military attire of senior officers of the Revolutionary Guards. On the political front, a major development marked Saturday: the holding of expanded political sessions at the Lebanese Forces headquarters, chaired by LF leader Samir Geagea, dedicated to the repercussions of the current armed conflict. The communiqué issued at the end of these sessions calls for the formation of a special tribunal to judge those responsible for dragging Lebanon into the war against the will of the state and the overwhelming majority of Lebanese. The communiqué also stresses that the state should demand compensation from Iran for the losses suffered during this war.

The war in the Middle East, triggered on February 28 by an Israeli-American attack against the Iranian Mullahs' regime, seems to be settling in for the long haul, and as a result, the fate of potential negotiations between Iran and the United States remains unknown. Following a verbal escalation by the Iranians, who stated their refusal of the fifteen-point plan proposed this week by Washington, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul contradicted the official statements. He told the German press on Friday that the United States and Iran are preparing for direct talks in Pakistan. In parallel, US President Donald Trump extended his ultimatum (threatening to destroy Iran's energy facilities) until April 6, seemingly to give a chance to the ongoing negotiations. Although this initiative gives the impression of a lull, the situation on the ground is quite different, and the war is intensifying on all fronts. According to the American media outlet Axios, the US army is preparing a vast operation that would consist of invading strategic Iranian islands. At least 10,000 additional American soldiers are expected in the region in the coming days, according to American media. On the Israeli side, the language of threats dominates. Defense Minister Israel Katz promised an intensification of strikes against Iranian territory. Attacks against Iranian territory have not ceased, even as Iranian missiles continue to fall on Israel, particularly Tel Aviv, causing injuries. Iranians themselves seem to be hardening their position. AFP quotes the “Soufan Center,” a specialized institute based in New York, which believes that “the assassinations of high-ranking officials have not only allowed radicals to remain in power, but they have also marginalized the political leadership and placed the Revolutionary Guard Corps at the center of the game.” This analysis would explain the hardening of certain positions currently expressed by Tehran. In practice, the Revolutionary Guards are now threatening to target hotels in Gulf countries and elsewhere, where Americans would be present. They also announced that the Strait of Hormuz is practically closed, having forced three container ships to turn back. Even Chinese container ships, despite belonging to an ally, had to turn back. The closure of Hormuz would be joined by that of the Bab el-Mandab Strait, which connects Asia to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, if another ally of the Iranian regime, the Yemeni Houthis, decide to enter the scene as they have claimed in recent days. In this context, the global economic repercussions of this war are becoming increasingly clear. The price of a barrel of oil has surpassed 110 dollars, and it continues to rise despite the postponement of Donald Trump's ultimatum. The economic consequences are at the center of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in France on Friday, with the presence of US Minister Marco Rubio. He is expected to be questioned by his counterparts about war plans, while he himself, according to his own statements to the journalists accompanying him, is expected to ask them once again to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In this context, Mr. Rubio reportedly informed his peers that the Iranian war would continue for “a few more weeks,” further specifying, during a meeting with journalists, that “Russia is not in any way hindering our action in Iran.” Israeli advances in South Lebanon On the Lebanese front, fighting continues to rage in South Lebanon on several fronts, particularly those of Marjayoun and Bint Jbeil. Information from various sources reports an advance of Israeli troops on the ground and massive destruction in border villages. The Israeli army even posted a video on its X account showing the flushing out of Hezbollah arms caches in the village of Khiam, in a school, with the intention of showing that the militants are hiding among civilians. The Khiam tunnel The Israeli army also released a video showing a large tunnel that the pro-Iranian militia had built and developed in the immediate vicinity of the local church. The dissemination of these videos illustrates that the IDF now completely controls the town of Khiam. In this tense atmosphere, a statement by an Israeli army spokesperson, Effie Defrin, intervenes: he assured on Friday that Israeli troops are “in more advanced positions in South Lebanon,” and that Israel was committed to disarming Hezbollah if the Lebanese government did not do so. Hezbollah plays the same media game, posting videos, notably of Merkava tanks being targeted in South Lebanon. The party also intensified its strikes against Israeli territory overnight from Thursday to Friday, reaching a new record for missile launches since the beginning of this new conflict. Israeli advances in South Lebanon are beginning to raise fears of an annexation of Lebanese territories. A risk against which Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam alerted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, based on explicit threats made by Israeli officials. On the other hand, the humanitarian catastrophe in Lebanon is taking on gigantic proportions: according to the Ministry of Health, the number of deaths has exceeded 1100 and the injured 3200. The UNICEF office in Lebanon has just published a damning report in which the UN organization indicates that approximately 20% of the Lebanese population is currently displaced, that more than 370,000 children are among them, and that 121 children have been killed and nearly 400 injured since the start of the war. UN Women , for its part, specifies that a quarter of women and girls have had to flee their homes.

Less than 24 hours before the expiration of the deadline given by US President Donald Trump to Tehran to respond to the 15 points of an American plan to end the ongoing war, diplomatic contacts aimed at fostering the start of a dialogue are intensifying, while the dynamic on the ground remains one of increasing pressure: violent Israeli-American strikes against Iranian military targets continue, while Tehran continues to target civilian and military infrastructure in Israel and the Gulf countries. More than ever today, the risk of a total large-scale regional conflagration seems high if Tehran continues its prevarications regarding its nuclear and ballistic program or its «sponsorship» of militias that destabilize countries like Lebanon, Iraq, or Yemen, or even Gulf countries where terrorist cells, notably linked to Hezbollah, are regularly dismantled. Should Iran provide a lukewarm response to American demands, Washington would give its green light for a ground operation it had threatened, which would involve seizing strategic points, such as Kharg Island, and three others: Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb. These last three islands were under United Arab Emirates control until the early 1970s but are currently held by Iranian forces, which threaten commercial navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, Donald Trump issued a new warning to Tehran in a message on his social network, Truth Social , calling on it to «get serious before it's too late». «Iranian negotiators are very different and strange. They would do well to get serious very quickly, before it's too late, because failing an agreement, there will be no turning back, and it's not going to be pretty», he warned. A little later, during a press conference, he reaffirmed that the American army had almost entirely destroyed Iran's military capabilities and that it was «Tehran and not the United States that desperately seeks an agreement, contrary to what some media report», adding that he was «not sure if he wanted to sign an agreement» Mediators are still striving to find common ground for an initial way out of the crisis, as confirmed by the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Badr Abdelatty, and Pakistan, Ishaq Dar. They explained that their respective countries, along with Turkey, are acting as intermediaries and transmitting messages between Tehran and Washington. «Egyptian efforts are continuing to achieve de-escalation. Although we have not yet achieved concrete results, we remain optimistic», said Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who was received on Thursday by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at Baabda Palace. He also stated that his country was in contact with Israel, the United States, and France to also prevent a deeper Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon, while supporting the disarmament of Hezbollah and the extension of Lebanese state authority over the entire territory. The Strait of Hormuz, a barometer of the crisis The proliferation of intermediaries reflects the complexity of resolving a multi-dimensional crisis that has quickly gone beyond the bilateral framework of Iran, on the one hand, and Israel and the United States, on the other. This dimension is particularly evident in the tug-of-war over the Strait of Hormuz, an important lever of pressure for Iran, which today crystallizes all tensions. Not only between Iran and the Tel Aviv-Washington axis, but also between the United States and its European partners. On Truth Social , the American president renewed his criticism of the Europeans who, according to him, should engage in the war to ensure the smooth passage of oil tankers and cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz. «NATO countries have done absolutely nothing to help against this crazy nation that is Iran, now militarily decimated. The United States needs nothing from NATO, but this very important moment should never be forgotten», he warned. A threat he repeated during his press conference and which fuels European fears, in particular, of a loss of American support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. While G7 countries began discussing the Middle East issue on Thursday in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte indicated that more than thirty states are coordinating their efforts to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, where only ships flying the flag of countries deemed «neutral» by Tehran are allowed to pass. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim thus announced that his tankers were able to cross after discussions with the Islamic Republic, while the Gulf Cooperation Council, through Jassem Al-Budaiwi, accused Iran of demanding financial compensation to let ships pass. Donald Trump rejected this «Iranian blackmail» and stated during his press conference that 154 Iranian warships had been destroyed, while Israel had announced earlier the liquidation of the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' navy, Alireza Tangsiri, «directly responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz». His elimination can be considered strategic in the context of a possible military operation aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in this passage. Lebanon, another node of the crisis Another complicated node of the crisis: Lebanon. On the ground, clashes between Israel and Hezbollah are intensifying. The Israeli army, which continues to advance deeper into the south of the country, far from the border, announced the death of about thirty Hezbollah militants in close-quarters combat. Only one Israeli soldier was killed during this battle. At least three other people were killed in the southern part of the country in Israeli strikes, while an Israeli succumbed to his wounds in Nahariya, targeted in the afternoon by Hezbollah. The pro-Iranian party seems to be gradually expanding the spectrum of its targets, with its rockets having reached Acre on Thursday. Behind this escalation, however, lies a significant strategic divergence. Israel, as its leaders repeatedly state, always wants to dissociate the Lebanese front from the Iranian issue, in order to maintain its freedom of military action and to put an end to the permanent threat that Hezbollah poses to localities in the northern part of its territory. A deeper incursion to establish a security zone or a buffer zone is part of this logic. The Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, renewed his call on Thursday afternoon to residents of localities south of Zahrani to move north. Conversely, Tehran seems to want to link the two issues, should negotiations be held with Washington, conditioning any de-escalation, among other things, on a halt to Israeli operations in Lebanon. He reportedly sent messages to this effect to his military arm in the country. This same condition was reiterated by the head of the pro-Iranian group, Naïm Qassem, in his message broadcast on Wednesday by the al-Manar channel, during which he reaffirmed his opposition to negotiations with the Hebrew state. But the most important remains the tug-of-war between the State, which wants to assert itself and distance itself from Hezbollah, and the pro-Iranian formation and its allies, who are always seeking to impose their will. One of the main facets of this tug-of-war remains the dispute over the State's decision to expel Ambassador Mohammad Reza Chibani, appointed by Tehran to Beirut. This decision, it is recalled, was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following consultations with the Presidency of the Republic and the Presidency of the Council. The Shiite ministers, despite being servants of the State like their colleagues, align themselves in this context with the policy of Iran and the Amal-Hezbollah tandem. In protest against a decision they deem unjustified, they boycotted Thursday's cabinet meeting held at the Serail. Only Fady Makki, an independent Shiite minister, took part in the meeting. The position of his colleagues highlighted the vast chasm that exists today between two Lebanons: that of the loyalists of a foreign power that wants to maintain its grip on the country, and that of the Lebanese who want to free themselves from the forces that spoil their sovereignty and undermine their state, without compromising on the essentials. Faced with the risks of a new Israeli occupation of part of South Lebanon, due to Hezbollah, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam instructed Foreign Minister Joe Raggi to submit a complaint against Israel to the UN. At the same time, he denounced the presence of two Hezbollah militants in the terrorist cell dismantled last week by Kuwait, and also stigmatized Iranian strikes against Gulf countries. After years of isolation, always due to Hezbollah, official Lebanon is gradually reintegrating its Arab environment and moving away from the axis that has brought it a cascade of destruction over the years.