04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
In open letter, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urges Americans to see beyond ‘flood of distortions’ as war rages.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged people in the United States to look beyond “a flood of distortions and manufactured narratives” and ask whose interests are being served by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
In an open letter addressed to the US public and shared by Iran’s state-run broadcaster PressTV, Pezeshkian on Wednesday questioned whether President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy is “truly among the priorities of the US government today”.
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“Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war?” the Iranian leader wrote.
“Does the massacre of innocent children, the destruction of cancer-treatment pharmaceutical facilities, or boasting about bombing a country ‘back to the stone ages’ serve any purpose other than further damaging the United States’ global standing?”
Pezeshkian also rejected portrayals of Tehran as a threat, noting that Iran had twice been attacked while its negotiators were taking part in multilateral nuclear talks – once when Israel launched a 12-day war in June 2025, with the US briefly joining the campaign, and again at the end of February this year.
“Attacking Iran’s vital infrastructure – including energy and industrial facilities – directly targets the Iranian people. Beyond constituting a war crime, such actions carry consequences that extend far beyond Iran’s borders,” he said.
“They generate instability, increase human and economic costs, and perpetuate cycles of tension, planting seeds of resentment that will endure for years. This is not a demonstration of strength; it is a sign of strategic bewilderment and an inability to achieve a sustainable solution.”
The Iranian president’s letter comes just hours after Trump issued his latest threat against Tehran, writing on social media that the US would continue “blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.
The US president also said Iran’s “new regime president” had requested a ceasefire to end the war – a claim Iranian officials denied.
Reporting from the Iranian capital Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem noted on Wednesday evening that the US and Iranian governments have been fighting a “war of narratives” amid the deadly conflict.
Against that backdrop, Hashem explained that a key component of Pezeshkian’s letter was that the country maintains the right to defend itself from US-Israeli attacks. The Iranian president also stressed that Iran holds “no enmity” towards other nations or the American people.
Trump, for his part, is set to deliver a speech at 9pm local time in Washington, DC, on Wednesday (01:00 GMT on Thursday) to share what the White House said will be “an important update on Iran”.
“While the American administration is trying to push forward its narrative of victory, the Iranian establishment is trying to push its narrative of being under attack,” Hashem said.
Israel’s influence
Meanwhile, in his letter, the Iranian president also questioned whether the Trump administration was “manipulated” by the US’s top Middle East ally, Israel, in launching the war against Iran on February 28.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing the US to attack Iran for decades while also seeking to derail diplomacy between Washington and Tehran, according to experts.
Since the war began last month, the Israeli military has also claimed responsibility for several strikes against critical Iranian infrastructure, further escalating the conflict.
“Is it not also the case that America has entered this aggression as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime?” Pezeshkian said in Wednesday’s letter.
He also asked whether, by “manufacturing an Iranian threat”, Israel is seeking “to divert global attention away from its crimes toward the Palestinians”.
“Is it not evident that Israel now aims to fight Iran to the last American soldier and the last American taxpayer dollar — shifting the burden of its delusions onto Iran, the region, and the United States itself in pursuit of illegitimate interests?” he wrote.
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04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Trump says he is considering a NATO exit as allies resist cooperation in US-Israel war on Iran.
United States President Donald Trump’s already fraught relationship with NATO allies is fraying further as the US-Israel war on Iran is in its second month. A growing number of partners are resisting Washington’s requests for support in the conflict, deepening a transatlantic rift.
From the deployment of naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz to the use of military bases in Europe, Trump wants more support from US allies. But their responses remain lukewarm and so does the Trump administration’s enthusiasm for them.
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“I always knew they were a paper tiger,” Trump lashed out in an interview published on Wednesday in The Telegraph newspaper, saying he was strongly considering pulling out of NATO.
The same sense of disdain towards the allies was echoed a day earlier by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told Al Jazeera that if the transatlantic alliance was “just about defending Europe” but not the other way around, that’s “not a very good arrangement”. That, Rubio said, is going “to have to be re-examined”.
Let’s get into the details of the growing rift.
What allies have denied access to their military bases?
- Spain, the most vocal European opponent of the war, said on Monday that the country’s airspace is closed to US military planes involved in the conflict. “I think everyone knows Spain’s position. It’s very clear,” Defence Minister Margarita Robles said. Spain said last month that the US could not use jointly operated military bases in the war, which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has described as “unjustifiable” and “dangerous”. In response to that, Trump threatened to cut trade with Madrid.
- On Tuesday, Italy’s newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the Italian government denied US bombers the use of a military base in Sicily. The Italian government, though, rushed to make it clear there were no tensions with Washington and that each US request would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- The United Kingdom has allowed US bombers to use military bases on its territory but only for defensive missions, such as striking Iranian military sites involved in attacks on British interests. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an address to the nation: “This is not our war. We will not be drawn into the conflict. That is not in our national interest.”
- The US president has also hit out at France, saying it was “VERY UNHELPFUL” after Paris refused to allow planes “loaded up with military supplies” and “headed to Israel” to fly over French territory. Sources told the Reuters news agency the refusal was made as Israel wanted to use France’s airspace to transport US weapons to be used in the war against Iran.
- And Poland‘s defence minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, said on Tuesday that his country, which borders Ukraine, had “no plans” to relocate its Patriot air defence systems to the Middle East. “Poland’s security is an absolute priority,” he wrote on X.
The split over the Strait of Hormuz
Reluctance in joining the war efforts among US allies was also evident after Trump’s repeated requests to help Washington in securing the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about a fifth of global oil and gas exports pass. Thanks to its geography, Iran has been able to bring traffic through the narrow chokepoint to a near-total halt by carrying out relatively few attacks on vessels there.
Italy, the UK, France, Greece and other countries have all responded with a flat no to the request of joining a naval coalition to open the strait. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius gave his country’s reasoning behind such a position: “This is not our war. We have not started it.”
“Does … Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz what the powerful US Navy cannot do?”
Still, some countries do have the capacity to help, such as support in minesweeping. Starmer said London was discussing with other allies the possibility of using its mine-hunting drones already in the region.
But that’s not what Trump wants.
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account this week.
Experts warned that comments from Trump and his cabinet members suggest mounting anger that could also take hold of the followers of the president’s Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement.
“These things can accumulate momentum in Trump’s mind within the MAGA community,” Samir
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04-01 10:03 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
For the first time in more than 50 years, humans will travel around the moon to test deep-space life-support systems.
The countdown is under way at Kennedy Space Center for the liftoff of Artemis II, which will send four astronauts around the moon and back in the first crewed lunar mission since 1972.
After a mission management team meeting on Monday, NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said Artemis II is ready for launch on Wednesday.
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The weather is now the only potential constraint. The forecast indicates an 80 percent chance of favourable conditions with the primary concerns being cloud coverage and the potential for high winds, NASA noted.
When will Artemis II launch?
At 6:24pm (22:24 GMT) on Wednesday, a two-hour window will open for the Artemis II mission to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch window will remain open until April 6 for two hours each day after sunset. The mission can launch only when the moon, orbital paths, weather and Earth’s rotation line up safely.
Artemis II has faced two major delays that pushed it from its original early 2026 launch window.
In early February, the first attempt was scrubbed after a liquid hydrogen leak was detected during a practice countdown.
A second launch attempt in early March was cancelled when engineers discovered a helium flow issue in the rocket’s upper stage.
How to watch the launch
NASA will livestream the launch on YouTube , which has shown Artemis II from its rollout at the vehicle assembly building to Launch Pad 39.
What is NASA’s Artemis programme?
The Artemis programme is NASA’s multidecade mission to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972, establish a long-term base there and eventually enable future human missions to Mars.
The programme is currently divided into five missions: Artemis I, II, III, IV and V.
Artemis I was the inaugural uncrewed test flight, which launched on November 16, 2022, and lasted 25 days. It successfully placed the Orion spacecraft into Earth’s orbit and provided crucial data for Artemis II.
What is Artemis II?
Artemis II is the first human mission of the Artemis programme. While Artemis I was an uncrewed test mission that carried only mannequins and sensors, Artemis II will mark the first time since 1972 that astronauts will travel beyond low Earth orbit.
Will Artemis II land on the moon?
No. The four-person crew will not land on the moon but rather perform a lunar flyby, looping around the moon’s far side before returning to Earth.
What is the goal of the Artemis programme?
At its core, Artemis II is a systems validation mission. NASA will use the flight to test the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems, navigation, communication links and overall performance in deep space with a crew on board – conditions that cannot be fully replicated on Earth.
If successful, Artemis II will pave the way for Artemis III, a crewed low Earth orbit mission; then Artemis IV, which aims to land astronauts on the moon; and future missions that could establish a sustained human presence beyond Earth.
Here’s how the 10-day Artemis II journey is planned:
How is Artemis different from Apollo?
In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon. The name symbolises the programme’s connection to the original Apollo lunar missions, which took place from 1961 to 1972.
The most notable of the Apollo missions was Apollo 11 when on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface.
The last mission was Apollo 17 when Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972, becoming the last people to walk on the moon.
Who are the Artemis II astronauts?
The mission will carry four astronauts:
- Reid Wiseman, 50, commander: The NASA veteran and former International Space Station commander is leading the Artemis II mission. A test pilot-turned-astronaut, he has leadership and deep spaceflight experience.
- Victor Glover, 49, pilot: The US Navy aviator is the first Black astronaut assigned to a lunar mission and flew on SpaceX Crew-1.
- Christina Koch, 47, mission specialist: The record holder for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days is a veteran of multiple spacewalks and has scientific and deep-space mission expertise.
- Jeremy Hansen, 50, mission specialist: The first Canadian set to travel to the moon is a former fighter pilot and represents international collaboration in deep space exploration.
What will the Artemis crew do during the mission?
During the flight, the four astronauts will evaluate the spacecraft, test their own responses to radiation and onboard fires, and perform a suit pressurisation test.
They will also carry out medical and scien
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04-01 10:03 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Trump says US could leave Iran war in 2-3 weeks without a deal; Iran’s FM Araghchi says he has no faith in talks.
United States President Donald Trump has said Tehran does not have to make a deal for him to end the US-Israel war on Iran, adding that the conflict could end in two to three weeks, as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he has no faith in talks with Washington.
US-Israeli attacks continue across Iran, with pharmaceutical companies and steel plants in Isfahan and Farokhshahr among the sites hit, according to Iranian media and officials.
Israeli attacks also continue in Lebanon, as Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said homes in the south would be demolished and hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese would not be allowed to return.
In Iran
- Ongoing strikes: US-Israeli air attacks continue across the country, targeting industrial and civilian sites, including steel plants, pharmaceutical facilities, port infrastructure, meteorology facilities and a residential complex, according to Iranian state media and the Iranian Red Crescent Society. Iranian media have reported explosions in cities including Ahvaz, Shiraz, Isfahan, Karaj, Kermanshah and Bandar Abbas.
- Pharmaceutical facility hit in Tehran: An Iranian official says US-Israeli forces bombed the Tofigh Daru pharmaceutical raw material units in Tehran, destroying its research and development department and dealing a “blow to the national medical supply chain”.
- Passenger pier bombed in Bandar Abbas: Ahmad Nafisi, a top official in Iran’s Hormozgan province, said enemy fighter jets bombed the Shahid Haqqani passenger pier in the city of Bandar Abbas on Wednesday. He condemned the “criminal” attack on civilian infrastructure and said no one was killed or wounded.
- Desalination plant hit: A desalination plant on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz was knocked out by strikes and is now out of service, Iranian media reported.
- Iran’s diplomatic stance: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that messages have been exchanged with Washington and [US Special Envoy Steve] Witkoff, but there are no negotiations and Tehran has “zero” trust in the US.
- ‘Not as easy’ for Trump to walk away from war: Analyst Trita Parsi said it is unlikely the war will end quickly or the Strait of Hormuz will reopen soon, adding Iran will likely continue to control and attack the waterway and that it is “not as easy for Trump to just walk out” of the conflict.
- Rising death toll: More than 2,000 Iranians have been killed and thousands of civilian sites, including hospitals, schools, universities and pharmaceutical factories, have been attacked by Israel and the US. Targeting of civilian sites is considered a war crime.
War diplomacy
- NATO allies withdraw support: Spain, France and Italy have restricted US military operations, closing airspace, denying base access and limiting logistical support.
- UK to host Hormuz meet: Britain will this week host a meeting of about 35 countries to discuss how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
- China pushes for ceasefire: China and Pakistan proposed a five-point plan including a ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as Beijing steps up diplomatic efforts.
- Regional diplomacy: Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan have held talks on the Iran war amid efforts to restore stability in the Middle East.
- Australia PM warns of tough months: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned that the months ahead “may not be easy” because of the war, in a national address. “No government can promise to eliminate the pressures that this war is causing,” Albanese said.
- International designations: Argentina, under pro-Trump President Javier Milei, officially designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist” organisation.
In the Gulf
- Kuwait under threat: Iranian drone attacks have repeatedly targeted Kuwait’s airport, and the airspace has been closed since February 28, with Saudi Arabia providing buses to airports in Dammam and Qaisumah.
- Air raid sirens in Bahrain: Warning sirens sounded multiple times, and authorities told residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe places.
- Saudi Arabia intercepts drones: The Ministry of Defence said it destroyed two more drones amid ongoing missile and drone attacks since the war began.
- ‘Unknown projectile’ hits tanker off Qatar: A vessel was damaged north of Doha, but all crew were safe and there was no environmental impact, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said.
- Kuwait bank shuts doors: A major Kuwaiti bank said it will close its headquarters for two days starting Wednesday, as Iran continues attacks.
In the US
- US war timeline: Trump said the war could end in “two to three weeks” and a deal is not required, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US is “negotiating with bombs” and warned the coming days will be decisive.
- Economic impact: The war and its uncertainty have led to surging oil prices and volatility in global energy markets. US Senator Chris
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04-01 10:03 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Shrapnel from an Iranian drone interception kills a Bangladeshi national in the UAE’s Fujairah city.
Iran’s drones have hit fuel tanks at Kuwait’s international airport, causing a large blaze, and authorities in Bahrain have reported a fire at an undisclosed company facility, as the United States-Israel war on Iran continues for a fifth week.
Abdullah al-Rajhi, a spokesman for the General Directorate of Civil Aviation in Kuwait, on Wednesday said the airport had been subjected to “brazen attacks by drones from Iran and the armed factions it supports”.
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The raids targeted fuel tanks at the airport, “leading to a large fire breaking out at the site”, al-Rajhi was quoted as saying by the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
Emergency teams were on site, and “the damage is material with no human injuries,” he said.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said civil defence crews were “extinguishing a fire in a facility of a company as a result of the Iranian aggression”.
“Relevant authorities are taking their measures at the site,” it added, without naming the company.
Vessel hit
A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile near the Qatari capital Doha, causing damage to the hull at the waterline, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said, adding the crew were safe.
The vessel was struck about 17 nautical miles (equivalent to about 32km) north of Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial hub, the country’s main gas production facility, which was hit by Iranian missiles last month, causing significant damage.
Confirming the incident, Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said the country was targeted by three cruise missiles launched from Iran, one of which struck an oil tanker.
In a post on X, the ministry said it intercepted two of the missiles, while the third hit a tanker leased to QatarEnergy. The tanker’s 21-person crew was evacuated, the ministry said. No injuries were reported.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the official WAM news agency said shrapnel from a drone interception fell on a farm in the al-Rifaa area of Fujairah city and killed a Bangladeshi national. It said authorities were dealing with the incident.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said several drones were “intercepted and destroyed”, without reporting any injuries.
The oil-rich Gulf has borne the brunt of Iran’s attacks in response to the US-Israeli air strikes on the country.
Iran has claimed to be attacking US assets in the region, but Gulf nations say Tehran has targeted civilian infrastructure.
On Tuesday, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report said gross domestic product (GDP) in the Arab world was estimated to decline by approximately 3.7 to 6 percent after a month of war, equivalent to a contraction of $120bn to $194bn.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and his administration have sent contradictory statements about how and when the war might end.
“We’ll be leaving very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the exit could take place “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three”.
Washington had previously threatened to intensify operations if Tehran did not accept a 15-point US ceasefire framework that had, among its core demands, commitments by Iran not to pursue nuclear weapons, halt all uranium enrichment and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran dismissed the proposal as “maximalist” and “unreasonable”, stressing it is not seeking war and wants a permanent end to the conflict. It also demanded compensation for the destruction caused by US-Israeli attacks against the country.
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04-01 10:03 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Araghchi confirmed direct talks with Witkoff but denied that they constituted negotiations in an exclusive interview.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has confirmed direct contact with United States President Donald Trump’s top envoy Steve Witkoff amid the ongoing war, but downplayed talks of negotiations in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
Araghchi also spoke about the future of the Strait of Hormuz – the critical waterway through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas pass in peacetime – after the war is over, and about Iran’s preparations for a potential US ground invasion.
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Here are key takeaways from Araghchi’s interview with Al Jazeera:
Talked to Witkoff, but no negotiations
Araghchi confirmed that he had held conversations with Witkoff, Trump’s trusted envoy for peace negotiations around the world, during the current conflict.
But the Iranian foreign minister downplayed that contact.
“I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.
“There is no truth to the claim of negotiations with any party in Iran. All messages are conveyed through the Foreign Ministry or received by it, and there are communications between security agencies,” he added.
Araghchi explained that they have never had a “good experience” negotiating with the US, referring to Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Barack Obama-era nuclear deal during Trump’s first term. The US has also twice attacked Iran during negotiations over the past nine months — in June 2025 and with the current war, which began on February 28, at a time when Oman, the mediator between the two sides, had said they were on the cusp of a breakthrough over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“We do not have any faith that negotiations with the US will yield any results. The trust level is at zero,” Araghchi said, adding: “We don’t see honesty.”
Pakistan has been facilitating the contacts between Araghchi and Witkoff in recent days, officials close to these developments have told Al Jazeera. Pakistan also hosted talks with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye last weekend, to try and build momentum for direct talks between Iran and the US. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also visited Beijing on Tuesday to try and secure China’s support for those efforts.
Iran, Oman to decide Strait of Hormuz future
In the interview, Araghchi argued that the waters of the Strait of Hormuz fall under the territorial control of Iran and Oman, and that once the war is over, it is these two countries who would decide the future of the waterway.
But he added that the strait should be a “peaceful waterway”.
Gulf nations, including Qatar, have, however, insisted that they be included in any talks to decide the future of the strait.
Araghchi also insisted in the interview that, from Iran’s perspective, the strait is open for ships from most nations.
“Only for the ships of those who are at war with us, this strait is closed. That is normal during war – we cannot let our enemies use our territorial waters for commerce,” he explained.
“Ships linked to other countries – because of security concerns, because of high insurance prices, or whatever other reason – they have decided not to use the strait,” he said. He also mentioned that some countries have engaged in negotiations with the Iranian government for the transit of their ships: some Indian, Pakistani, Turkish and Chinese vessels have passed through the strait.
On a US ground invasion: ‘We are waiting for them’
Even as Trump and his administration have spoken of diplomacy with Iran, the US has ramped up troop deployments to the Gulf in recent days.
Recent media reports from the US have also suggested that the Pentagon is preparing options for a ground invasion of Iran.
Asked about those reports, Araghchi said Iran was ready to fight US troops if they were to engage in a land war.
“We are waiting for them,” he said. “I don’t think they’d dare to do such a thing. There will be a lot of strength waiting for them.”
“We know very well how to defend ourselves. In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake,” Araghchi said.
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04-01 01:36 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Lebanon’s expulsion of Iranian ambassador tests limits of state power as Hezbollah fights push for disarmament.
Beirut, Lebanon – On March 24, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi declared Iran’s ambassador to Beirut persona non grata and gave him until March 29 to leave the country.
But two days after the deadline, Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani is still in Lebanon.
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The incident comes amid another Israeli war and invasion of Lebanon, which has so far killed more than one thousand people and displaced more than 1.2 million others in just one month.
It has also highlighted a deep political divide in the country – between supporters and opponents of the pro-Iranian Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah. The debate over Hezbollah’s weapons and Iran’s role in Lebanon has taken on a new dimension with the US-Israeli war on Iran and with Hezbollah’s re-entry into war with Israel, reportedly under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“The ambassador’s refusal to leave reflects a deeper political contest over legitimacy and authority,” Imad Salamey, a political scientist at the Lebanese American University, told Al Jazeera.
IRGC calling the shots
Iran’s influence on Lebanon started to take shape in 1982, when the IRGC helped fellow Shia Muslims form Hezbollah as a response to Israeli invasion and occupation. Over the years, Hezbollah became the most powerful actor in Lebanon, both politically and militarily, in large part due to billions of dollars in Iranian funding.
Hezbollah peaked in popularity in 2000, when the group drove the Israeli military out of south Lebanon, ending an 18-year occupation. But subsequent events, which include engaging in the 2006 war with Israel, deploying fighters to the streets of Beirut in 2008, joining the Syrian civil war in support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2011, and sending partisans to attack protesters during a 2019 uprising, eroded much of the group’s support outside of its core constituency.
When Hezbollah entered war with Israel on October 8, 2023, the group had few supporters outside the Shia Muslim community. By the time a ceasefire was agreed with Israel in November 2024, the group was also at its lowest politically and militarily. Israel had killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, mostly Shia, including Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and much of its military leadership.
With Hezbollah weakened, many in the international community began demanding the disarmament of Hezbollah, and the Lebanese government led by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and President Joseph Aoun made it a priority.
But the IRGC reportedly used the calm brought on by the ceasefire to send officials to Lebanon to help Hezbollah restructure. And some analysts believe it was Tehran that made the call for Hezbollah to re-enter the war with Israel on March 2, just a couple of days after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was assassinated in Tehran.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Salam recently made a similar claim, saying that the IRGC is “managing the military operation in Lebanon”. He also accused the Iranian group of firing an attack at Lebanon’s island neighbour to the west, Cyprus.
Ambassador won’t leave
In light of the IRGC’s perceived role in Lebanon, Raggi declared Sheibani persona non grata, effectively removing his diplomatic immunity and asking him to leave the country.
“The Lebanese government’s decision to order the ambassador of Iran out of the country represents a landmark decision in Lebanese politics, given Iran’s profound role in Lebanese politics and its backing for Hezbollah’s militia,” Dania Arayssi, a senior analyst at New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, told Al Jazeera.
But Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said Sheibani won’t leave.
Sheibani’s stay in Lebanon is being backed by Hezbollah, whose officials have made stark statements in local media in recent weeks indicating that the government will have to rescind its decisions on Hezbollah’s disarmament.
“The cabinet decision to disarm Hezbollah triggered the group to make explicit threats to ‘punish’ those involved,” Arayssi said.
Also in Sheibani’s corner is Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Though Berri is a longtime Hezbollah ally, following Hezbollah’s reentry into the war in March, he initially supported the government’s decision to ban Hezbollah’s military activity.
‘Authority on paper’
The war on Iran and Hezbollah’s reenergised war campaign, in which it is still firing dozens of attacks and militarily engaging with Israeli troops on the ground in Lebanon, is shifting political fortunes, making it more difficult for the government to remove Hezbollah’s military power.
The group, considered badly weakened before its re-entry into the war, is now exerting more confidence militarily and politically in Lebanon.
That is likely connected to Iran’s f
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04-01 01:36 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Effective shutdown of key waterway could lead to permanent changes in how shipping industry does business.
The effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has blocked the flow of a substantial portion of the energy that powers the global economy.
But even if the waterway reopens tomorrow, the disruption to global supply chains will be felt long after ships have been cleared to pass en masse, according to shipping and trade experts.
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“When the war is officially over, and the bombardments are stopped, that does not mean that the war is over for logistics, because then the real work starts,” said Nils Haupt, senior director for corporate communications at the German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd.
“We will see hundreds of ships who want to call in at the key ports in the Persian Gulf. Lots of containers are going into the region, and we will see disruption of supply chains going to and from the Persian Gulf,” Haupt told Al Jazeera, using another name for the Gulf, which is also known as the Arabian Gulf.
At present, some 2,000 ships are stranded in the region amid Iran’s partial blockade of the strait, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). It has been allowing passage of only a few vessels from the countries deemed friendly.
Among them, about 400 vessels are in the nearby Gulf of Oman, suggesting that shipping firms are holding position for when the strait reopens, according to maritime intelligence company Windward.
Other ships have been diverted to the Suez Canal or taken the much longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa to make deliveries to Asia and Europe.
Oil shipments from Saudi Arabia have been diverted through the Red Sea, bypassing the strait.
Svein Ringbakken, managing director of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Mutual War Risks Association, said even with logistics facilities running at full capacity, it would take time to clear the backlog of oil, gas and other goods unloaded from vessels.
Ringbakken said the task has been made even more difficult by attacks that have damaged energy and transport infrastructure across the Middle East.
More than 40 energy assets across the region have been “severely or very severely damaged”, according to the International Energy Agency, with oil and gas companies, including QatarEnergy, the Kuwait Petroleum Company, and Bahrain’s Bapco Energies, declaring force majeure due to production disruptions.
“The short answer is that it would take months to get shipping supply chains back to normal because of the backlog,” Ringbakken told Al Jazeera.
“Production lines have had to be stopped for many products because of a lack of storage capacity,” he added. “Add to this the damage to both production facilities and port infrastructure. This all adds inefficiencies when the strait is opened.”
Iran’s effective closure of the waterway, launched in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28, has disrupted about 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, driving up energy prices worldwide.
The blockade has also interrupted the export of large amounts of petrochemicals, fertiliser, and raw materials used in plastic manufacturing.
Beyond the immediate disruption to trade, the effective shutdown of the waterway has raised longer-term questions about how shippers will conduct their business in the future, including calculating risk, said SV Anchan, chairman of the United States-based global shipping and logistics conglomerate Safesea.
The IMO has confirmed at least 18 attacks on vessels across the Gulf since the war began, including the March 11 ramming of a Safesea oil tanker by two unmanned ships, which killed one crew member.
“From an industry standpoint, the issue extends well beyond access. The emergence of asymmetric threats, including unmanned attack capabilities, has fundamentally altered the risk environment,” Anchan told Al Jazeera.
“Even in the event of a full reopening, a return to normal conditions will require a sustained period of stability,” he said.
“Shipowners, charterers and insurers will seek consistency, credible security assurances, and structured risk frameworks before committing operations at scale.”
Marco Forgione, director general of the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, a United Kingdom-based professional body that promotes free trade, also said the blow to confidence in the industry would be long-lasting.
“Rebuilding the confidence of shippers in the safety of the strait will take considerable security reassurances, which could take years,” Forgione told Al Jazeera, adding that Tehran was capable of shutting down shipping with threats alone.
Forgione said insurance had become an important “pressure point” for the industry
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04-01 01:36 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Under pressure as domestic petrol prices soar, US president says no deal needed to end war on Iran.
Trump says US will be leaving Iran in two to three weeks
President Donald Trump has said the United States could stop attacking Iran within two to three weeks and that a deal is not necessary to end a war that has disrupted energy supplies and shaken the global economy.
His comments came as Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that no negotiations are going on with Washington despite direct and indirect exchanges of messages, nearly five weeks after the US and Israel began attacking Iran.
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Trump, who previously claimed that Iran was engaged in negotiations and “begging” for a deal, appeared to change his tune on Tuesday on the alleged diplomatic drive.
“Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no,” he said when asked by reporters at the White House if successful diplomacy was a prerequisite for the US to wind down the conflict. He said the US would be “leaving very soon … maybe two weeks, maybe three.”
“When we feel that they are, for a long period of time, put into the Stone Ages and they won’t be able to come up with a nuclear weapon, then we’ll leave,” he said.
Iran has always maintained that its nuclear activities are peaceful and that it has never sought to produce a nuclear weapon.
Trita Parsi, a foreign policy expert on Iran at the Quincy Institute, told Al Jazeera that Trump’s statements should be treated with caution. He noted that it would not be “as easy for Trump to just walk out” of a conflict that has spread across the region and killed thousands of people – mostly in Iran and Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion in conjunction with aerial bombardment – including many civilians.
“Remember, at first they said that this war would be over in four days. Then, three weeks ago, they said it would take three weeks. Three weeks have passed, and now we hear that it’s two to three weeks,” Parsi said.
“The timeline just keeps on being extended because, at the end of the day, the United States is no longer in control of this war”, which has now turned into a “debacle”, he added.
“It would be much better for Trump to just end it as quickly as possible through real negotiations. Not these types of coercive measures that have been tried so far. Otherwise, three weeks from now, we’re likely going to hear that it’s going to take another three weeks.”
‘Go get your own oil!’
Trump’s comments came as domestic petrol prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon (3.8 litres) as a result of Iran’s attacks on Gulf oil facilities and its continued squeezing of fuel supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas passes.
But with the war hitting new levels of intensity, Trump has continued to lash out at allied countries that have refused calls for military help to secure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president took aim at countries, “like the United Kingdom”, which have “refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran”, telling them to either buy US fuel or get involved in the rapidly escalating war.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” he said.
Earlier, US defence chief Pete Hegseth also highlighted the UK’s reticence about joining the war, saying that “last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well”.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey addressed the criticism, insisting during a trip to Qatar that his country remained a key ally of the US.
In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump had also hit out at France for being “VERY UNHELPFUL”, in particular in not letting “planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory”.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office noted that its position, including not authorising the use of French bases for attacks on Iran, had been clear from the get-go.
“We are surprised by this tweet. France has not changed its position since day one [of the conflict] and we confirm this decision,” it said.
Parsi said Trump was “trying to create a narrative of success” by saying that opening the Strait of Hormuz is not part of the US objective in the war on Iran. But at the same time, the US president has shown frustration that European countries are unwilling to help him reopen the important waterway.
“The US has the largest and most powerful navy in the world. If the US cannot do it, what difference can the French make and other Europeans going in?” he asked, pre
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04-01 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Former agents say that they were fired for work on probe into Trump’s efforts to stay in power after 2020 election loss.
Three former agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that they were wrongfully fired in retaliation for their work in the United States.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, marks the latest legal challenge against efforts under President Donald Trump to purge staff at the federal law enforcement agency.
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The three agents involved — Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman and Blaire Toleman — argue that their employment was terminated as a result of their work on an investigation into Trump’s efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.
Career agents at the FBI are nonpartisan employees. The three plaintiffs argued that agents should not be required to show “fealty to any political party, movement, or figure”.
“Serving the American people as FBI agents was the highest honor of our lives,” the agents said in a statement.
“We took an oath to uphold the Constitution, followed the facts wherever they led and never compromised our integrity. Our removal from federal service — without due process and based on a false perception of political bias — is a profound injustice that raises serious concerns about political interference in federal law enforcement.”
Each of the former agents had between eight and 14 years of experience at the FBI.
In their 48-page complaint, they explain they were abruptly fired in October and November in what they describe as a “retribution campaign” under the Trump administration.
The lawsuit explains they received termination letters, signed by FBI Director Kash Patel, that “baselessly accused them of ‘weaponizing’ their positions within the government”.
The three agents had been assigned to offer FBI support to an investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith, an independent prosecutor assigned to probe Trump’s actions.
As a result of that investigation, Trump was indicted in 2023 on charges he had taken part in an illegal effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
Smith eventually dropped that case, along with another focused on Trump’s retention of classified documents, after the Republican leader was re-elected for a second term in 2024. The Department of Justice has an internal policy prohibiting the prosecution of sitting presidents.
Smith also resigned his position before Trump took office in January 2025.
But since returning to the White House, Trump has faced criticism for allegedly seeking retribution against employees involved in policies he disagrees with.
“President Trump made clear that upon his return to office, he expected top officials in federal law enforcement to carry out his retribution,” Tuesday’s lawsuit asserts.
Nonpartisan members of both the FBI and Department of Justice who were involved in Smith’s work have seen their jobs cut in the aftermath of Trump’s inauguration.
But Tuesday’s class-action lawsuit (PDF) could pave the way for more agents fired for perceived disloyalty to return to their jobs.
By accusing the agents of “weaponising” the FBI, the lawsuit argues that the Trump administration not only damaged their individual reputations but those of all law enforcement officers in similar situations.
“This false and defamatory public smear impugned the professional reputation of Plaintiffs and the proposed class members, suggesting they were something other than faithful and apolitical law enforcement officials,” the lawsuit argues.
A group of 12 former FBI workers also sued the agency in December, alleging that they were wrongfully terminated for taking a knee during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.
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