The Lebanese Armed Forces opened one of Hezbollah’s underground tunnels to international journalists on Friday, offering a rare glimpse into the group’s concealed military infrastructure in the country’s volatile south.

The visit, organized by the LAF, appeared aimed at demonstrating both the army’s expanding control in areas long dominated by Hezbollah and the scale of the challenge it faces as tensions with Israel continue to rise.

The tunnel, dug into the hillside of Wadi Zibqin, sits in one of Hezbollah’s most entrenched strongholds just north of the Israeli border. Inside, reporters walked through a narrow passage that led to what resembled a small medical station, a rudimentary kitchen, preserved food supplies, water tanks, electrical wiring, and a ventilation system — evidence of a site designed to sustain fighters for extended periods.

No Hezbollah personnel were present, and the Lebanese military insisted the position had been abandoned.

Brig. Gen. Nicolas Thabet, who oversees army operations south of the Litani River, moved through the tunnel alongside the media delegation.

He framed the visit as part of a broader effort to reassert state authority in an area where Hezbollah’s influence has been largely unchecked for nearly two decades.

“We will not give up our objectives, whatever the difficulties may be,” he told reporters, describing the terrain as “one of the most dangerous areas in the Middle East” and stressing that the army has “sacrificed greatly.”

The location has already proven deadly. In August, six LAF sappers died when an explosion ripped through a nearby weapons depot believed to contain munitions stored by Hezbollah.

The army says it has since taken control of several former positions that were either struck by Israeli fire or abandoned by fighters.

Friday’s tour came at a moment of renewed tension following the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s Dahiyeh district earlier in the week. Tabatabai, considered one of Hezbollah’s most experienced field commanders, played a central role in the group’s operations in Syria and Yemen and was a key node in Iran’s regional network.

Speaking after the strike, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned that the group retained “the right to respond” and would choose the timing.

He accused the United States and unnamed Arab states of helping orchestrate what he described as a campaign of “infiltrations” targeting Hezbollah.

“The enemy did everything in its power to end the resistance, but it failed,” Qassem said, casting the group once again as the vanguard against what he called “Israeli-American aggression.”

For the LAF, the tunnel tour was as much an act of messaging as it was a display of access.

By showing the site to foreign media, the army signaled that it is trying — despite limited resources and complicated political constraints — to present itself as a stabilizing actor in a landscape now shaped by Israeli precision strikes, Hezbollah’s internal recalculations, and growing uncertainty over how long the current cycle of escalation can be contained.

Iran’s long-standing strategy of projecting power through regional proxy forces is facing an unexpected strain, as senior Iranian officials acknowledge that the Houthis in Yemen have become increasingly difficult to control and, in some cases, openly defiant.

The revelations, reported by The Telegraph, suggest Tehran is struggling to manage what remains of its once-cohesive “axis of resistance.”

According to a senior Iranian official quoted in the report, the Houthis “have gone rogue” and “do not listen to Tehran as much as they used to.” The official said the breakdown extends beyond Yemen, noting that certain Iranian-backed militias in Iraq are also ignoring directives: “Some groups are acting as if we never had any contact with them.”

The internal frustration highlights a shift that began in April, when tensions rose after Iran failed to respond to heavy U.S. airstrikes targeting Houthi positions.

The lack of retaliation angered Houthi commanders, who had expected Tehran to defend its closest remaining proxy following the collapse of Hamas’ operations in Gaza and the decimation of Hezbollah’s leadership in Lebanon under sustained Israeli military pressure.

Tehran has attempted to reassert control. A senior IRGC commander was recently sent to Sanaa, and Quds Force officer Abdolreza Shahlaei — a high-value U.S. target with a $15 million bounty on his head — has reportedly been redeployed to Yemen to press the group back into alignment. But Iranian officials told The Telegraph that these efforts have yet to succeed.

Iranian influence faltered further as the Houthis tightened their grip on northern Yemen, expanded missile and drone capabilities, and diversified revenue streams.

The group now runs an extensive network that includes tax collection, aid diversion, drug and arms trafficking, and disruptive operations along key Red Sea shipping routes. Its mountainous hideouts continue to shield equipment despite years of U.S. and allied airstrikes, estimated to have cost more than $7 billion.

Former Yemeni diplomat Mahmoud Shehrah told The Telegraph that the Houthi movement is driven primarily by its own ideology rather than external direction. “The Houthis don’t need someone to encourage them.

This is about their beliefs,” he said, emphasizing that the group maintains its own political and religious framework even as coordination with Tehran persists.

Internal reports cited by regional analysts describe rising tensions inside the Houthi leadership itself, with IRGC advisers unable to reconcile factional disputes or strategic disagreements.

The Defense Line report described the Houthis as facing “a crisis of options and priorities,” adding that the group’s behavior increasingly mirrors “the confusion that exists in Tehran.”

Analysts suggest that while Iran and the Houthis share strategic interests — including pressuring U.S. partners and complicating maritime security — their goals are no longer perfectly aligned.

Dr. Bader al-Saif of the University of Kuwait likened the relationship to a franchise model: “Both Iran and the Houthis benefit from working together, but they also have divergent interests. They’ll pursue those interests whenever they see fit.”

The growing disconnect raises new questions about the future of Iran’s regional influence. A network once defined by ideological cohesion and coordinated action now shows signs of fragmentation — at a moment when Tehran is increasingly isolated diplomatically and under pressure from intensified U.S. and regional military operations.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declined a direct request from President Donald Trump to advance toward normalization with Israel during their White House summit last month, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.

The exchange, first reported by Axios, underscores the limits of Washington’s push to expand the Abraham Accords at a moment when the Middle East remains deeply fractured and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict unresolved.

The officials said Trump pressed the Crown Prince repeatedly on joining the regional normalization framework, prompting what they described as a “tense” back-and-forth.

Saudi Arabia’s position, however, did not shift. According to the report, Mohammed bin Salman reiterated that normalization is impossible without a comprehensive political agreement establishing a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital — a stance Riyadh has maintained for more than two decades.

“The Crown Prince dealt firmly with Trump’s request and held fast to his position,” Axios wrote, quoting two U.S. officials who described Mohammed bin Salman as a “strong leader” in the discussion.

The meeting took place on Nov. 18 during the Crown Prince’s official visit to Washington, a trip framed by both governments as a strategic recommitment to bilateral ties. While the White House offered an exceptionally warm reception, the normalization issue remains one of the sharpest points of divergence between the two leaders.

At a press conference following the talks, Mohammed bin Salman publicly reaffirmed the Kingdom’s longstanding conditions for peace with Israel, emphasizing that Saudi Arabia supports regional stability but will not move forward without what he called a “clear and credible plan” for a two-state solution.

Riyadh has consistently argued that a just settlement for the Palestinians is the foundation for any broader regional peace.

The Kingdom has also positioned itself as a central mediator in regional diplomacy, insisting that political dialogue — rather than unilateral agreements — offers the only sustainable path to resolving the Middle East’s long-running conflicts.

The report suggests that while Trump seeks a diplomatic breakthrough that could reshape the region, Saudi Arabia’s leadership remains unwilling to break with its principle: no normalization without Palestinian statehood.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed long-standing U.S. intelligence assessments that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was likely aware of the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, offering an emphatic public embrace of the Saudi leader during his first visit to the White House in seven years.

The meeting underscored how dramatically the U.S.–Saudi relationship has shifted since the fallout over Khashoggi’s assassination. What once prompted global condemnation and strained bilateral ties has now given way to renewed political warmth, a slate of new defense agreements, and an expanded Saudi investment pledge that Trump hailed as “historic.”

Standing beside the crown prince in the Oval Office, Trump dismissed questions about Khashoggi’s killing as inappropriate and reiterated his belief that Mohammed bin Salman had no advance knowledge of the operation, despite U.S. intelligence findings declassified in 2021 that concluded otherwise.

“Whether you liked him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Trump said. “But he knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that.”

The crown prince described the killing as a “painful” and “huge mistake,” offering no new details about Saudi Arabia’s internal handling of the case but insisting his government had taken “all the right steps.”

The White House used the visit to announce a series of high-profile deals. Trump designated Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally, formalized an agreement for the kingdom to purchase F-35 stealth fighter jets and nearly 300 U.S. tanks, and unveiled new cooperation initiatives on capital markets, mineral supply chains, and counter-terrorism financing.

Saudi Arabia, in turn, said it would increase its planned investment in the United States to $1 trillion—up from $600 billion previously pledged.

The summit, framed by a military flyover and a formal black-tie dinner attended by prominent business figures including Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, marked a clear re-alignment of priorities for a president who sees Saudi cooperation as pivotal to a broader regional agenda that includes expanding the Abraham Accords.

But the meeting also drew sharp criticism. Human rights advocates accused Trump of overlooking repression in the kingdom, citing a surge in executions and continued arrests of activists and journalists.

They also raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving Trump family business projects in Saudi Arabia.

Inside the administration, the F-35 sale has prompted internal debate. U.S. law requires Washington to preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region, and intelligence officials remain wary of advanced American technology potentially reaching China through deepening Saudi-Chinese military cooperation.

For now, however, Trump appears determined to advance the U.S.–Saudi partnership while encouraging Riyadh to move closer to diplomatic normalization with Israel—a step the crown prince said remains conditional on progress toward a Palestinian state.

“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords,” Mohammed bin Salman said, “but only with a clear path toward a two-state solution.”

President Donald Trump pledged strong U.S. support for Syria’s new leadership on Monday after hosting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House — the first visit by a Syrian head of state since the country’s independence in 1946.

The unexpected Oval Office meeting, closed to reporters, underscored Washington’s rapid shift in posture toward Damascus following the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December.

Al-Sharaa, who emerged as interim leader after rebel forces seized control of the capital, entered the building through a secure side access point rather than the traditional ceremonial driveway used for foreign visitors.

He departed two hours later, briefly greeting cheering supporters before leaving in his motorcade.

“We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful,” Trump said afterward, telling reporters he had “confidence” in al-Sharaa’s ability to lead the country through its post-Assad transition.

In a post on social media, Trump added that he expects additional meetings with the new Syrian president.

During the visit, Syria formally joined the U.S.-led global coalition against the Islamic State group, becoming its 90th member, according to a senior administration official.

The United States will also allow Syria to reopen its embassy in Washington — closed for more than a decade — to improve coordination on counterterrorism, security, and economic policy.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry described the talks as “friendly and constructive,” saying Trump reaffirmed U.S. readiness to support reconstruction and development.

In a Fox News interview, al-Sharaa said he discussed future investment opportunities and emphasized his goal of rebranding Syria as a geopolitical partner rather than a security risk, pointing specifically to U.S. interest in the country’s gas sector.

Al-Sharaa also pressed the administration for a permanent repeal of U.S. sanctions imposed during the Assad era. While Trump has temporarily waived the restrictions under the Caesar Act, lifting them outright would require congressional approval.

Two competing proposals are already emerging on Capitol Hill. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has drafted legislation calling for full, unconditional repeal.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close Trump ally, supports an alternate plan to lift sanctions but review the decision every six months.

Advocates warn that any conditional or temporary repeal would deter investors. Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, compared such an arrangement to a “hanging shadow that paralyses any initiatives for our country.”

The Treasury Department confirmed Monday that the Caesar Act waiver has been extended for another 180 days, keeping the sanctions frozen while Washington and Damascus negotiate the next phase of the bilateral relationship.

A340s, 777s and Forged Papers: Inside the Plot to Replenish Iran’s Fleet.

A fresh sanctions-evasion pathway has opened from Africa to Tehran, aviation researchers and open-source investigators warn, after Malawian front companies began re-registering wide- and narrow-body jets bound for Iran.

The transfers mirror a larger, adaptive campaign by Mahan Air — an Iranian carrier long linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — to rebuild long-haul capacity in the face of U.S. export controls.

A chronology of flights and registry entries reviewed by investigators shows Malawi-registered airframes appearing in Asia before small, clandestine movements toward Iran.

The pattern follows the July 2025 “Triple Seven” operation through Madagascar, in which five ex-Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-212ERs were routed through multiple countries using forged Malagasy registrations.

That scandal prompted arrests in Madagascar and the suspension of a civil-aviation official, but experts say Tehran’s logisticians quickly shifted tactics.

Between mid-2024 and mid-2025, Malawian shell operators acquired records for several aircraft types — including Boeing 737s, Airbus A320s and the four-engine Airbus A340-642 — that investigators say were refurbished in China and later prepared for clandestine transfer to Iran.

In at least three cases, jets sold for dismantling in 2022 were instead returned to service and painted with Malawian registration codes while stored at Taiyuan Wusu International Airport, according to satellite imagery and photographic evidence examined by open-source analysts.

The aircraft are valuable for reasons beyond passenger service. The A340-642, despite its age, uses Rolls-Royce Trent 556 engines whose spare-parts lines are more accessible to Iranian technicians than the primarily U.S.-made engines on more modern jets.

Investigators say that capability, combined with the A340’s range and cargo capacity, makes it an attractive platform for mixed passenger-freight missions that can support long-distance logistics — a capability Tehran has used for years.

Analysts say the Malawi shift exposes broader weaknesses in international aviation oversight. “Where one permissive registry is closed, another can appear,” said an aviation compliance expert who reviewed the materials.

Wealthier states and established registries have more robust end-user checks; smaller states with limited technical capacity and acute financing needs are often vulnerable to opaque transactions and political pressure, the expert added.

The U.S. response to the Madagascar affair — a coordinated probe by the FBI and sanctions on complicit actors — demonstrated that enforcement can work.

Washington and allies now face a fresh policy choice: replicate that model in Lilongwe and other jurisdictions, or watch Iran’s procurement networks adapt again.

The report urges Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the State Department and international civil aviation authorities to press Malawi for transparency, suspend suspect air operator certificates and trace beneficial ownership of the shell companies involved.

If left unchecked, investigators warn, the incremental restoration of Iran’s long-range airlift would erode the effectiveness of export controls by adding capability one aircraft at a time — a slow-moving attrition of sanctions that would be difficult to reverse.

Saudi Arabia is preparing to cautiously restore indirect communication channels with Israel through Washington, a senior source within the Saudi royal family told Israel’s Kan News on Saturday — a move signaling that Riyadh may once again test the waters of normalization, even as the region remains deeply fractured by the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and the Gaza war.

The remarks come just days before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman travels to Washington for a high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, the first such encounter since Trump returned to the White House.

According to the Saudi source, the Crown Prince expects to revisit the quiet, U.S.-mediated contact that existed between Riyadh and Jerusalem before the October 7 massacre derailed talks and hardened regional positions.

Saudi officials described the goal of the upcoming discussions as an effort to “thaw the ice” — reopening channels for strategic dialogue and attempting to bridge gaps that widened during Israel’s war against Hamas.

But they were equally clear about the limits: no normalization without a credible, binding path toward a two-state agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

That condition has remained the cornerstone of Riyadh’s diplomatic posture even as several Arab and Muslim-majority states have moved toward formal ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords framework.

A Boost From Kazakhstan

The Saudi assessment was buoyed by Kazakhstan’s surprise entry into the Abraham Accords last week.

The Central Asian nation formally joined the U.S.-brokered normalization bloc during a three-way call between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Trump hailed the decision as the “first of many” new signatories expected during his second term, describing it as a milestone in expanding political and economic bridges “across the world.”

For Riyadh, Kazakhstan’s move is seen as a positive signal that regional and global states remain open to new diplomatic architectures — even amid the Middle East’s most severe crisis in decades.

Normalization Still Far Away, But the Path Is Reopening

Saudi officials cautioned that a breakthrough with Israel is not imminent and will depend entirely on changes in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

But the willingness to restore indirect U.S.-mediated communication represents a notable shift after a year of silence, cross-border escalation, and political hostility.

With MBS heading to Washington and Trump eager to expand his signature Abraham Accords, the next 10 days may quietly define the future of Middle East realignment — and determine whether Ramadan 2026 begins with a pathway to normalization or another diplomatic dead end.

U.S. Deputy Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus arrived in Beirut on Monday with a mission that cuts deeper than diplomacy.

Officially, she’s there to discuss Lebanon’s “monopoly on weapons.” In reality, her visit marks Washington’s clearest signal yet: Hezbollah’s disarmament is back on the table.

Fresh from a two-day tour of Israel — including a stop at the northern border — Ortagus enters Lebanon at a moment of escalating Israeli strikes and rising uncertainty.

Over the past week, Israeli forces have intensified their air operations across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, reportedly killing 11 people, including at least eight Hezbollah fighters. Israeli media say the group has been hit more than 365 times since the November 2024 ceasefire.

According to Al Arabiya, Ortagus’s visit is tied to the upcoming ceasefire supervision committee meeting on Wednesday. But behind the official agenda lies a deadline-driven strategy.

U.S. officials, the outlet reports, want Lebanon to take “concrete measures” within weeks — not months — to curb Hezbollah’s military reach and open the door for direct negotiations with Israel.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, insists its weapons are non-negotiable. “We are the resistance, and we will remain the resistance,” declared Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, describing Israel’s current advantage as “temporary.”

His rhetoric, though defiant, underscores the group’s vulnerability after months of attrition.

For Israel, the calculus is clear. Defense Minister Israel Katz has vowed to “take all necessary measures” to protect the country’s northern communities, hinting at further operations if Hezbollah refuses to back down.

During Ortagus’s Israel visit, Katz briefed her on what officials describe as Hezbollah’s quiet effort to rebuild its southern infrastructure — a move Jerusalem sees as a provocation.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is expected to meet Ortagus first, with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and newly appointed Ambassador Michel Issa set to follow in November.

Together, their visits mark a broader American effort to reshape Lebanon’s security landscape — and test whether Beirut is still capable of reining in a militia that acts as a state within a state.

The message is unmistakable: Washington’s patience with Hezbollah’s armed dominance is wearing thin.

As Israel pushes harder and Lebanon’s sovereignty hangs in the balance, Ortagus’s visit signals not just pressure — but the possibility of a reckoning.