ISRAEL

A top Iranian aide's admission that deftly packaged the economic misery inside a defiant tone is perhaps an acknowledgement by the regime that its citizens could be getting more and more frustrated by the endless contours of the war. The Iranian regime also perhaps fears an uprising if the misery mounts.

The post-war strategy is being guided by the political strategists of the Trump administration in coordination with various US agencies. President Donald Trump himself has reportedly attended two meetings with senior aides in the recent weeks on the strategy. Trump has hinted ithat Washington is working on "something much bigger" in the Middle East after the war with Iran.

Tehran also threatened Israel, saying that if the country attacks, "we will target it faster and more heavily than before."

Iran has reportedly warned the U.S. that it will target Israel if it attacks a ridge in Lebanon where military members are holed up along with Hezbollah fighters.

The US and Iran had agreed on a deal in June to pave the way for an end to the conflict. The broader terms of a peace deal were to be chalked out in 60 days. The 60-day period has ended but there has been no significant progress in backchannel negotiations as the US and Iran failed to reach a consensus on the management of the contentious Strait of Hormuz.

This is Mohsen Rezai's most extensive public statement since taking over as head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Rezai's defiant tone has been interpreted by many as a hardening of stance by Tehran amid diplomatic efforts to bring back Iran and Washington to the negotiating table.

Comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf indicate that moderate elements in Iran's political leadership think that after focussing on ending the war, the country needs to resuscitate its ailing economy.

Iran is trying to rally international opinion against what it sees as the perceived discriminatory tariffs and sanctions regime, backed to the hilt by the Trump administration, as a tool to spur a rallying cry against US actions globally. Tehran hopes that such a step would, in effect, put the US administration in an isolated position globally.

Kushner is also meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make advancements on the Israeli side of the agreement.

Netanyahu described that the United Kingdom as the "first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon." A UK government spokesperson labelled the remarks as "completely unacceptable" and said that the issue had been raised with the Israeli government. The remarks come amid mounting political isolation faced by Israel over its aggresive Gaza stance.

A defiant Iran has said the United States and should accept defeat and President Donald Trump termed Iran as evil as the war of words and the Middle East conflict continues unabated. Iran's defiance is seen as a sign of proclaiming to the global community that Tehran has no urgency to end the war

President Donald Trump left Turkey on a plane other than the Air Force One due to a credible Iranian threat, according to a recent report. Another article said U.S. intelligence officials had low confidence of such an attack taking place.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will begin removing nuclear material from Syria after an agreement brokered by the United States.

The company, Irregular, is a three-year-old Tel Aviv startup that provides specialized testing environments designed to probe the capabilities and potential security risks of increasingly powerful AI systems.

Tehran's top diplomat also said even if Iran strikes a deal with Oman to secure a trade route through the contentious Strait of Hormuz, that wouldn't ensure peace. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has reiterated that IRGC's demands should be met by the Washington to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting that Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas is "genuinely disarmed." Though the stress was on Hamas giving up all of its weapons before any pull-back, analysts say the move was more of a symbolic statement to boost his electoral fortunes. This is Israel's first polls since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

President Trump privately confronted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David last week over the issue. Trump was miffed after learning that U.S. missile stockpiles had been depleted far more severely than he had believed.

The Republican playbook aims to steer the discourse away from being a referendum on US President Donald Trump's war on Iran, its impact on the economy and the rock-bottom approval ratings alarming even the MAGA base. It will instead harp on the dangers of the activist Left holding the Democratic camp hostage and throw in heaps of anti-Israel rhetoric.

The deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would exclude American and Israeli ships from transiting, according to Iran's state outlet Fars.

Board of Peace Gaza envoy Nickolay Mladenov lamented recent Israeli strikes in the enclave, saying his team is working to de-escalate the situation.

The US President announced that Israel has agreed to the latest proposal for peace, worked out by the American allies in the Middle East. Iran is yet to comment on Trump's reported statement.The development came a day after he hinted that the US president hinted that the US forces were close to resuming heavy military strikes to force Tehran to come to the negotiating table.