10 Aug 2025 14:13 PM Abdel Massih to MTV: Israel has not given guarantees to the Americans, the French, or any other party, but today we must work toward a unified authority and a single decision, not a fragmented sovereignty
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Ya Libnan
2 hours ago
- Ya Libnan
Lebanon FM: 'Even if I had the time I wouldn't have received' Larijani
In an interview with MTV Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raji responded to a statement by Ali Larijani, the visiting Secretary of the Supreme Council of National Security of Iran, in which he justified that he did not meet with Raji 'due to the lack of time', by saying: 'Even if I had the time, I wouldn't have received him.' Larijani had met with President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hezbollah and Iran. Several politicians called on President Aoun to cancel Larijani's visit to Lebanon, but he reportedly decided to meet him anyway with the aim of sending Tehran a clear message : 'No group in Lebanon is permitted to bear arms or rely on foreign backing. The Lebanese cabinet decided last week to disarm Hezbollah and all militias in Lebanon based on UN resolutions 1701 and 1559 but Hezbollah and iran rejected the decision
Nahar Net
2 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Russia in major Ukraine advance ahead of Trump-Putin meet in Alaska
by Naharnet Newsdesk 13 August 2025, 15:10 Russia's offensive in eastern Ukraine was gaining speed and seizing more ground Wednesday ahead of a summit in Alaska between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. According to an AFP analysis of battlefield data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces have made their biggest 24-hour advance into Ukraine in more than a year. And, as battle raged, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders met to hold urgent online talks with Trump, hoping to convince him to respect Kyiv's interests during Friday's looming summit with Putin. Zelensky flew to Berlin and met Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday before both were to be joined online by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders as well as the heads of the EU and NATO. They were then all set to hold a second call with Trump and Vice President JD Vance -- an effort Russia's foreign ministry branded "politically and practically insignificant" and an attempt at "sabotaging" US and Russian efforts to end the conflict. Zelensky has not been invited to the Alaska meeting, fueling fears Kyiv could be forced into painful concessions. The Ukrainian president said on social media Tuesday that "we see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war. On the contrary, they are making movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations." With the world's eyes on the Alaska summit, Russia has made rapid advances this week in a narrow but important section of the front line in Ukraine's east. An AFP analysis of data from Institute for the Study of War showed that the Russian army took or claimed 110 square kilometers (42.5 square miles) on August 12 compared to the previous day. It was the most since late May 2024. In recent months, Moscow has typically taken five or six days to progress at such a pace, although Russian advances have accelerated in recent weeks. - 'Fair peace' - Zelensky acknowledged Tuesday that Russian troops had advanced by up to 10 kilometers (six miles) near the eastern coal mining town of Dobropillia, but said that Kyiv would soon "destroy them." Russia -- which currently has full or partial control over 19 percent of Ukrainian territory -- said Wednesday that it had taken two villages close to Dobropillia. The Russian military fired at least 49 drones and two ballistic missiles at Ukraine during the night, the Ukrainian air force said Wednesday. At least three people were killed in Russian artillery and drone attacks on the southern Kherson region, regional officials said. In the Donetsk region, authorities announced they had evacuated 1,200 people including 42 children from front line areas since Tuesday. Ahead of his arrival in Berlin, Zelensky, whose team has spoken with more than 30 international allies in a few days, said "pressure must be exerted on Russia for the sake of a fair peace". "We must learn from the experience of Ukraine and our partners to prevent deception on the part of Russia. There are currently no signs that the Russians are preparing to end the war," he said in a social media statement. - 'Listening exercise' - German government spokesman Steffen Meyer said the main aim of Wednesday's talks was to ensure that "Ukraine must be able to determine its own destiny and take control of its own future". "No decisions should be made over the heads of the Ukrainian people," he said. The fact that Zelensky had traveled to Berlin also showed that "Putin's attempts to drive a wedge between Europe and Ukraine, which we have seen time and again, have not been successful", he said. Trump on Monday played down the possibility of a breakthrough in Alaska but said he expected "constructive conversations" with Putin. "This is really a feel-out meeting a little bit," Trump said. But he added that eventually "there'll be some swapping, there'll be some changes in land". Trump's spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the aim was "for the president to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war". "I think this is a listening exercise for the president." Zelensky meanwhile has called the Alaska encounter a "personal victory" for Putin.
L'Orient-Le Jour
3 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
European powers tell UN they are ready to reimpose Iran sanctions
Britain, France and Germany have told the United Nations they are ready to reimpose U.N.-mandated sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme if no diplomatic solution is found by the end of August, according to a joint letter released Wednesday. The letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the U.N. Security Council says the three European powers are "committed to use all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon". "Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons under any circumstances," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X, posting a copy of the letter. "If Iran continues to violate its international obligations, France and its German and British partners will reimpose the global embargoes on arms, nuclear equipment and banking restrictions that were lifted 10 years ago at the end of August," Barrot added. In the letter, the foreign ministers from the so-called E3 group threaten to use a "snapback mechanism" that was part of a 2015 international deal with Iran that eased U.N. Security Council sanctions. Under the deal, which terminates in October, any party to the accord can restore the sanctions. All three have stepped up warnings to Iran about its suspension of cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA.) That came after Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June, partly seeking to destroy its nuclear capability. The United States staged its own bombing raid during the war. "We have made clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism," said the foreign ministers of France, Britain and of Germany. All three countries were signatories to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with the United States, China and Russia that offered the carrot and stick deal for Iran to slow its enrichment of uranium needed for a nuclear weapon. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the accord in 2018 during his first term and ordered new sanctions. The European countries said they would stick to the accord. But their letter sets out engagements that the ministers say Iran has breached, including building up a uranium stock to more than 40 times the permitted level under the 2015 deal. "The E3 remain fully committed to a diplomatic resolution to the crisis caused by Iran's nuclear programme and will continue to engage with a view to reaching a negotiated solution. "We are equally ready, and have unambiguous legal grounds, to notify the significant non-performance of JCPOA commitments by Iran (...) thereby triggering the snapback mechanism, should no satisfactory solution be reached by the end of August 2025," the ministers wrote in the letter. End of cooperation The United States had already started contacts with Iran, which denies seeking a weapon, over its nuclear activities. But these were halted by the Israeli strikes in June on Iran's nuclear facilities. Even before the strikes, the international powers had raised concerns about the lack of access given to IAEA inspectors. Iran halted all cooperation with the IAEA after the strikes, but it announced that the agency's deputy chief was expected in Teheran for talks on a new cooperation deal. Last month Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a letter to the U.N. saying that the European countries did not have the legal right to restore sanctions. The European ministers called this allegation "unfounded". They insisted that as JCPOA signatories, they would be "clearly and unambiguously legally justified in using relevant provisions" of U.N. resolutions "to trigger U.N. snapback to reinstate UNSC resolutions against Iran which would prohibit enrichment and re-impose U.N. sanctions."
