Seth J. Frantzman

While the US and Iran continue to trade strikes after the Memorandum of Understanding, the question of an easy solution comes down to military advantages in the Gulf region.

After Iran's overnight strikes in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, Gulf states are beginning to realize Iran may not step back from its demands to control the Strait of Hormuz.

Ahmadinejad is one of many leaders and former leaders of Iran whose fates have been entwined with the war. Some reports suggested that Ahmadinejad might actually be helpful in some form.

Syria’s president is emerging from one set of success stories, with the French leader's visit, to another potential success at the NATO summit.

Iran appears to be testing Gulf states and the US with renewed maritime pressure in the Strait of Hormuz, risking wider regional instability.

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa is also expected to travel to Turkey to hold meetings on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the following days.

Iran’s envoy to the Houthis resurfaced in Sana’a as the militia pushes for a Tehran air route and signals Iran’s effort to preserve its regional axis after major losses.

Hamas has its messaging, and it wants to stir the pot and confuse everyone by obfuscating whether it will give up power that it was never supposed to have.

Qedesh sits on the border of Lebanon. It is an ancient site dating to an era when this land was Canaan and later to the early Israeli Kingdoms. Later it became a Phoenician city linked to Tyre.

Macron visited Lebanon in January 2025, and Saudi Arabia in December 2024, attempting to increase France’s role in the region.