Holiday Recap: Lebanon and Syria
By Sammy Tisser,
Lebanon's army arrested three men in the Bekaa Valley, including a relative of ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and the son of a notorious Lebanese drug trafficker, caught using narcotics. A security source said the Syrian detainee, a cousin's son of Assad, is a civilian rather than a former regime officer. It's the latest sign of warming Beirut-Damascus ties since Assad's fall in 2024, following an earlier arrest of a former Syrian intelligence officer and last month's extradition of an ex-Assad general wanted for murder and torture.
Separately, Turkey's foreign minister, visiting Damascus, accused Israel of trying to destabilize Syria through repeated strikes, citing last month's bombing of the Abu Duhur airbase. Syria's foreign minister called the strike unjustified but said it wouldn't affect ties with Ankara, while demanding Israel withdraw from territory it entered after Assad's ouster.
On the Israel-Lebanon track, US-mediated talks on disarming Hezbollah and withdrawing Israeli forces from the south, set for Rome next week, have been pushed to October, officially over scheduling but amid Israeli elections and Hezbollah resistance. President Aoun said no new talks are currently planned but pledged to keep pressing for withdrawal and reconstruction.
A Lebanese official said continued Israeli strikes, including a fresh round near Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Tel al-Dabsha with no reported casualties, are complicating disarmament efforts.
Saudi pipeline attack and the Strait of Hormuz
Drone strikes forced a shutdown of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline near Riyadh and Medina, injuring several people. Iraq says the drones launched from its territory, dismissed the local military commander, and closed several Iran border crossings while hunting suspects; a Tehran-backed militia coalition denies involvement. Trump said he believes Iran was probably responsible.
Traders warn Saudi Arabia could exhaust export stockpiles within days if the line stays down, with repair estimates ranging from days to over a month. Iraq's PM has since agreed to a joint investigation with Iran into drone launch platforms found near their shared border.
Meanwhile, the US has cut tanker air-defense coverage near Oman to two windows daily amid intensifying Iranian attacks on shipping. An Iranian commercial vessel was struck off Qeshm Island, killing one and injuring three, amid a string of explosions in the area.
An Iranian source says an understanding with Oman lays groundwork for eventually reopening the strait, contingent on US concessions. Trump said he's unconcerned about a separate Iran-Gulf states meeting on the strait, and predicted the wider war would wind down around the US midterms, bringing oil prices down. In Dublin, he also said things on Hormuz "will work out just fine," and separately warned Zelensky against striking Russian diesel infrastructure over fuel-shortage concerns.
Yemen's civil war
Houthi forces captured Yemen's Red Sea coast and the city of Mokha, tightening control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a key Saudi export route. Saudi-backed government forces say they've struck back near Mokha. The offensive has killed over 500 people and displaced about 46,000, per the UN.
Houthis also claimed strikes on a Saudi base in Sharurah; Saudi Arabia reportedly hit back near Saada, and a Houthi projectile wounded two people near the Saudi border.
Iran's standoff with the US, China, and the region
The Wall Street Journal reports US officials have tied Chinese satellite imagery to Iran's July strike on a US base in Jordan that killed three American troops, the first US combat deaths since an April ceasefire collapsed. China's embassy denied wrongdoing without addressing the specific claim, a disclosure landing ahead of a planned Trump-Xi summit.
President Pezeshkian said on social media that Iran "won't surrender," accusing the US of targeting civilian infrastructure and food and water access. At the BRICS summit in New Delhi, he said the Middle East doesn't need the US as a "regional policeman." Xi Jinping told the summit the war serves no one's interests, and BRICS members issued a joint call for restraint.
Iran's president also met the UAE's crown prince, with both sides saying they want to reset relations. Bahrain said it won't discuss Hormuz with Iran until diplomatic ties, cut in 2016, are restored. Russia's Rosatom said it plans to raise its specialist staff at Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant to 150.
Separately, Iranian state media reported clashes in Sistan-Baluchistan province that killed three security personnel and four alleged militants in a joint Revolutionary Guards operation targeting a planned attack in Saravan.
Detained Americans in Iran
New York jeweler Kamran Hekmati was released from Tehran's Evin prison after serving half his sentence but remains barred from leaving Iran; his family says he needs ongoing cancer monitoring. US officials continue pressing for his release along with journalist Reza Valizadeh and up to eight other unnamed detained Americans.
Gaza, West Bank, and the Doha strike's aftermath
Israeli strikes killed two people identified as Hamas operatives in Gaza City, and separately two Hamas engineers accused of developing weapons in violation of the ceasefire. An off-duty Israeli soldier was suspended after firing on Palestinians in al-Mughayyir following a clash involving settlers and residents.
In a taped address to a security conference in Ukraine, Jared Kushner said the administration used Israel's global isolation after its strike on Hamas leaders in Doha last year as leverage to push Israel toward the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, calling the Doha strike a failed operation that nonetheless helped produce an outcome both sides now welcome.
Topics: Iran, Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon & Hezbollah
Reported by Sammy Tisser for Bernie News Network. See our editorial standards and corrections policy.