Houthis on the offensive!

In the early hours of yesterday (Friday 14th August 2026) Middle East Spectator (MES) reported on Ansar Allah forces (a.k.a. Houthis) “advancing rapidly and surrounding the city of Marib, held by Saudi-backed forces”, with sources on the ground saying that an offensive to capture the city is possible within the coming hours days, if Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul Malik Al-Houthi orders it. At the same time, the Houthis initiated also an offensive against Saudi-backed forces in Mokha, a strategic port city on the Red Sea, advancing along several sectors and capturing multiple strategic positions (e.g. the towns of Al-‘Uraysh and Mafraq Al-Mukha, on the 423 Road to the port city of Mokha and cutting off the Taiz-Al Hodeidah Road south of Hays, in the Al-Khawkha sector), after clashing with Saudi-backed mercenaries, forcing them to withdraw from some of their defensive positions around Hays, as reported by MES (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5):

Yesterday evening the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) struck the Mokha port with ballistic missiles, destroying a large cargo shipment of Saudi weapons and killing dozens of Saudi-backed mercenaries, as reported by MES (1, 2, 3 and 4):

…and as confirmed later by YAF spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree (sources: Saba and Al Mayadeen). The photo and video below shared by MES (1 and 2) earlier today (Saturday 15th August 2026) showed that Yemeni missile strikes have largely destroyed the Saudi-controlled Mokha port, which - in fact - has announced the suspension of all operations until further notice:

As if the above was not enough, a Yemeni drone attack hit a Saudi Aramco oil storage tank in Najran, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), in response to Saudi violations of Yemeni airspace in Saada, as reported by Saba, Al Mayadeen and MES (1 and 2), according to which “Saudi-backed forces have suffered 350+ deaths, a thousand injured, and lost dozens of armored vehicles, tanks, trucks, and cargo ships full of equipment, before their offensive against the Houthis could even begin” since the buildup of Saudi-backed forces near Mokha and Marib started ~1 month ago.

The Saudi terrorists responded overnight firing artillery on residential areas in the border district of Baqim, northwest of Saada province in northern Yemen, as per Al Mayadeen. However, the YAF retaliated with new strikes on Saudi-backed forces in Marib earlier tonight, resulting in dozens of dead and injured, according to MES (1, 2 and 3), which also revealed that Iran provided YAF with 4-element GNSS1 guidance modules and anti-jamming capabilities for their ballistic missiles, using “a combination of Russian and Iranian satellites to provide more accuracy in the terminal guidance phase”.

Meanwhile, the Political Bureau of the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen extended its congratulations to Hezbollah and its Secretary-General Naim Qassem on the 20th anniversary of the July 2006 war, labelled a “glorious epic in the history of the nation” and stating that Hezbollah…

with its victories and sacrifices, painted a bright picture of pride and dignity, and through its jihad and the wisdom of its leadership, presented an honorable model for the Arab and Islamic nation and for all the free people of the world. [Source: Al Mayadeen]

On the other hand, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) received Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of the US Central Command, to discuss defense cooperation and regional developments, as reported by Al Mayadeen, citing Saudi Press Agency.

Moving to Lebanon, over the last few days Little Satan (a.k.a. Israel) has escalated its attacks in the south of the country, with artillery shelling, explosive strikes and drone attacks on Wadi Zibqin, the vicinity of Ali al-Taher Hill, the Al-Mashaa area in Mansouri in the Tyre district, the towns of Hadatha and Taybeh only in the night between last Thursday 13th and Friday 14th August 2026, as per Al Mayadeen. Additional attacks yesterday targeted the outskirts of Kfar Chouba, Bani Hayyan, Ali al-Taher, Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Kounine, Markaba, Majdal Zoun and Mansouri, as reported by Al Mayadeen.

On occasion of the 20th anniversary of the 2006 victory of the so-called July War, yesterday Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem gave a speech criticizing the Lebanese government for engaging in direct negotiations with the Anglo-Zionist enemy and blasting the so-called “trilateral framework agreement”. You can either watch/listen to the full speech in the video below from RNN Mirror or you can read my highlights from Al Manar, Al Mayadeen and its Short News underneath:

The response [to the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei] also summarized the pain we endured for 15 months of Israeli violations. The result was that the aggressive Israeli war was opened on Lebanon.

If the war had not been opened on 2nd March [2026], it would have been opened later in March, because the Israelis were ready for it and because they want to carry out this wide-scale aggressive act.

For us, the war was an aggressive, existential war. Therefore, we confronted it with a Karbala-like confrontation, because we considered we had one of two choices: either we fall and surrender and the Israelis win, or we remain steadfast and defeat the Israeli project. Whoever bets on our surrender is betting on a mirage. Even if there is an asymmetry of power, we will not surrender.

The framework agreement is neither an agreement nor a framework; rather, it is “israeli” dictates signed by the government.

Everyone who watched the scene in Washington saw one team called the American-Israeli team. As for the Lebanese team, it was subordinate and was implementing what America said.

[Addressing the Lebanese government] Give us one achievement that was made in the seven rounds. The Israeli enemy got everything and everything it wants. Our problem with the agreement is, first, the direct negotiations, because you give Israel in advance what it wants. And second, the entire content. The government must return to its people and admit its failure.

Isn’t it enough for this authority what the Israeli enemy has done and what it does daily of aggressive practices: demolishing homes and villages, occupying land, and killing people?

What is this innovation you called “experimental areas”? Zawtar al-Gharbiya, which was not occupied, is now “experimental” on the condition that Israel allows you to enter it? From the liberated lands, do we say there is liberation? Or is this giving Israel guarantees to deploy in the liberated lands under the pretext of “investigation” and that it wants to supervise the Lebanese reality.

What is happening in Al-Mansouri, even though it is a liberated village? Yet the Israelis displaced its people and prevented the Lebanese Army from entering. At the very least you should have walked out of the session, and you didn’t. And you should have said we are stopping negotiations because there is no withdrawal.

We know that the American tells you behind closed doors that they cannot do anything with the Israeli enemy because they support its steps.

At least respond to [Israeli “Defense” Minister Israel] Katz and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu with a position.

I call on you to backtrack from this sinful mistake, this shameful mistake, this humiliating mistake, this mistake that raises question marks about what these officials are doing.

We do not accept surrender. We will remain standing, steadfast. We do not accept the violation of our country’s sovereignty and for the blood of martyrs to be wasted.

This accumulation [of mistakes] destroys the country, harms the country, and harms the future.

Our bet is on the Resistance, the people, and the patriots.

The steadfastness of the Resistance and Iran placing the issue of Lebanon as a first condition in the Islamabad understanding document is what curbed the Israeli enemy.

Some say that 300,000 citizens returned because of the “Framework Agreement”. This is laughable. What brought people back is the Islamabad Agreement, and what stopped the ceasefire in its wide form is the Islamabad Agreement.

Our position today is that we are on the path of the absent Imam Mousa al-Sadr2, who announced that Israel is absolute evil and that the South can only smile. And we continue on the path of the Master of the Martyrs of the Nation, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who gave a lot for decades to establish this equation and bring victories. He was the leader of the great victory in July, and he sponsored the Truthful Promise, and the great result we obtained came.

This Resistance is a defensive case. The wars were imposed on us and we are defending. We accept a ceasefire because we are defending, but the enemy wants war. However, we do not surrender even if the pains are great.

The South must be the central issue today. The displaced must be secured, as must shelter, aid, and reconstruction of damages. And the State is responsible before any other party. It is true that we are taking on helping, cooperating, and exerting maximum effort, but the origin is that the state must do its duty, and this is what we will strive for.

[Addressing Lebanese families] Any words we say cannot be an atom compared to what you have given in sacrifices and giving. We see you as great. You are the crown on our heads. We tell you that we will die for you and we will fight to the last drop of blood, and we are together in one trench.

It is your right to be angry and to express it, but we ask you to store this anger and prepare to use it at the time when it is due to achieve your goals and demands.

Anger has a time, and it can explode. How does it explode? Let those who do not know how to work and try to work against the Resistance and the people of the Resistance bear responsibility.

Responsibility falls on those who attack the Resistance, the people of the Resistance, Lebanon, the future of Lebanon, and the sovereignty of Lebanon.

[Addressing the Resistance fighters] O crown of our heads, title of pride, example of devotion and sacrifice, and lights of liberation and independence. You are victorious in this world and the hereafter. And we are honored that we are together in the battle of liberation, pride, and human dignity.

We are indebted to our martyrs and our great ones who preceded us to the heights and paved the way for us for a better future. Our martyrs placed a trust on our necks. We will preserve it and we will continue upon it. Our martyrs are the honorable title at the level of Lebanon, the cause of Palestine, and at the level of the whole world, because they are a model of sacrifice and giving.

May God bless you for this great sacrifice that you bore for this great march.

We will not abandon the prisoners. We will continue to demand, strive, and work for their release, God willing.

God willing, we will have rounds of victory. And with all the pain we must endure, because we are standing. And our standing is a station among the stations of victory.

This operation [Truthful Promise of 2006] was necessary to fulfill the pledge that we do not leave our prisoners in prison. So how could we change the equation without confrontation and pressure on the Israeli enemy, who only understands the language of force? This operation, in the known military sense, did not warrant launching a war for it. But it later became clear that the Israelis, in cooperation with the Americans, were preparing for a major war in September 2006.

This [2006] war ended with the defeat of the Israeli enemy, this arrogant enemy and those behind it, America, at the hands of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon and all the honorable resistance fighters, within the framework of the triad of Army, People, and Resistance. And among the results of this operation was the release of prisoners and detainees held by the occupation.

The enemy submitted to this Resistance, to this people, and to steadfast and confrontational Lebanon. Among the results is that deterrence remained in place against the Israeli enemy from 2006 to 2023. This is evidence of the importance of the Resistance. This is a model showing that the Resistance is capable of changing the equation. This is an existing, ongoing experience.

Early this morning, after getting US approval, IDF3 special forces attempted to advance and infiltrate the underground Hezbollah fortress at Ali Al-Taher hill in southern Nabatieh, however one of their armored vehicles was struck by a Hezbollah drone or ATGM4, wounding three soldiers of the Yahalom special engineering unit. The IDF responded dispatching several helicopters to evacuate the casualties and also with airstrikes, artillery and small arms fire, as reported by Al Mayadeen and MES (1, 2 and 3), according to which Hezbollah still controls the hill. Little Satan reacted with rage, committing a massacre in a populated residential building in the town of Ansar, South Lebanon, resulting in at least 7 martyrs and 3 wounded, while two airstrikes on residential buildings in Deir al-Zahrani resulted in 2 martyrs and 9 injured, according to preliminary reports by Al Mayadeen, Tasnim and RNN Mirror:

Israeli warplanes struck also Wadi Adsheet al-Qusayr and the town of Mansouri in the Tyre district, while Israeli troops attacked the Hula area (source: Mehr).

The latest massacres triggered the reactions by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and two of the US puppets in Lebanon: President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, as reported by Al Mayadeen (1 and 2), while Hezbollah issued the following statement (sources: Al Mayadeen, Mehr and RNN Mirror):

The Lebanese woke up at dawn today to the sound of an aggressive escalation and a brutal massacre committed by the criminal zionist enemy against safe civilians in the south, by targeting a house on the outskirts of the southern town of Ansar and a building in Deir Zahrani. This led to the martyrdom of eleven martyrs, including children and women, and left twelve wounded, in a textbook crime added to the enemy's record replete with massacres, crimes, the shedding of Lebanese blood, the blowing up of their homes, the bulldozing of their fields, and the erasing of the features of their villages.

This "israeli" escalation, by targeting civilians and expanding the circle of targeted areas, expresses the desire and will of the criminal enemy Prime Minister Netanyahu to escalate the war to bolster his domestic political reality, serve his electoral goals, and appease the extreme right. This persistence in aggression and violation of Lebanon's sovereignty is the responsibility of the enemy government and the United States, which provides support and cover for it. Meanwhile, the Lebanese authorities must seek available ways to stop this aggression and not insist on continuing down the path of humiliating direct negotiations and offering free gifts to the enemy, despite all the crimes and attacks it commits, and its declared aggressive and expansionist intentions toward Lebanon.

It is high time for the authorities to comprehensively review their calculations in a way that preserves Lebanon's sovereignty and rights, instead of persisting in policies that have proven their inability to protect Lebanon and its people. They must take a national, courageous, and responsible stance, stop chasing after the negotiations dragged into by the American, and realize that betting on American guarantees and mediation is a failed bet. The American is a partner to the "israeli" enemy in its crimes and massacres against Lebanon. The recent, insolent, and blackmailing statement by the US ambassador to Lebanon, in which he called for surrendering the resistance's weapons while he is required to pressure the "israeli" enemy to withdraw from the areas it occupies, is nothing but confirmation that what the American seeks is the interest and security of the "israeli" enemy at the expense of Lebanon's sovereignty and its people.

All Lebanese, in all their components, must realize the danger of the approach taken by these authorities toward Lebanon, its unity, security, and independence. The "israeli" enemy must understand very well that its attacks, transgressions, and attempts to impose a fait accompli cannot continue, and they will be met with an appropriate response in defense of Lebanon, its people, its sovereignty, and its national dignity.

Judging by the last sentence, it looks like Hezbollah may finally start a heavy retaliation against the Zionists, if the aggression on South Lebanon continues!

Moving to Iran, yesterday its Minister of Culture Abbas Salehi tweeted the following remarks on X commenting on the speech delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem (see also Tasnim):

Sheikh Naim Qassem reminded today: The Islamabad Memorandum, on the condition of no aggression against Lebanon, restrained Israel's attack and enabled 300,000 people to return to their homeland.

His appreciation for Iran's role and the Islamabad Memorandum indicates the coordination between diplomacy and Resistance.
Let us not misinterpret the Memorandum.

Last Thursday, 13th August 2026, its Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Gholamhossein Darzi sent a letter to the UN Secretary‑General António Guterres and the President of the UN Security Council (UNSC) rejecting unsubstantiated allegations made by the US representative and other UNSC members saying that Tehran is destabilizing Yemen or using commercial flights to Sana’a to transfer military personnel or equipment, as reported by Mehr (full text on IRNA). In the letter Gholamhossein Darzi wrote that…

The recent flights from Iran to Sana’a have been humanitarian in nature.

…and exposed the US double-standards stating (all emphasis added):

Washington’s military actions against Yemen in March 2025 violated the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and were contrary to the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions.

It is therefore highly significant that the same regime whose actions have repeatedly undermined peace, violated Yemen’s sovereignty and resorted to unlawful force in flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law is now seeking to accuse Iran of destabilizing Yemen.

Iran will continue to support a peaceful, inclusive and comprehensive political process that is Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned, under the auspices of the United Nations, as the only viable and sustainable way to resolve the conflict.

Yesterday the Shura Council of the Iranian Parliament “approved the principles of a bill aimed at securing the Strait of Hormuz and prohibiting the passage of equipment belonging to hostile states through the waterway”, as per Al Mayadeen and Tasnim, which quoted Valiollah Bayati, spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s Committee on Internal Affairs and Councils, as saying that approved provisions include:

ban on the transit and transportation through Hormuz of equipment and supplies belonging to the United States, the Israeli entity, and hostile states.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi touched upon this matter with a few tweets on X and celebrating Islamic Resistance Day on 14th August (1, 2 and 3) - see also Al Mayadeen, IRNA (1, 2 and 3), Fars, Tasnim (1 and 2) and Mehr (1 and 2 - all emphasis mine):

The oil pollution of the shores of Qeshm Island stems from the repercussions of foreign military aggression in the region. Such damages inflicted upon the environment of the Iranian coastal areas of the Persian Gulf further underscore the pressing necessity for Iran, as the coastal state, to define and implement a management mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has said that after Iran's defeat, he will soon declare the Strait of Hormuz as US territory! [See video below]
The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech. Iran neither fears threats nor cowers before displays of power.

Once and for all, accept the reality: up to this point, you have suffered strategic and heavy defeats; the Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian; this strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command, and as long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and cease your fanciful delusions, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade.

August 14, Islamic Resistance Day, serves as a reminder of standing firm against aggression and the defeat of calculations based on brute force. After two decades, regional developments have once again demonstrated that the resistance and steadfastness of nations against aggression continue to hold a decisive position in the regional equations.

Here is US President Donald J. Trump’s statement Gharibabadi referred to (from MES - see also Al Mayadeen)

And after we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated -- pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.

We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to.

You can see that even Trump himself does not believe in his own lies, since he chuckles! By the way, this morning Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei criticized the US foreign policy based on lies and deception with the following tweet on X (see also Al Mayadeen, IRNA, Fars, Tasnim and Mehr):

This passage from Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov” aptly describes the situation in which the U.S. system of governance & foreign policy regarding Iran and the region finds itself due to its extreme reliance on “lies”:

“The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others”.
The Brothers Karamazov,
Fyodor Dostoevsky

…and he also condemned the “brutal attacks” launched by Little Satan on South Lebanon, calling for an immediate halt to the aggression and for withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied Lebanese territory, while slamming the continued silence and inaction of the UNSC, as reported by Al Mayadeen.

Getting back to Hormuz, earlier today Baghaei announced that Iran and Oman have “reached an agreement on a navigation movement map”, as per Al Mayadeen, while Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, head of Iran's judiciary, tweeted on X (see also Fars and Mehr - all emphasis added):

The owner and ruler of the Strait of Hormuz is Islamic Iran. The boot of imperialism will never rub against the Strait of Hormuz.

The nonsense and fabrications of the criminal President of America regarding the Strait of Hormuz stem from the delusions of this featherbrained.

Trump is a complete loser on the hard ground of politics and military combat; what consoles the troubled mind of this germ of ugliness and corruption is precisely his virtual antics and posturing.

Trump and his advisors must know that what multi-billion-dollar aircraft carriers failed to achieve cannot be attained with a few tweets and speeches.

…whereas IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Ozmaei stated very clearly that…

The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Our control over movements is complete and decisive.

No movement in this strait escapes the eyes of the IRGC Navy fighters.

The reality should be seen in the field, not in the communiqués and statements of US officials. [Sources: Tasnim and Mehr - all emphasis mine]

To prove it, Iran has downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone in the skies of Hormozgan Province (southern Iran - sources: Al Mayadeen, Fars, Tasnim, Mehr (1 and 2), MES and Fotros Resistance) and targeted at least 4 vessels in the Strait of Hormuz over the last 2-3 days, as reported by Mehr (1, 2 and 3), MES (1 and 2) and confirmed by UKMTO (United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations) on X (1, 2 and 3):

…while the IRGC5 Aerospace Force has put on display a huge collection of captured American and Israeli drones (MQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-1, RQ-170, MQ-9, Hermes 900, Hermes 450, etc.) as well as the remains of an F-15 fighter jet destroyed on 3rd April 2026 at one of its underground air defense bases, as per Fars (1, 2 and 3), Mehr, Fotros Resistance and MES (1 and 2), which also reported that “Iranian engineers have already begun to reverse engineer the equipment, especially the advanced optics and surveillance parts”:

In the following message addressing members of Iran’s Armed Forces, Police, Basij6, tribal forces and intelligence personnel, IRGC Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi praised Iranian forces for their efforts against “the most bloodthirsty enemies of humanity” (sources: Al Mayadeen, IRNA, Fars and Tasnim):

You, relying on Almighty God and fighting victoriously under extremely difficult conditions—from the scorching heat and heavy humidity of the Southern islands and coasts to the freezing temperatures of the towering border mountains in the North—brought the most heavily armed army in the history of the world to its knees through successful offensive and defensive operations under heavy fire.

Brigadier General Mohammad Bagherzadeh, Commander of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff's Committee for Missing Personnel, addressed a letter to the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, telling her that there is credible information indicating that the three Iranian pilots who went missing during an operation on 2nd March 2026 in response to USsraeli attacks on Iran (Javad Salehi, Abdolmajid Dashtian and Omran Behraveshian) were captured alive by Qatari forces. In the letter he accused Qatar “of ignoring and violating the inalienable rights of Iranian prisoners over the past six months, contrary to all international laws and regulations, including the Geneva Conventions” and he urged the ICRC to follow up on this case, as reported by IRNA, Fars, Tasnim, Mehr (1 and 2) and MES. However, earlier tonight, Qatar denied that the three Iranian pilots had been captured alive, saying that they had searched for remains but could not locate anything (source: MES).

Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali criticized the silence of international bodies on the USraeli killing of 168 students and staff of the Minab school on the first day of the Ramadan War (28th February 2026 - see my article and this translation). Here is what he wrote on X (see also IRNA and Mehr):

168 days have passed since that Black Saturday, and the calendar continues its bloody countdown; each day—a scar, symbolizing each of the 168 white-winged doves of Shajarat Taybeh elementary school in Minab, whose dreams were turned to ash by the cruelty of a Tomahawk missile. These 168 days — a silent but living cry of 168 children, upon whom international organizations and governments turned a blind eye on this black day in history. The sorrowful scar of empty chairs and lost innocence never ages. How can the world remain silent in the face of this outrageous crime? A school in Minab shared a story about #child_murder as part of #American_Human_Rights.

Iran’s Ambassador to Germany Majid Nili commented thusly on a new report on the surge in global arms transfers (sources: IRNA and Mehr - all emphasis added):

The rise in costs and the transfer of military equipment in recent years has once again shown that an arms-driven approach not only fails to bring lasting security but also exposes the world to a new cycle of instability and insecurity.

Yet there is another point to consider: the recent acts of aggression by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran once again revealed a reality: lasting security cannot be built with bombs, nuclear arsenals, and military bases. Instead, history, culture, national cohesion, and, above all, morality and international law are the true pillars of peace and security.

Mohammad Mokhber, adviser and aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, stated that…

The definite strategy of the Leader to make the war offensive if Iran’s conditions are not fulfilled will undoubtedly change the equations of power in the world.

With the inability of the United States to protect its allies in the Persian Gulf, the most sustainable way for a new order in the region is the implementation of the economic-security mechanism of Hormuz, independent of Washington’s military guarantees.

…as quoted by Mehr, whereas Ebrahim Azizi, Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, warned that…

Any regional destabilization resulting from reliance on foreign influence will face a decisive response from Iran.

As long as you surrender to the enemies of Islam, your sovereignty will remain at risk and your national standing will be weakened. [Source: Tasnim]

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted by Mehr as saying that the Islamabad Memorandum of (Mis)Understanding or MoUMoM provided an “end to the war”, but the Outlaw US Empire violated it and resumed fighting:

We did not have a ceasefire to extend; we had an end to the war, which has now entered a new situation.

No decision has yet been taken to resume talks with America.

The [shipping] routes that previously existed [in the Strait of Hormuz] no longer work, and a new route must be defined. We are currently designing a temporary route, which will later become the final one.

Whether the Strait of Hormuz reopens or not depends on the fulfilment of other conditions to which America must adhere.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that…

The main plan of the enemy is to topple Iran from within. Unity is more important than anything else, and it is our priority.

Diversity and difference exist everywhere, but not regarding our armed forces.

[The armed forces] deserve all appreciation, and we will defend them with our lives.

…as quoted by Al Mayadeen.

In other news, it is worth reporting that Iran’s Intelligence Ministry arrested two French diplomats, with an “extensive record of violations and conduct contrary to Iranian laws and their diplomatic obligations”, at a secret meeting point and plotting foreign infiltration and interference. After confirming their identity, the ministry reported the matter to the colleagues in the Foreign Ministry and then handed the two over to Iran’s ambassador to France in the presence of diplomatic police, as per IRNA, Tasnim and Mehr (1 and 2), which quoted Iran’s Intelligence Ministry as saying:

France must be held accountable for its illegal and interventionist actions and explain this ill-conceived scheme.

Given the infiltration and overt interference in Iran’s internal affairs, particularly during wartime, and the blatant violation of the country’s laws and departure from diplomatic frameworks that have been conclusively established in this project, the Intelligence Ministry warns that it will not allow its diplomatic guests to engage in illegal and interventionist behavior.

…adding that, if such conduct is repeated, those responsible would face “appropriate action against the perpetrators”. In my humble opinion, considering that Iran is at war with USrael, Iran should expel immediately any (Western) diplomat who gets caught red-handed, rather than giving them another possibility!

Finally, it is also worth mentioning that the IRGC arrested a member of a terrorist group affiliated to the USraeli enemy, whose other members had been killed last week in the south of Sistan and Baluchestan province, and seized a large cache of weapons, ammunition, explosive devices and communication equipment (sources: Al Mayadeen, IRNA and Fars).

I will conclude this article with the following video released earlier today by Hezbollah (source: RNN Mirror):

…and this caricature by Kamal Sharaf from Saba:

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