Iran Sends Missiles to Iraqi Hezbollah in East Syria

Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
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Iran Sends Missiles to Iraqi Hezbollah in East Syria

Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
Iranian military trucks carry surface-to-air missiles during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)

Short and medium range surface-to-surface Iranian missiles were delivered Friday to the Iraqi Hezbollah near the regime-controlled town of Al-Tabani in the western countryside of Syria’s Deir Ezzor province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 56 missiles were delivered to the Hezbollah sites in civilian trucks via unofficial crossings between Syria and Iraq.

Earlier this month, SOHR activists had monitored the Afghan Fatimiyoun Brigade unloading a weapons shipment from four large trucks used for transporting vegetables and fruits.

The trucks were loaded with Iranian-made missiles, coming from Iraq. The shipments were stored in commercial warehouses rented from civilians in the area of Kua Ibn Aswad, located between Al-Mayadeen city and Mahakan town in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

Iranian militias and their supporters are based in positions in Deir Ezzor’s countryside, but they make redeployments from time to time over fear of Israeli airstrikes and unidentified US-led coalition aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Cultural Center won Friday a bid to invest in Al-Nour private hospital in Deir Ezzor city, which belongs to a doctor who has sought asylum in a European country.

The Syrian regime had confiscated the hospital and the doctor’s properties. The center won the bid to operate the hospital in return for 15 million Syrian pounds a year. It has started rehabilitating for reopening.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Hezbollah started recruiting new volunteers at its base in the rural development department building of Deir Ezzor’s Harabish neighborhood. The Party announced that it would give the new recruits monthly salaries of $150 each, exploiting the economic hardship and dire living conditions.

A large number of volunteers applied to join Hezbollah's ranks, seeing the offer as a good deal compared to the wages of regime soldiers and other loyalists, the Observatory said.



France's Navy Intercepts an Oil Tanker in the Mediterranean Sailing from Russia

FILE PHOTO: Tugboat escorts French Navy frigate Vendemiaire on arrival for a 5-day goodwill visit at a port in Metro Manila, Philippines March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo P
FILE PHOTO: Tugboat escorts French Navy frigate Vendemiaire on arrival for a 5-day goodwill visit at a port in Metro Manila, Philippines March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo P
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France's Navy Intercepts an Oil Tanker in the Mediterranean Sailing from Russia

FILE PHOTO: Tugboat escorts French Navy frigate Vendemiaire on arrival for a 5-day goodwill visit at a port in Metro Manila, Philippines March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo P
FILE PHOTO: Tugboat escorts French Navy frigate Vendemiaire on arrival for a 5-day goodwill visit at a port in Metro Manila, Philippines March 12, 2018. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo P

France’s Navy, working with intelligence provided by the United Kingdom, on Thursday intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, in a mission targeting the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet, officials said, Reuters reported.

French maritime authorities for the Mediterranean said the ship, the Grinch, is suspected of operating with a false flag.

The French Navy is escorting the ship to port for more checks, the statement said.


Zelensky Says Meeting with Trump in Davos was 'Very Good'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to wounded Ukrainian soldiers during a visit at Staten Island University Hospital, in New York, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to wounded Ukrainian soldiers during a visit at Staten Island University Hospital, in New York, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (AP)
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Zelensky Says Meeting with Trump in Davos was 'Very Good'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to wounded Ukrainian soldiers during a visit at Staten Island University Hospital, in New York, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to wounded Ukrainian soldiers during a visit at Staten Island University Hospital, in New York, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a "very good" meeting with US President Donald Trump in Davos on Thursday.

"We spoke about documents and about air defense," Zelensky told reporters briefly without elaborating before addressing the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort.

Zelenskiy also said he ​discussed progress on peace talks.

"We discussed the work of our teams, and practically every there are meetings ⁠or communication," Zelenskiy ‌wrote on X, adding ‍that ‍the documents ‍being negotiated by Kyiv and Washington were "now even better prepared".

"Our ​previous meeting with President Trump helped ⁠strengthen the protection of our skies, and I hope that this time we will reinforce it further as well."


France Says Won't Join Peace Board for Now, Partly Contrary to UN Charter

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a ministerial meeting on the implementation of the Middle East peace plan at the Quai d'Orsay, in Paris, France October 9, 2025. Thomas Samson/Pool via REUTERS
France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a ministerial meeting on the implementation of the Middle East peace plan at the Quai d'Orsay, in Paris, France October 9, 2025. Thomas Samson/Pool via REUTERS
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France Says Won't Join Peace Board for Now, Partly Contrary to UN Charter

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a ministerial meeting on the implementation of the Middle East peace plan at the Quai d'Orsay, in Paris, France October 9, 2025. Thomas Samson/Pool via REUTERS
France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a ministerial meeting on the implementation of the Middle East peace plan at the Quai d'Orsay, in Paris, France October 9, 2025. Thomas Samson/Pool via REUTERS

France will not join US President ​Donald Trump's Board of Peace for now because its charter does not correspond with ‌a UN ‌resolution ‌to ⁠resolve the ​war ‌in Gaza, and some of the charter's elements were contrary to the UN charter, ⁠its foreign ministry ‌spokesman said on ‍Thursday, Reuters reported.

"It ‍was not corresponding ‍on the one hand with the pure Gaza mandate, which ​is not even mentioned, and ⁠on the other hand, there are elements of this charter which are contrary to the United Nations charter," Pascal Confavreux told reporters.

According to The AP news, the new peace board was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the ceasefire, but it has morphed into something far more ambitious — and skepticism about its membership and mandate has led some countries usually closest to Washington to take a pass.