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.



Rubio Says Progress Made on Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
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Rubio Says Progress Made on Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that some progress has been made on Washington's dispute with Iran and that the US might have "something to say" on the issue in the coming days.

"There's been some progress done, some progress made, even as I speak to you now, there's some work being done. There is a chance that, whether it's later today, tomorrow, in a couple days, we may have something to say," Rubio told reporters during his visit to New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Saturday that Tehran was in the final stages of drafting a framework for a deal to end the war with the United States.

"Within a reasonable period of 30 to 60 days, the details of these points will be discussed and a final agreement will ultimately be concluded. We are currently in the process of finalizing these memoranda of understanding," he told state broadcaster IRIB.

 

 

 

 

 

 


France Bans Israeli Security Minister Ben Gvir from Country

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during an event in Jerusalem on May 14, 2026 (AFP)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during an event in Jerusalem on May 14, 2026 (AFP)
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France Bans Israeli Security Minister Ben Gvir from Country

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during an event in Jerusalem on May 14, 2026 (AFP)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during an event in Jerusalem on May 14, 2026 (AFP)

France announced on Saturday it had banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from the country after he posted a video mocking bound activists seized by Israeli soldiers on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, AFP reported.

"From today, Itamar Ben Gvir is banned from entering French territory" after "his reprehensible actions towards French and European citizens" who were part of the flotilla, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X.

He added that, with Italy, he was also calling for European Union-level sanctions against the far-right Ben Gvir.


Taiwan Security Chief: China Deployed 'Over 100 Vessels' in Regional Waters

People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang
People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang
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Taiwan Security Chief: China Deployed 'Over 100 Vessels' in Regional Waters

People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang
People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Taiwan's security chief said Saturday that China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in regional waters stretching from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and Western Pacific.

The deployment happened in the past few days after US President Donald Trump's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, National Security Council chief Joseph Wu said on X.

"In this part of the world,#China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability," Wu said in the post.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.

Wu's remarks came after Trump on Wednesday referred to "the Taiwan problem" when asked if he would speak to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about arms sales to the democratic island.

"I'll speak to him. I speak to everybody," Trump said, adding that he had a great meeting with Xi during his state visit.

"We'll work on that, the Taiwan problem," Trump said.

A Taiwan security official told AFP on the condition of anonymity that Chinese vessels had been detected before the summit in Beijing, but that the numbers went above 100 in recent days.

Meanwhile, a source said US arms sales to Taiwan take years to process and are unrelated to the war with Iran, after a senior US official suggested there was a pause due to the need to have enough arms for the conflict.

Taiwan has been waiting for the US to approve an arms sale that Reuters reported could be worth up to $14 billion.

On Thursday, ⁠acting US Navy ⁠Secretary Hung Cao told a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing that there was a pause on arms sales to Taiwan to make sure the US had the munitions needed for the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran.

The source familiar with the matter noted that Trump has said he would decide on the Taiwan arms sales soon.

"These sales take years to process and are unrelated to Operation Epic Fury," the source ⁠said, referring to the war the US and Israel launched in February. "The United States military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump's strategic goals and beyond."