Israel Destroyed Several Iranian Arms Convoys in Iraq

This photo released Sunday June 12, 2022 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a bulldozer work at a damaged runway of the Damascus International Airport, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Friday, in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP)
This photo released Sunday June 12, 2022 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a bulldozer work at a damaged runway of the Damascus International Airport, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Friday, in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP)
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Israel Destroyed Several Iranian Arms Convoys in Iraq

This photo released Sunday June 12, 2022 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a bulldozer work at a damaged runway of the Damascus International Airport, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Friday, in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP)
This photo released Sunday June 12, 2022 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a bulldozer work at a damaged runway of the Damascus International Airport, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Friday, in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP)

Israel has carried out numerous strikes against truck convoys smuggling Iranian weapons to the Hezbollah party in Lebanon, revealed an Israeli source.

Israel would target the convoys as they were making their way from Iraq to Syria and carry out the strike in either country.

The announcement was made after Israel last week struck Damascus' old international airport, causing "significant" damage to infrastructure and rendered the main runway unserviceable until further notice.

The airport is located south of the capital Damascus where Syrian opposition activists say Iran-backed militiamen are active and have arms depots.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has for years been closely monitoring the transport of weapons to Hezbollah, continued the source.

At first, Israel used to target the weapons depots in Lebanon or Syria, but the military command has since ordered that the convoys be destroyed before they reach their destination, it continued.

Several Iranian convoys would make their way to Lebanon through Iraq and Syria and Israeli commandos would lie in wait to ambush them. Some convoys were destroyed in Iraq, others in Syria and some at the Lebanese border.

Security sources in Tel Aviv revealed that the Iranians then significantly reduced the transfer of weapons by land and have resorted to transporting them through air military cargo or even by sea.

Israeli strikes on Syria would often target these shipments as soon as they are unloaded at Syrian army depots.

Iran has recently started to deliver these shipments through passenger flights to Damascus' old airport. The shipments carry less quantities of weapons, but the arms are more sophisticated than before, according to Israel's Channel 12.

Israeli military officials had previously expressed their concern over the delivery of such sophisticated weapons, including modern drones and precision-guided missiles, to Lebanon.

Israel has therefore, intensified its operations against Iran because it believes such arms would create a strategic imbalance in the region.

Israel estimates that its latest attacks have destroyed 70 percent of arms shipments smuggled from Iran to Syria and Lebanon. The 30 percent that have reached their destination "pose a major threat," warned Israeli military officials.

Channel 12 reported that Israel had informed Russia of its intended strike on Damascus airport last week to avoid a clash.

Israeli media on Monday said last week's strike was not only a message to the Iranians - that Israel is watching them - but also a strong one to Bashar al-Assad's regime that it will pay a heavy price if it continues to allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria.



US Voices Hope on Iran Deal Progress Before Pakistan Army Chief Visit

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press before boarding his plane at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Thursday, May 21, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press before boarding his plane at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Thursday, May 21, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
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US Voices Hope on Iran Deal Progress Before Pakistan Army Chief Visit

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press before boarding his plane at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Thursday, May 21, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press before boarding his plane at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Thursday, May 21, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope on Thursday of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan's army chief due to arrive in Iran for talks.

The expected visit by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan's foreign relations, comes a day after US President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the "borderline" between a deal and renewed strikes.

"I believe the Pakistanis will be travelling to Tehran today. So hopefully that'll advance this further," Rubio told reporters on Thursday, according to Reuters.

A ceasefire on April 8 halted the war launched weeks earlier by the US and Israel, but negotiation efforts have so far failed to yield a lasting peace agreement.

A war of words has taken the place of open conflict but the impasse continues to weigh on the world economy, leaving everyone from investors to farmers in a painful state of uncertainty.

On Thursday, Iran's ISNA news agency said Munir's visit was aimed at continuing "talks and consultations" with Iranian authorities, without providing details. Other Iranian media carried the same report.

Pakistan hosted in April the only direct negotiations between US and Iranian officials to take place since February 28, the day the war began.

Munir was at the center of the action during that round of talks, greeting both delegations on their arrival and displaying remarkable bonhomie with US Vice President JD Vance.

But the talks ultimately failed, with Iran accusing the US of making "excessive demands".

Since then, the two sides have exchanged multiple proposals, with the threat of renewed war looming all along.

"It's right on the borderline, believe me," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "If we don't get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We're all ready to go."

He said a deal could come "very quickly" or "in a few days", but warned Tehran would have to provide "100 percent good answers".

Rubio also criticized NATO allies for their refusal to help Trump's war against Iran.

"He's not asking them to commit troops. He's not asking them to send their fighter jets in. But they refuse to do anything," he said.

"We were very upset about that."

Tehran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday accused Washington of seeking to restart the war, warning of a "forceful response" if Iran were to be attacked.

"The enemy's movements, both overt and clandestine, show that despite economic and political pressure, it has not abandoned its military objectives and is seeking to start a new war," Ghalibaf said.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran was examining points received from Washington, while repeating Tehran's demands for the release of its assets frozen abroad and an end to a US naval blockade.

Trump is under political pressure at home as energy costs rise.

The ceasefire halted the fighting but has not reopened the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

The future of Hormuz remains a key sticking point in the negotiations, with fears growing that the global economy will feel more pain as pre-war oil stockpiles run down.

Iran imposed the blockade of Hormuz as part of its retaliation in the war, allowing only a trickle of vessels through in recent weeks while introducing a toll system.


Trump Postpones Signing Order on AI Oversight

US President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 May 2026. EPA/AL DRAGO / POOL NEWS SERVICE OK
US President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 May 2026. EPA/AL DRAGO / POOL NEWS SERVICE OK
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Trump Postpones Signing Order on AI Oversight

US President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 May 2026. EPA/AL DRAGO / POOL NEWS SERVICE OK
US President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 May 2026. EPA/AL DRAGO / POOL NEWS SERVICE OK

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had postponed signing an executive order on AI because he "didn't like certain aspects of it."

Trump had planned to sign the order at a ceremony on Thursday afternoon attended by CEOs of AI companies.

The order would create a voluntary framework for AI developers to ⁠engage with the ⁠US government before the public release of covered models, two sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

The president also had planned to direct the US government to use the advanced models to improve the cybersecurity defenses of ⁠government systems, along with networks owned by sectors that are vital to the nation's economy, such as banks and hospitals, according to another source.

Concerns are growing across the US government and in the private sector about the cybersecurity risks posed by powerful new AI systems, including Anthropic’s Mythos.

Anthropic has warned that Mythos could supercharge complex cyberattacks, though cybersecurity experts ⁠told ⁠Reuters that fears of unfettered hacking are overstated.

The president's executive order, if implemented, could hurt the industry's profits if it slows the rollout of new models or prompts companies to change how they perform to address security concerns.

Trump, who spoke to reporters on Thursday in the Oval Office, did not say which parts of the order he didn't like.


Teen Among 3 Dead in Türkiye after Floods, Landslides Hit Southern Province

FILE - A Navy officer helps a woman cross a flooded street after heavy rain in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
FILE - A Navy officer helps a woman cross a flooded street after heavy rain in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
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Teen Among 3 Dead in Türkiye after Floods, Landslides Hit Southern Province

FILE - A Navy officer helps a woman cross a flooded street after heavy rain in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
FILE - A Navy officer helps a woman cross a flooded street after heavy rain in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)

Three people have died during flooding in southern Türkiye on Thursday, officials said, as the Interior Ministry issued weather warnings for 15 of the country's 81 provinces.

Heavy rainfall in Hatay, the province most affected by a devastating earthquake in 2023, caused the Asi river, also known as the Orontes, to break its banks, submerging fields and villages. Roads and bridges were also washed away, The Associated Press reported.

Among the victims was a 15-year-old boy who died in a house that collapsed during a landslide in Antakya, the provincial capital, Hatay Gov. Mustafa Masatli said.

A 66-year-old man died when his car rolled into a ditch in Defne, while and another man, aged 62, was swept away in floodwaters in the Samandag district.

Masatli said the flooding had caused significant damage to agriculture across 2,900 hectares (7,166 acres) as disaster teams continued to assess the impact. Firefighters rescued many people by boat as residents bailed out their homes and tried to hold the waters at bay with makeshift barriers.