Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
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Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned of the expansion of the war amid the renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying that the region will enter a new phase "through resistance forces."

On Sunday, the foreign minister made the remarks during a press conferen with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi in Tehran.

The two ministers discussed the recent developments in Gaza amid reports about a possible Oman mediation in the Iranian nuclear program.

Amirabdollahian said that the new phase of the Israeli attacks on Gaza began with the presence of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at the ministerial meeting of the Zionist entity.

He added that the US must bear the consequences of this hypocritical behavior in supporting Israel, saying Washington claims it recommends Israel does not kill civilians while granting it the green light for genocide.

For more than 50 days, "we have been following the developments in Palestine to return stability and security in the region and stop the killing and genocide of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said.

The leaders of the resistance warned that if the Israeli attacks continue, the region will enter a new phase, he indicated, warning that the killing of children and women must stop before it is too late.

He asserted that Iran never wanted the war to expand, but the warmongers in the region were strongly warned to stop their support for Israeli crimes.

He said that there is documented evidence that the Zionist regime is seeking to displace people in the Gaza Strip forcibly.

"In a part of the documents that were seized by the Resistance forces during the al-Aqsa Storm operation and in a part of the laptops that were captured, this hypothesis has been proven that the Israeli regime seeks to relocate all the residents of Gaza to a part of the territory and land of Egypt, and it seeks to transfer the residents of the West Bank to parts of Jordan," he noted.

"We hope that our brothers in Egypt will take immediate and serious action to reopen the Rafah border crossing and prevent this Israeli conspiracy against the territorial integrity of Jordan and Egypt."

- Discussing nuclear power

Earlier, the official IRNA agency reported that the two ministers were scheduled to discuss developing cooperation, achieving a ceasefire in the Strip, and delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Ahead of his visit to Tehran, Busaidi and his Iranian counterpart discussed over the phone Israel's resumption of war crimes in Gaza without any regard to the international community and global public opinion.

Busaidi warned against the outbreak of war and its expansion in the region, stressing the necessity of establishing a sustainable truce, sending humanitarian aid on a large scale, and establishing an effective international action.

Iranian media expected Busaidi's visit to Tehran to be within the context of exchanging messages between Tehran and Washington to prevent the expansion of tension in the region.

During the past two months, Iranian officials welcomed an Omani initiative proposed by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq.

However, they noted it was not a new agreement or a new plan but rather a practical initiative to converge views between Washington and Tehran and the return of all parties to the 2015 agreement.

Last week, the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said in press statements that talks with Iran might require a new framework rather than an attempt to revive the 2015 accord.

- Borrell urges Tehran to cooperate constructively

The nuclear agreement was part of the telephone conversation between Amirabdollahian and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.

The Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday that Amirabdollahian called on Borrell to stop the Israeli military attacks on the Strip and allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

The Iranian diplomat repeated previous warnings against displacing Palestinians and warned of the possibility of expanding the war in the region.

The two officials also addressed Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency's cooperation, and Amirabdollahian noted that the "cooperation will continue within a technical and legal framework."

Borrell expressed hope that constructive cooperation between Iran and the IAEA will continue.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi defended his country's positions in the Gaza war.

Speaking on Sunday at the "Second National Conference on Responsibility for the Implementation of the Constitution," Raisi said Iran's support for Gaza and Palestine is wholly based on the constitution's principles, which considers the protection of the oppressed as one of its duties.

"Since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, one of the basic principles and approaches of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been to support the rights of the Palestinian people and to recognize this issue as the first issue of the Islamic world."

He asserted that the principle is still standing and that global political developments will not change the primary direction of foreign policy.

Raisi reiterated that 6,000 children killed by the "Zionist usurpers will bring down this fake, cruel and usurping regime."



Nigeria Says Joint US Strikes Kill 175 ISIS Militants, Senior Leaders

Nigerian soldiers walk past military tanks prepared for deployment during a tour of the Theater Command Operation Lafiya Dole by Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, November 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Nigerian soldiers walk past military tanks prepared for deployment during a tour of the Theater Command Operation Lafiya Dole by Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, November 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Nigeria Says Joint US Strikes Kill 175 ISIS Militants, Senior Leaders

Nigerian soldiers walk past military tanks prepared for deployment during a tour of the Theater Command Operation Lafiya Dole by Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, November 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Nigerian soldiers walk past military tanks prepared for deployment during a tour of the Theater Command Operation Lafiya Dole by Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, November 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Nigerian forces, working with the United States, have killed 175 ISIS militants in a series of joint air and ground strikes in the country's northeast in recent days, the Defense Headquarters said on Tuesday.

The military said operations conducted with US Africa Command destroyed checkpoints, weapons caches, logistics hubs, and financing networks ‌used by ISIS West Africa Province, which ‌has ⁠led a years-long ⁠insurgency in the region.

Since suffering major setbacks in the Middle East, ISIS has pivoted toward Africa, which accounted for 86% of the group's global activity in the first three ⁠months of 2026, according to crisis ‌monitoring group Armed ‌Conflict Location & Event Data.

"As of 19 May, ‌assessments indicate that 175 ISIS militants have ‌been eliminated from the battlefield," Nigeria's Defense spokesperson Major-General Samaila Uba said in a statement.

Strikes that killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki on May ‌16, described by both governments as ISIS’s global No. 2, ⁠were followed ⁠by further raids last weekend that also killed Abd al-Wahhab, an ISWAP leader overseeing attacks and propaganda, Abu Musa al-Mangawi, and Abu al-Muthanna al-Muhajir, a senior media operative and close associate of al-Minuki, the statement said.

The Defense Headquarters said the operations formed part of an ongoing campaign to "hunt down and destroy" militants threatening Nigeria and the wider region.


US Imposes Fresh Sanctions on Iranian Exchange House, Shadow Fleet Vessels

US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent poses for a family photograph of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors as they meet to prepare the summit of heads of State and government to be held in June 2026 in Evian, in Paris on May 19, 2026. (AFP)
US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent poses for a family photograph of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors as they meet to prepare the summit of heads of State and government to be held in June 2026 in Evian, in Paris on May 19, 2026. (AFP)
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US Imposes Fresh Sanctions on Iranian Exchange House, Shadow Fleet Vessels

US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent poses for a family photograph of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors as they meet to prepare the summit of heads of State and government to be held in June 2026 in Evian, in Paris on May 19, 2026. (AFP)
US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent poses for a family photograph of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors as they meet to prepare the summit of heads of State and government to be held in June 2026 in Evian, in Paris on May 19, 2026. (AFP)

The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on an Iranian foreign currency exchange house and what it said were front companies overseeing transactions on behalf of Iranian banks as the US maintains pressure on Tehran.

The move came after Iran said its latest peace proposal to the United States over the US-Israeli led war that started February 28 involves ending hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, the exit of US forces ‌from areas close ‌to Iran, and reparations for destruction caused by ‌the ⁠conflict.

The Treasury Department ⁠imposed sanctions on the Iran-based Amin Exchange, also known as Ebrahimi and Associates Partnership Company, which it said has a widespread network of front companies spanning multiple jurisdictions, including in Türkiye and Hong Kong.

The US also blocked 19 vessels it said were involved in shipping Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals to foreign customers.

The Treasury ⁠Department said Iranian exchange houses facilitate billions of dollars ‌in foreign currency transactions a year, ‌enabling the government to evade sanctions and access the international financial system. It ‌said the front companies oversee hundreds of millions of dollars ‌in transactions on behalf of Iranian banks.

"Iran’s shadow banking system facilitates the illicit transfer of funding for terrorist purposes," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a release. "As Treasury systematically dismantles Tehran’s shadow banking system and shadow fleet under Economic ‌Fury, financial institutions must be alert to how the regime manipulates the international financial system to ⁠wreak havoc."

The sanctions block US assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them.

The US also designated vessels for transporting Iranian-origin oil, petroleum products and petrochemicals including the Barbados flagged liquefied petroleum gas tanker Great Sail, the Palau-flagged products tanker Ocean Wave, and the Panama-flagged chemical/oil tanker Swift Falcon.


Israel Finance Minister Says ICC Seeks Arrest Warrant Against Him

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a press conference regarding settlements expansion for the long-frozen E1 settlement, that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a press conference regarding settlements expansion for the long-frozen E1 settlement, that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Finance Minister Says ICC Seeks Arrest Warrant Against Him

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a press conference regarding settlements expansion for the long-frozen E1 settlement, that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a press conference regarding settlements expansion for the long-frozen E1 settlement, that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant against him, accusing the Palestinian Authority of pushing for the move.

Smotrich said he would retaliate by ordering the evacuation of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank.

"Last night I was informed that the criminal prosecutor of the antisemitic court in The Hague has filed a request for an international arrest warrant against me," Smotrich told a news conference broadcast on his X account Monday.

"As a sovereign and independent state, we do not accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies that time and again take a stand against the State of Israel," he added, without disclosing the charges for which the warrant has been requested.

The ICC prosecutor's office said it was "unable to comment on media speculation or questions related to any alleged application for a warrant of arrest".

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, to face accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel's actions during its war against Hamas in Gaza.

- 'Declaration of war' -

"Immediately upon the conclusion of my remarks here, we will sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar," Smotrich said, calling the warrant request "a declaration of war".

More than 750 people live in the community of Khan al-Ahmar, around 10 kilometers east of Jerusalem's Old City in the central West Bank and surrounded by Israeli settlements.

The Palestinian Authority's Settlement and Wall Resistance Commission urged the international community to stop the move.

"Targeting Khan al-Ahmar is part of a long-term strategic settlement project... through which Israel seeks to create complete settlement contiguity that would separate the northern West Bank from its south," the commission's minister, Muayad Shaaban, was quoted as saying.

Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, also denounced the move.

"The Minister of Expulsion and Annexation seeks to take revenge on The Hague and the international community at the expense of one of the most vulnerable communities," it said.

Khan al-Ahmar sits near land Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 development project that would facilitate settlement expansion in the area near Jerusalem.

Smotrich, who lives in a settlement himself, is a staunch proponent of Israel annexing the West Bank.

"Under this government, we see that for the first time they've approved the very sensitive and significant plan of E1, and they're going ahead with plans to annex that entire region," Lior Amihai, Peace Now's executive director, told AFP.

"In order for them to annex the entire region, they need to also expel the Palestinian communities from there and Khan al-Ahmar is one of them," he added.