Nawaf Salam wins backing to lead Lebanon
Nawaf Salam, head of the International Court of Justice, garnered sufficient support from lawmakers to be designated Lebanon’s next prime minister on Monday, according to Reuters.
Nawaf Salam, head of the International Court of Justice, garnered sufficient support from lawmakers to be designated Lebanon’s next prime minister on Monday, according to Reuters.
Salam’s designation deals a setback to the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which had advocated for the incumbent, Najib Mikati, to retain the position.
Salam, who has led the International Court of Justice since February and previously represented Lebanon as its ambassador to the United Nations, has secured support from several factions, including the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces, a prominent Christian political party.
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed "the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region" in a phone conversation on Sunday, the White House said.
The Iranian military kicked off a large-scale air defense exercise on Sunday, codenamed "Eqtedar" (Might), spanning the country's western and northern air defense zones.
The drills are focused on protecting critical infrastructure, including the Fordow and Khondab installations, which house uranium enrichment and heavy water production facilities.
The exercise, led by the Army's Air Defense Force under the command of the country's integrated air defense network, simulates defending critical sites and mission centers against aerial and missile attacks using a wide range of units and equipment, including missile systems, radar, electronic warfare and intelligence units, according to IRNA.
The drills follow a previous phase of nationwide exercises that began earlier in January in the air defense zone surrounding the Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran against mock attacks by missiles and drones, as reported by state media.
During that phase, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) air forces conducted "an all-out point defense of the Natanz site against a multitude of air threats in tough electronic warfare conditions.”
In October, US President Joe Biden's adviser for the Middle East Amos Hochstein told Fox News that Israeli air strikes earlier in the month knocked out Iran's last three Russian-provided S-300 air defense missile systems.
The surface-to-air S-300s were the last in the Islamic Republic's arsenal after one was destroyed in an attack in April. Hochstein said, "Iran is essentially naked."
According to IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini, the exercises, which will continue in various parts of Iran until mid-March, are a response to what he called new security threats.
Naini added that about 30 land, air and maritime drills have commenced across six western and southern provinces so far. “The number of drills has almost doubled this year compared to last year, in response to the evolving threat landscape.”
He added that several branches of the IRGC, including the navy and the paramilitary Basij forces, will also participate in the drills.
Iran has been conducting military exercises as it prepares for heightened tensions with its arch-enemy, Israel and the United States, under incoming President Donald Trump.
The war games come amid concerns that Trump could empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran's nuclear sites while intensifying US sanctions on Iran's oil industry under his so-called "maximum pressure" policy.
On Friday, the Aerospace Force of IRGC unveiled what state TV called an underground missile city being visited by Guards Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami and the Aerospace chief Amir-Ali Hajizadeh.
The base was used in the Iranian missile attacks against Israel in what the Islamic Republic codenamed operations True Promise 1 and 2 in April and October 2024, IRGC media Tasnim said.
Salami said that Iran has more missiles than it can store, dismissing what he called enemy propaganda about the weakening of Iran's armed forces following attacks by Israel on Iran and its allies.
Iran has recently suffered setbacks in Lebanon after Israeli attacks against Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the toppling of Tehran's ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria last month.
Iranian officials keep downplaying Iran's setbacks, but an Iranian general, Behrouz Esbati, who was reportedly based in Syria, said in a speech circulated on social media that Iran had lost badly in Syria.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says Ankara seeks to strengthen ties with its eastern neighbor and expects Tehran to support its fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“There are some who think differently about PKK in Iran. But it is not a secret that we call on all the countries – the US, Russia, etc. – not only Iran, not to support PKK or at least not to remain indifferent,” Fidan said Friday during a press conference in Istanbul.
He made the remarks in response to a question about IRGC Quds Force Chief Esmail Qaani's alleged meeting with the PKK-linked YPG leaders.
Fidan also suggested that Iran might reconsider its regional policies and adopt a new strategy in the Middle East following developments in the region, including the fall of Tehran’s ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Ankara is known as the main supporter of the Syrian rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who toppled Assad's government in Damascus.
Fidan said the new Syrian administration should be given a chance to address the presence of Kurdish militants in the Arab country, reiterating that the Turkish military would act if it did not.
Since the fall of Assad on December 8, 2024, Ankara has repeatedly said the Kurdish YPG militia must disband, lay down its weapons, and have its foreign fighters leave Syria.
Turkey has listed the YPG, which spearheads the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist organization linked to militants waging a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state.
However, Washington considers them a key ally battling Daesh (ISIS) terrorists.
The election of Lebanon's US and Arab-backed president Joseph Aoun is not a defeat for Iran-backed Hezbollah, Tehran's ambassador to Beirut said on Friday, despite the former army chief suggesting the militia should be disarmed.
"It is said that since Aoun was not Hezbollah's candidate, his election is a defeat for the Resistance," Iran's ambassador to Beirut Mojtaba Amani said on Friday.
"Much of this is mere delusion. The Resistance has demonstrated that if they do not agree, a president will not be elected," he added. "Hezbollah concluded it would reach an agreement with the new president."
Earlier in the day, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi congratulated Aoun, saying Tehran will cooperate with any government that aligns with the aspirations of the Lebanese people.
The diplomatic welcome comes despite US and Arab-backed Aoun pledging in his post-election speech on Thursday to ensure only the state bears arms in Lebanon - an apparent challenge to Tehran's ally Hezbollah.
“Iran supports a Lebanon that is a homeland for all Lebanese, free from occupation and foreign threats,” Araghchi said in a post on X.
“As always, we will cooperate with any government that represents the aspirations of the Lebanese people, ensures their welfare, and safeguards Lebanon’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
Iran’s influence in Lebanon was dealt another blow with the election of General Aoun as the country's new president, months after Tehran's armed ally Hezbollah was mauled by Israel in a 14-month war.
Aoun, who was backed by factions seeking to reduce Hezbollah's dominance, signals a shift away from Lebanon’s political dominance by Iran via the militia.
His election marks the end of a prolonged political vacuum and a decisive moment in Lebanon's complex political landscape, raising questions about the country's future alignment in a shattered Middle East.
CIA Director William Burns suggested on Friday that Iran’s weakened strategic position marked by regional setbacks could open the door to renewed nuclear negotiations.
"That sense of weakness could also theoretically create a possibility for serious negotiations," Burns said in an interview with NPR, referencing his experience with secret talks involving Tehran more than a decade ago.
Burns highlighted several factors undermining Iran's strategic position, including two failed ballistic missile strikes on Israel, the collapse of its allied group Hezbollah in Lebanon, the significant weakening of Hamas in Gaza and the fall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
"Iran’s strategic position has suffered considerably over the course of the last six or seven months," Burns said. "All of that strategically puts the Iranian regime in a much weaker position."
"The Iranian regime could decide in the face of that weakness that it needs to restore its deterrence as it sees it and reverse the decision made at the end of 2003 to suspend their weaponization program," he added.
However, he emphasized there is no evidence Tehran is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon. "We do not see any sign today that any such decision has been made, but we obviously watch it intently," he said.
