Over 640,000 Displaced Lebanese Have Returned Home, IOM Reports

🏚️ BEIRUT — 640,000 returns, but Hezbollah never left south of the Litani. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: IOM's figure signals civilian normalcy while the military picture contradicts it. Sirens fired in northern Israel hours ago; Lebanon's army hasn't filled the vacuum. Returns compress the political space to re-displace civilians if Israel formalizes its Litani presence — making any future operation vastly more costly to justify internationally.

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Iraqi PM Heads to Washington for Oil Deals as Region Burns

🛢️ BAGHDAD — Iraq signs oil deals with Washington while Iran fires through its sky. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Baghdad hosts US bases and tolerates Iranian missile overflight simultaneously — that balance is now under pressure. Energy contracts give Sudani political cover to tilt Washington without a public security declaration. Tehran will read Iraqi-American

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Jordan Condemns Iranian Strikes, Having Absorbed Missiles on Its Own Soil

🕌 AMMAN — Jordan was struck by Iran; now it says so out loud. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Amman's condemnation carries more weight than Doha's — Jordan absorbed confirmed missile impacts at Muwaffaq Salti, making this a victim state going on record. That closes Jordan's traditional ambiguity on Iran

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US Military Confirms Southern Hormuz Bypass Route Open for Commercial Traffic

🚢 HORMUZ — Washington is routing ships around Iran's closure, not through it. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: JMIC formalizing the Omani corridor is the US operational answer to Iran's closure declaration — bypass it rather than force it. This undermines Tehran's strategic leverage: if traffic moves south, the closure

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Qatar Publicly Condemns Iranian Attacks, Threatening Its Own Mediation Role

🇶🇦 DOHA — Qatar condemns Iran publicly while its envoy is still in Tehran. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Doha hosts Al Udeid and has an envoy physically in Tehran. A public condemnation strips Qatar of the neutrality mediation requires — Tehran can't treat a state that just condemned it as a safe interlocutor.

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Iraqi PM Heads to Washington for Oil Deals as Region Burns

Jordan Condemns Iranian Strikes, Having Absorbed Missiles on Its Own Soil

US Military Confirms Southern Hormuz Bypass Route Open for Commercial Traffic

Qatar Publicly Condemns Iranian Attacks, Threatening Its Own Mediation Role