The Middle East Crisis|Israel-Hezbollah
Biden: Don't know if Israel is trying to influence our election
At a press conference on Friday, US President Joe Biden was asked if he thinks Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to influence the US election by postponing diplomatic solutions until the election is over, writes Sky News.
Biden responded that Netanyahu should remember that "no administration" helped Israel more than his.
- Whether he is trying to influence the election, I do not know, but I expect that this is not the case, the president added.
Biden said Israel has "every right to respond" to Iran and Hezbollah's attacks, but that they still haven't decided how.
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Sources: The US wants a presidential election in Lebanon
The United States wants to use the devastating damage Israel inflicted on Hezbollah to install a new Lebanese president, US government sources told Axios.
Lebanon has not had a president for two years, despite ongoing efforts to fill the post. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in the Israeli attack, refused to endorse any candidate except the militia's ally Suleiman Frangieh.
According to the sources, the US now sees a chance to break the deadlock and appoint a new president who is not allied with Hezbollah. Army Commander-in-Chief Joseph Aoun, who has the support of both the US and France, is seen as a candidate as the army will have a central role in all possible post-war scenarios.
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The Middle East crisis Israel–Houthis
The US in a major attack in Yemen - struck dozens of Huthi targets
The US military has struck about ten targets belonging to the Huthi militia in Yemen on Friday, US government officials told AP.
With warships and warplanes, they attacked, among other things, weapon systems, bases and equipment belonging to the Iran-backed militia.
According to Houthi media, seven projectiles should have hit the airport in the port city of Hodeida. The attacks come days after the militia threatened "escalated military operations" against Israel.
Earlier it was reported that the British military also participated, but this is denied by the British Ministry of Defense according to the BBC.
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The Middle East Crisis|Israel-Iran
Iran: If Israel retaliates, we will strike even harder
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warns Israel to retaliate for Tuesday's attack, Al Jazeera reports.
- If Israel takes any step against us, our retaliation will be stronger than the last one, he says during a visit to Lebanon.
According to Araghchi, Iran's attack was "legitimate self-defense in accordance with the UN Charter." He says Iran has no intention of continuing its attacks unless Israel continues theirs.
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Analysis: Iran wants to force the US to connect Israel
Iran's attack on Israel had multiple motives – revenge for the slain Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and criticism from allies for perceived intransigence towards Israel. That's what Vali Nasr writes for Foreign Policy.
However, there was another central goal: to pressure the United States to seriously rein in Israel, he continues.
"The only exception to US indifference is when Washington faces a major regional war, Tehran seems to believe."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have sent out a well-produced clip to state media, in which robots are fired to the tune of religious war music, writes Deborah Haynes for Sky News.
It cannot be established that the robots in the clip were used in the attack, she continues.
"But the goal seems to be to show off Iran's firepower in a battle where words and images are as much weapons as bullets and bombs."
There are still braking mechanisms that can stop a major regional war, write Alexander Cornwell, Matt Spetalnick and Jonathan Saul for Reuters.
Israel has promised the US a "well-balanced" response, and will not attack the oil production that is the mainstay of Iran's economy, they continue.
"It could lead to an escalated Iranian response, possibly targeting oil production in the US-allied Gulf states."
Israel's successes against Hamas and Hezbollah have boosted the country's self-confidence and changed its military strategy. Where they previously focused on limited efforts to protect their own area, they have now brought out the sledgehammer.
These conclusions are drawn in a new report from the Total Defense Research Institute (FOI), which DN reports on, where the researcher Samuel Neuman Bergenwall describes it as the country having gone "from crisis to hubris" since October 7.
The focus has shifted from Hamas to Hezbollah and Iran, and developments in the region now depend entirely on Israel's response, according to Neuman Bergenwall.
- What is happening now can, in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own words - change the balance of power in the Middle East for many years to come.
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