Middle East Crisis

Iran Conflict
Sources: Trump considering "Mother of All Bombs" as exit strategy regarding Iran

US President Donald Trump is considering attacking Iran with the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal. Several sources have confirmed this to CNN. The 9,800-kilogram bomb is known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb—abbreviated as MOAB—and has consequently earned the nickname "Mother of All Bombs."

If the White House decides to use the bomb, it would represent a clear escalation of the war; however, according to sources, there are doubts regarding what such an attack would actually achieve.

The war in Iran is deeply unpopular at home, and Donald Trump has reportedly been seeking a way to bring the conflict to a definitive end. Using the MOAB could be one option.

Israel-Hezbollah
Hezbollah demands return of half a ton of seized explosives

Hassan Fadlallah, a member of parliament representing the political wing of the terrorist group Hezbollah, is demanding that Lebanese authorities return half a ton of explosives to the group. He made the statement at a press conference on Thursday, according to several media outlets.

The explosives were discovered at a checkpoint in the Bekaa region last week. They were seized, and the two individuals in the vehicle were arrested, Reuters reports.

"We immediately demanded the release of those arrested and the return of the cargo, as it is used to defend Lebanon's territory," he said, according to the Lebanese outlet *L’Orient Today*, adding:

"All of the resistance's capabilities are directed against the Israeli enemy."

The statement can be viewed as a response to widespread concern regarding renewed internal violence in Lebanon—but also as a challenge by the group to the government's monopoly on weapons, experts told AFP.

Israel occupies over 600 square kilometers in southern Lebanon.