Iran holds military drills as US masses forces in Gulf

The Washington Post revealed, based on tracking satellite images and flight movements, that the US military has rapidly reinforced its presence near Iran by transferring 150 aircraft to bases in Europe and the region since the second round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran ended without progress on 17 February.

The newspaper quoted experts as saying that the American deployment exceeded the military buildup seen before US strikes on Iran in June of last year. The experts indicated that these reinforcements point to a military campaign that could last several days without a ground invasion, according to the report.

A member of Congress on Tuesday called on his Democratic Party to fully disclose the findings of a secret internal report, some details of which were published by Axios.

The report concluded that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris lost a significant portion of her support due to the Biden administration’s approach to the war in Gaza.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that a deal with the U.S. was "within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority", days ahead of expected talks between the two sides in Geneva.

"Iran will resume talks with the U.S. in Geneva with a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal in the shortest possible time," he said in a post on X. 

The Dutch Foreign Ministry summoned Iran's ambassador to the Netherlands on Tuesday to protest against the seizure of a Dutch diplomat's luggage at Tehran airport.

"Iran caused a diplomatic incident on January 28, 2026, by forcing a Dutch diplomat to hand over his diplomatic luggage at the airport of Tehran," the ministry said in a statement. "This is unacceptable."

The ministry said it had repeatedly asked Iran to immediately release the seized goods, of which it gave no further details. It said it had summoned the ambassador after Iran disclosed footage of the incident online.

The United States is leading negotiations between a prominent Druze leader and the Syrian government to secure an exchange of prisoners held since sectarian clashes in a Druze-majority Syrian province last year, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP Tuesday.

Thousands are estimated to have been killed when clashes erupted between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes in the southern Suweida province in July.

The Syrian government in the capital Damascus said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses and monitors accused them of siding with the Bedouin.

The Druze source, who requested anonymity, told AFP that "there are currently negotiations mediated by the United States between Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and the Damascus government".

The talks aim to "get the authorities to release 61 civilians from Suweida who have been detained... since the events of July, in exchange for 30 personnel of the interior and defence ministries" held by the National Guard, the armed group that operates under prominent Druze leader Hijri.

(AFP)

Israeli forces fired more than 900 bullets during the massacre of Palestinian aid workers in Gaza in early 2025, according to a joint investigation.

The report by Forensic Architecture and audio group Earshot is the most detailed account yet of the attack on the medical convoy, which took place near Rafah on 23 March 2025.

Fifteen aid workers were killed in the attack - some of whom were executed at close range - before being buried with their vehicles, according to the report.

Iran is ready take any necessary steps to reach a deal with the United States, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said on Tuesday, as the two countries head to a new round of talks.

The Iranian diplomat said any US strike on Iran is "a real gamble", adding that Tehran is ready to reach a deal with Washington as soon as possible.

Tehran and Washington on Thursday will hold a third round of talks in Geneva aimed at averting a potentially devastating regional conflict.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

Egypt on Tuesday urged the international community to better support Lebanon's armed forces to ensure that all weapons in the country come under the exclusive authority of the state.

Speaking at a preparatory meeting in Cairo ahead of next month's Paris conference in support of the Lebanese army, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty praised "the success of the Lebanese army in completing the first phase of the plan".

"This achievement reflects the efficiency of the military institution and requires intensifying international support to complete the remaining phases of the plan," Abdelatty said.

Last year, Lebanon's government committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was severely weakened in its recent war with Israel, and tasked the army with drafting a plan to implement the decision.

In January, and in line with the 2024 truce, the army announced it had completed the first phase of the disarmament plan, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border about 30 kilometres (20 miles) further south.

(AFP)

An attack by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces on the Darfur stronghold of their former militia chief left dozens of casualties and hundreds displaced, local sources and the United Nations said Tuesday.

Two eyewitnesses told AFP that 28 people were killed.

On Monday, the RSF attacked the town of Mustariha in North Darfur, home to tribal leader Musa Hilal, from whose Janjaweed militia the paramilitary group emerged.

The United Nations said an estimated 2,690 people were displaced from the town between Monday and Tuesday "due to heightened insecurity".

Since April 2023, the war between Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's RSF and Sudan's regular army has devastated the country, particularly in the vast western region of Darfur, where the RSF has consolidated control.

(AFP)

US President Donald Trump's first option with Tehran is always diplomacy but he is willing to use lethal force if necessary, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday as his top diplomat prepares to brief top congressional leaders on Iran later in the day.

"President Trump's first option is always diplomacy. But as he has shown ... he is willing to use the lethal force of the United States military if necessary," Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House. "The president is always the final decision maker around here."

(Reuters)

More than a dozen international humanitarian organisations have petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to block an imminent order that would force 37 NGOs to cease operations in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, warning of "catastrophic" consequences for civilians.

NGOs including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE, were notified on December 30, 2025 that their Israeli registrations had expired and that they had 60 days to renew them by providing lists of their Palestinian staff.

The petition, filed by 17 organisations, including some of the NGOs hit by the ban, seeks from Israel's top court an urgent interim injunction to suspend the closures pending full judicial review.

(AFP)

A revolutionary court in Tehran has issued a death sentence for an Iranian man accused of "enmity against god", which if confirmed would be the first such sentence linked to mass protests in January, a source close to the man's family said.

The source told Reuters on Tuesday that Iran's judiciary had not yet announced the sentence against the man, Mohammad Abbasi, and that Iran's Supreme Court was yet to uphold it.

Abbasi was accused of killing a security officer, an allegation his family denied, the source said.

Rights groups say thousands of people were killed in a crackdown on the protests, the worst domestic unrest in Iran since the era of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

(Reuters)

Lebanon's army accused the Israeli military on Tuesday of firing near a position it was setting up in the country's south, saying it had instructed troops to return fire.

In a statement, the Lebanese army said it was "establishing a new observation post on the southern border" when "the area surrounding the post was subjected to gunfire from the Israeli side".

"The army command issued orders to reinforce the post, remain there, and return fire."

(AFP)

Lebanon's foreign minister said Tuesday his country feared its infrastructure could be hit by Israeli strikes if the situation with Iran escalates.

The comments from Youssef Raggi came amid a massive US military buildup in the Middle East that suggested Washington was prepared to wage a potentially sustained campaign against Iran.

"There are signs that the Israelis could strike very hard in the event of an escalation, potentially including strategic infrastructure such as the airport," Raggi told reporters in Geneva.

"We are currently conducting diplomatic efforts to request that, even in the event of retaliation, Lebanese civilian infrastructure not be targeted," he said.

His stressed that his country's leadership had been very clear: "This war does not concern us."

On Monday, Washington ordered non-emergency personnel to leave its embassy in Beirut as anticipation rose of a possible conflict.

Lebanon fears it could feel the repercussions of war in Iran, especially if Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah are involved in the conflict.

(AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards are carrying out drills on the country's southern shores of the Gulf, state media said Tuesday, amid a huge buildup of US military forces in the region.

"Combined 1404 (2026) exercise of the IRGC Ground Forces has begun," state TV reported, referring to this year in both the Iranian and Gregorian calendars.

The war games are focused on the south coasts but similar drills are happening in other parts of Iran, the report added.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Israel has sent an indirect message to Lebanon that it would strike Lebanon hard, targeting civilian infrastructure including the airport, in the event that Hezbollah gets involved in any US-Iran war, two senior Lebanese officials said on Tuesday.

The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Lebanese presidency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

(Reuters)

Hamas on Tuesday called for sanctions against Israel, welcoming a joint condemnation by nearly 20 countries of new Israeli measures aimed at tightening control over the occupied West Bank.

Israel has approved a series of initiatives this month backed by far-right ministers, including launching a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and allowing Israelis to purchase land there directly.

Late on Monday, 18 countries including regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and European powers France and Spain, slammed Israel over the recent moves.

Hamas hailed the condemnation as "a step in the right direction in confronting the occupation's expansionist plans, which flagrantly violate international law and relevant UN resolutions".

The group in a statement urged the countries involved "to impose deterrent sanctions and exert pressure on the fascist occupation government to halt its policies aimed at entrenching annexation, colonial settlement and forced displacement".

(AFP)

Iran is close to a deal with China to purchase anti-ship cruise missiles, according to six people with knowledge of the negotiations, just as the United States deploys a vast naval force near the Iranian coast ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic.

The deal for the Chinese-made CM-302 missiles is near completion, though no delivery date has been agreed, the people said.

The supersonic missiles have a range of about 290 kilometres and are designed to evade shipborne defences by flying low and fast.

Their deployment would significantly enhance Iran’s strike capabilities and pose a threat to U.S. naval forces in the region, two weapons experts said.

(Reuters)

Trump officials are trying to placate Arab nations outraged at comments made by the US ambassador to Israel last week asserting Israel had a biblical right to take over most of the Middle East.

The administration is trying to reassure its allies that Mike Huckabee's remarks do not represent a change in policy, Politico reports, citing three people involved in the discussions.

In an interview with right-wing American commentator Tucker Carlson on Friday, Huckabee supported the  idea of a "Greater Israel", saying it would "be fine" if Israel seized territory between the Nile and the Euphrates.

Arab states issued strong condemnations of the ambassador's "extremist" rhetoric.

University students have the right to protest but everyone must "understand the red lines", the Iranian government's spokeswoman said Tuesday in the first official reaction to renewed protests on campuses since the weekend.

"Sanctities and the flag are two examples of these red lines that we must protect and not cross or deviate from, even at the height of anger," Fatemeh Mohajerani said.

Students held protests at several universities at the start of a new semester on Saturday, with some clashing with pro-government groups.

(AFP)

A helicopter belonging to the Iranian army's Air Force crashed on Tuesday into a fruit market in the central province of Isfahan, killing four people, state media reported.

The pilot, co-pilot and two fruit vendors on the ground were killed, the official IRNA news agency said, attributing the crash to "a technical malfunction".

The tragedy took place in the city of Khomeynishahr in Isfahan province.

(AFP)

India and South Korea advised their citizens to leave Iran on Monday amid continued fears that the US could launch a full-scale attack on the country.

In statements by their embassies, the two countries warned of escalating regional tensions and advised nationals in the country to leave as soon as possible.

US President Donald Trump on Monday denied reports of divisions in his administration over a potential attack on Iran, calling them "100 percent incorrect".

Several US outlets had published reports suggesting opposition in the Pentagon - including Trump's top general - to an attack.

The Trump administration has threatened to launch a major attack on Iran if it does not dismantle its nuclear programme and has mounted one of the largest military buildups in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.