Saturday, June 27, 2026

Hezbollah Rejects Israel-Lebanon Agreement, Calls It Invalid


Hezbollah Rejects Israel-Lebanon Agreement, Calls It Invalid - Leader
Sputnik


On Friday, representatives of Lebanon and Israel signed a US-brokered framework agreement in Washington aimed at resolving the conflict.

"This agreement is not valid. The provisions of the Iranian-US memorandum of understanding must be implemented. The framework agreement concluded in Washington is humiliation, disgrace and a loss of sovereignty," Qassem said in a video address broadcast by Lebanese television channel Al-Manar.

The provision linking the withdrawal of Israeli troops to Hezbollah's disarmament was an extremely dangerous proposal that crossed all "red lines," he added.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported, citing a US official, that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a ceasefire starting June 19.
However, exchanges of strikes continued on June 20. Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Eyal Zamir described the ceasefire as fragile and called on troops to be prepared for renewed hostilities.

US launches fresh strikes on Iran:


US launches fresh strikes on Iran: Tehran had ‘chance to honor the ceasefire but elected not to’

Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday


US Central Command, which oversees American military forces in the Middle East, confirms launching fresh strikes on Iran after it attacked a commercial oil tanker with a drone.

In a statement, CENTCOM says Iran had been “given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to” by attacking the ship, which followed US strikes in response to a previous Iranian attack.

CENTCOM says the latest strikes “targeted Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities.”

“Commercial vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue,” it adds. “US forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”


Trump warns US may be ‘forced to militarily complete the job’ in Iran after new strikes

US President Donald Trump confirms that the US military struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites for violating a US-Iran ceasefire agreement.

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” Trump writes on Truth Social.

“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist.”

Kuwait, Bahrain hit with new missile and drone attacks after US strikes on Iran

Kuwait came under attack from “hostile” missiles and drones, the country’s army says, while in Bahrain, air-raid sirens sound following fresh US strikes against Iran.

“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently engaging hostile missile and drone attacks. Everyone is urged to adhere to the safety and security instructions issued by the relevant authorities,” Kuwait’s army writes on X.

In Bahrain, which hosts a major US naval base, air raid sirens have gone off, the interior ministry says, calling on residents to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”



The Coming Famine: How war and empire are starving the world


The Coming Famine: How war and empire are starving the world


  • In "The Coming Famine: Engineered Starvation and the Price of Empire," Col Douglas MacGregor warns that a global famine is being deliberately engineered, with the daily cost of the current war machine destroying enough grain and fertilizer to feed 30,000 people for an entire year.
  • The United States has approved over $113 billion in aid to Ukraine with minimal oversight, while American farmers face doubled fertilizer prices and domestic infrastructure crumbles.
  • Sanctions on Russia and blockades on Iran are strangling the inputs needed for modern agriculture, such as natural gas for nitrogen fertilizer, which causes crop yields to fall by 40% to 50% in a single season.
  • The military-industrial complex profits from destruction, as defense contractors benefit from policies that cause starvation, with war profiteering being a deliberate outcome rather than an accident.
  • The solution proposed is humanitarian disengagement – including an immediate ceasefire, removal of foreign troops, an end to sanctions on food and fertilizer and a focus on local food sovereignty and home gardens.
According to the book "The Coming Famine: Engineered Starvation and the Price of Empire," the evidence is undeniable. We are witnessing the deliberate construction of a global famine that will dwarf any natural disaster in human history.

Col. Douglas MacGregor, a decorated combat veteran and former senior advisor to the Department of War, has been sounding the alarm that the mainstream media refuses to broadcast. His credentials are impeccable: He led troops in battle, then helped plan strategy from the top floor of the military establishment.

When MacGregor speaks about the connection between endless war and engineered starvation, he speaks from decades of insider experience that few can match. And the numbers are staggering.

The United States has approved over $113 billion in aid to Ukraine alone, yet oversight is so minimal that much of this money disappears into a black hole of corruption. Meanwhile, American farmers face fertilizer prices that have more than doubled, and our own infrastructure crumbles.

The connection between energy wars and food production is the key that the corporate media refuses to explain. Modern agriculture depends entirely on natural gas for nitrogen fertilizer through the Haber-Bosch process.

When the United States and its allies impose sanctions on Russia and blockade Iran, they are not just punishing geopolitical rivals. They are strangling the very inputs that keep the world's crops growing.

Iran's oil fields are old and fragile. If shut down for even two weeks, they can suffer permanent damage that cuts output by 20% to 30%. The same applies to Venezuela, whose production collapsed from 3.5 million barrels per day to just 400,000.


MacGregor has warned repeatedly that this is not an accident. The same elites who control the financial system and the war machine have engineered conditions for mass starvation.

The Houthi blockade of the Red Sea, the destruction of fertilizer plants, the sanctions that prevent shipments of ammonia and urea – all of these fit a pattern that benefits defense contractors while destroying the Global South. India, Bangladesh, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia are already on the brink. When fertilizer supplies are cut off, crop yields fall by 40% to 50% in a single season. That means hundreds of millions of people facing starvation.

The hypocrisy is staggering. Western leaders claim to be defending democracy and human rights, yet their policies have caused more deaths from starvation than from all the bombs dropped in the conflict. The World Food Programme's own data shows that the resources poured into weapons could have prevented famine.

But the military-industrial complex profits from destruction, not from feeding people. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman donate heavily to both political parties, ensuring that no vote to continue war will ever fail. The War Powers Act of 1973, designed to prevent endless conflict, has become a rubber stamp for the very thing it was meant to stop.





Zelensky Telegraphs 40-Day Pressure Offensive On Russia, Fueling Fears Of Slide Toward WW3


Zelensky Telegraphs 40-Day Pressure Offensive On Russia, Fueling Fears Of Slide Toward WW3
TYLER DURDEN


The Ukraine war is quite obviously escalating, especially regarding Ukrainian leaders seeking to "bring the war" to Russian soil, amid nightly drone attacks which have come in the hundreds and even thousands of late.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking to seize on the momentum of repeat drone hits on Russian refinery and energy infrastructure - a reality Russia has suffered over many months, leading to a current fuel crisisspanning dozens of cities and regions, and especially Crimea, which has temporarily halted fuel sales to common citizens altogether this week.

Ukrainian media is touting a new Zelensky plan to ramp up the pressure on Russia over the next 40 days, aimed at "pressuring Russia to end its war".

He has ordered Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) to launch a new 40-day operation, which also includes "plan for long-range sanctions, medium-range sanctions, and the results achieved by the SBU," Zelensky said on X. He's further calling it an "influence operation."

"For several months in a row, the SBU has demonstrated the highest performance in defending Ukraine’s positions on the front lines through the use of various types of drones," Zelensky said on Thursday evening. According to more of the statement:

I approved a 40-day influence operation for the Service against the aggressor state aimed at compelling it to end the war.

Importantly, for several months in a row, the SSU has demonstrated the highest performance in defending Ukraine’s positions on the front lines through the use of various types of drones. The Center of Special Operations “Alpha” leads in terms of the occupier’s personnel and equipment neutralized.


Earlier, in mid-June, Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov proclaimed  "Hell is beginning," for Russia and its military. "Logistics are being cut off. Crimea is being isolated," he said at the time.

 Russian forces still have the upper-hand on the front line in the east, but the pain clearly being inflicted on Russia's economy can't be ignored at this point.

This sets up a potential slide into tit-for-tat escalation which could unleash a WW3 scenario. In the meantime this is an interesting-timed warning from Latvia and Poland:

Western intelligence agencies are increasingly concerned that Russia may be preparing a limited hybrid operation targeting NATO's eastern flank, potentially involving the Baltic states or Poland.

Such a move, officials believe, could be an attempt to test the alliance's unity as the war in Ukraine enters a new phase.

According to reporting by The Guardian, intelligence officials from two NATO countries have warned that Moscow is considering a "provocation" rather than a full-scale military attack.

Report by Major General Yevhenii Khmara on our long-range sanctions plan, mid-range sanctions, and the results of the Security Service of Ukraine – specifically the Center of Special Operations “Alpha” – on the front.

Kiev now feels the pressure to keep this narrative going, also so it can attract more and more weapons and intelligence help. But at some point Russia will feel it necessary to strongly reassert its red lines. This could come in the form of another massive escalation, and against 'decision-making centers'.

Iran Responds With Drone Attack On Bahrain, Another Hit On Ship In Hormuz


Iran Responds With Drone Attack On Bahrain, Another Hit On Ship In Hormuz
TYLER DURDEN


A lot of escalation has ensued in the last 48 hours, starting when Thursday Tehran struck a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, after which by the end of Friday US CENTCOM confirmed a series of fresh attacks on Iranian missile and drone storage sites as well as coastal radar installations, reportedly on Sirik Island located near the Strait of Hormuz.

Referring to Thursday's attack on a vessel off Oman, the Pentagon called it a "powerful response to yesterday’s attack," in the Friday statement. By early Saturday, Iran had re-retaliated and launched a fresh drone attack on Bahrain. Additionally, another ship in the Strait of Hormuz separately came under attack Saturday.

The Associated Press points to the obvious potential US-Iran deal (MoU) unraveling: "The attacks across the Persian Gulf show the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the U.S. reached an interim deal to try and agree on a final accord to end the conflict" - though neither side has as yet indicated they are walking away from the deal at this point.

According to more details from the Saturday developments:

  • Bahrain said it was targeted by "a number" of Iranian drones on Saturday, accusing Tehran of "undermining peace efforts" in the region. In a statement, the country's foreign ministry said it expressed "Bahrain’s condemnation in the strongest terms of the targeting of its territory at dawn today," adding that the attacks were a "blatant threat to the security of citizens and residents".
  • US Central Command announced that American aircraft had hit Iranian missile and drone storage locations as well as coastal radar sites in response to Iran striking the M/V Ever Lovely ship with a one-way attack drone as it navigated the Strait of Hormuz.
  • "The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack," CENTCOM said, adding that Iranian forces had "clearly violated" the ceasefire agreement.


But it remains that Iran is now firing warning shots at ships that haven't cleared permits to transit the Strait of Hormuz under Iran's own protocol, which highlights that deep divisions remain over each side's interpretation of the terms. The latest via Reuters:

  • IRAN WEIGHS WALKING AWAY FROM SWISS TALKS AFTER US STRIKE
  • IRAN MAY HALT SWISS TALKS AFTER US STRIKE ON SIRIK

Gulf states have newly condemned "in the strongest terms the treacherous Iranian attacks" on Bahrain, after drones hit the country's territory. The GCC statement further alleged that the Iranians targeted "civilian infrastructure and properties".

Other nations weighed in separately, with for example Kuwait's foreign ministry saying "The continuation of these aggressions, amid regional and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and reducing tensions, represents a dangerous undermining of efforts for peace and stability and a threat to the security and stability of the region," on X.

Amid all the tit-for-tat, Iran's IRGC is blaming the US for breaking it commitments under the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). A Saturday statement described:

According to Article Five of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, arrangements for monitoring maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz are carried out in coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

However, according to the statement, the United States sought to violate this commitment through various movements and received an appropriate response, and the same will apply in the future. If any aggression is repeated, the response will be broader."

Al Jazeera has meanwhile reported Saturday that that IRGC ‘targets’ US military sites in region after attacks - and so the response could be ongoing.

Independent journalist and pundit Michael Tracey points out sarcastically but aptly that Indefinitely bombing Iran sounds a lot like what you might call "endless war"And so the weekly tit-for-tat escalation might grow more regular until there simply is no more MoU deal to reference back to at all.

Ironically this comes just as Israel, Lebanon, and Israel hailed the signing of a 'trilateral peace framework' in Washington - and as Hezbollah is being pushed out of a political solution in south Lebanon, while the IDF occupation of significant territory remains.