The Levant Files

As the United States and Iran moved to halt four days of tit-for-tat strikes around the Strait of Hormuz and convene fresh talks in Doha, the MAGA and pro-Trump American media over the past 24 hours have coalesced around a single dominant message: President Donald Trump is negotiating from a position of overwhelming strength, and any renewed Iranian aggression will be answered with force. That framing was set at the top by the White House and amplified across conservative outlets. Speaking on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared that Washington was "holding up our end of the ceasefire" and warned bluntly that "violence will be met with violence." She cast Tehran as the party that stands to lose most, predicting that continued aggression would leave Iran to "prove themselves to be the pariah of the Middle East" and alienated from its Gulf and Arab partners.  Fox News reported that the diplomatic track was be...

Iraq is in the grip of one of the most sweeping anti-corruption operations in its post-2003 history. In the early hours of June 28, elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) units sealed Baghdad's fortified Green Zone and fanned out across multiple provinces in what Iraqi media have dubbed the "Dawn Crackdown" — a campaign ordered personally by the country's new Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi. According to Shafaq News, Iraqi security forces detained 67 officials, lawmakers, and businessmen across Baghdad and several provinces, in operations carried out under the direct supervision of the prime minister. Officials describe this as the first phase of a wider campaign that could reach more than 200 senior figures within 72 hours. The state news agency INA initially reported 47 detainees, while other counts have since risen above fifty.  The state news agency named a roster of prominent figures. Those held are led by Muthanna al-Samarrai, head of the al-Azm Alliance and a membe...

The best selling point for President Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran was that at least it opened the Strait of Hormuz. Well, now the regime is trying to nullify those terms by using force against commercial vessels, Gulf states and U.S. bases. All of this violates the deal and calls into question why Mr. Trump signed it. On Thursday Iran struck a container ship transiting the Strait with a drone. The U.S. responded on Friday with strikes on Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radars. It announced the strike after markets closed as if to demonstrate the economic constraints on U.S. military action. Iran then hit a tanker carrying Qatari crude. The U.S. retaliated again against Iranian military sites and has escorted oil tankers with heavy air cover. Iran then fired drones and missiles at civilian targets and U.S. bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. “It is very possible that they will never learn,” Mr. Trump wrote of Iran’s regime on Saturday night. Or is it U.S. d...

Today, The Levant Files officially crossed a major milestone, welcoming its 300,000th unique visitor to the platform. What started as a dedicated effort to provide deep analysis, nuanced perspectives, and rigorous reporting on the Levant region has grown into a thriving global community of readers, researchers, and policymakers. Achieving this threshold is a testament to the trust our audience places in our independent journalism. In an era of rapid news cycles, our readers have consistently sought out the context, depth, and integrity that define our publication. To every single person who has read an article, shared a report, or supported our work: thank you. Your engagement drives our mission forward. As we look to the future, The Levant Files remains deeply committed to expanding our coverage, breaking down complex regional dynamics, and remaining your go-to source for insightful analysis.

    The current wave of terrorism against Iran launched by that murderous criminal in Washington is not something new, and is part of the crimes US regimes have carried out in the Islamic Republic over the past 47 years. On the anniversary of the martyrdom of Iran’s Chief Justice and its First Judiciary Chief, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti, along with 72 senior revolutionaries, including cabinet ministers and members of parliament by the US-backed MKO terrorists in 1981, we are proud to say that the blood of the martyrs continues to provide new strength to the Islamic Republic. Each time the dimwitted terrorists target Iranian leaders, including the February 28 martyrdom of the Beloved Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (RA), the nation, instead of collapsing, has solidified its ranks to retaliate with iron resolve against the cowardly enemies. The gallows-deserving Donald Trump – a habitual liar, a scoundrel, and violator of his own ...

Iranian state and semi-official media spent the past twelve hours hammering a unified message: Tehran alone governs the Strait of Hormuz, the United States is the party violating the mid-June memorandum of understanding, and Iran's response to further strikes will widen rather than soften. The dominant story across outlets was Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's press conference in Baghdad. Press TV led with his assertion that only Iran is responsible for reopening the strait under the Tehran–Washington MoU, and that any foreign interference will complicate the process. State-aligned coverage framed his 30-day timeline explicitly, reporting his claim that the waterway would return to pre-war capacity within 30 days under Iran's exclusive management once obstacles are removed. Outlets carrying his remarks stressed his warning that any external interference could hinder normal shipping and further escalate regional tensions. The Lebanon file was woven into the same coverage. Ir...

Sevgül Uludağ, the Turkish Cypriot investigative journalist, author and peace activist known internationally for her work tracing the island's missing persons, has died. Born in Nicosia in 1958, Uludağ entered journalism in 1980 and went on to build a career defined by her determination to uncover the fate of those who disappeared during Cyprus's years of intercommunal conflict and division. Over decades, she gave voice to the relatives of the missing on both sides of the divide, working with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot families alike to seek answers that had eluded them for generations. For many years she wrote columns for the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Yenidüzen, while also contributing to Politis, published in the south. Through her work in both communities, she became a rare cross-divide voice, championing dialogue, peace and a culture of reconciliation between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Her investigations into the missing helped lead to the discovery of numerous mass...

As the dust settles on the newly signed Israel-Lebanon framework agreement, Israeli media outlets are engaged in a fierce debate over the deal’s long-term implications. While the government hails the accord as a diplomatic breakthrough that weakens Iranian influence, opinion pieces and analyses from the last 24 hours paint a picture of deep strategic anxiety, with critics warning that the agreement prioritizes global economic stability over Israel’s security needs. The "Gaza Model" and the Illusion of Security A prominent critique emerging from military analysts is that the new framework merely replicates the US-led model recently applied in Gaza, focusing on technical mechanisms while ignoring political realities. In an opinion piece for Maariv, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Amit Yagur argues that the deal relies heavily on "pilot zones" where the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) must prove their ability to disarm Hezbollah before the IDF withdraws . Yagur contends that this approach...

In the past hours, Lebanese media outlets spanning the political spectrum have intensely covered and analyzed the newly announced Israel-Lebanon memorandum, a fragile agreement aimed at de-escalating tensions along the border while opening the door to limited economic cooperation. The coverage reflects the country’s deep political divisions, with pro-government publications cautiously supportive and Hezbollah-aligned media striking a far more skeptical tone. The memorandum, which lays out steps to reduce border hostilities and potentially foster cross-border economic initiatives, has sparked a wave of commentary emphasizing its conditional and tactical nature.  Pro-Government Media: A Tactical Step Toward Stability Leading pro-government outlets such as An-Nahar and L’Orient-Le Jour framed the memorandum as a pragmatic move to prevent further instability. In an editorial published this morning, An-Nahar described the agreement as “a necessary tactical move to prevent further econom...