Saudi Arabia halts payments to western consulting firms as US war on Iran aggravates cash crunch

The kingdom is slashing spending on Vision 2030 and other megaprojects while increasing defense expenditures amid the ongoing Iran war

Saudi port authority unveils new Red Sea shipping service to bypass Hormuz

The move aims to ‘enhance connectivity’ by linking the ports of Jeddah, Oman, and Djibouti

❗️US threats force Palestinian UN envoy to withdraw General Assembly candidacy

Palestinian UN envoy withdrew his candidacy for Vice President of the UN General Assembly on Friday after the United States threatened to revoke the visas of members of the Palestinian delegation, NPR reported on 22 May.

According to NPR, Lebanon’s ambassador to the UN submitted a nomination instead, while a source from the Palestinian delegation said Mansour would refrain from seeking the post over the next two years, a period another source familiar with the matter interpreted as corresponding to the remainder of President’s term in office.

Palestine's UN envoy withdraws bid for General Assembly vice presidency following US threats

A State Department cable says the US does not want Riyad Mansour to have a 'pulpit' to highlight Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza at the UN

❗️Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu claims that he and US President Donald Trump agreed that any final deal with Iran must "eliminate" the "nuclear danger" by dismantling all enrichment sites and removing enriched uranium from its territory; conditions Iran does not accept.

Trump posted on Truth Social that he is in no rush to make a deal with Iran because time is on the US's side.

He said the naval blockade will stay in place until a final deal is signed and sealed. He then rambled on about expanding the Abraham Accords, casually suggesting Iran might even join them next.

❗️Hezbollah Secretary-General says Lebanese government should resign if incapable of defending sovereignty, rejects disarmament and direct negotiations with Israel

In a speech marking Resistance and Liberation Day on 24 May, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said the Lebanese state had failed to enforce the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, noting that “for 15 months following the agreement, the Israeli aggressions continued.”

He warned that Israel’s project is based on “exterminating the resistance and occupying Lebanon gradually,” stressing that Hezbollah would not surrender its weapons while attacks and occupation continue.

Qassem called on the Lebanese government to reverse its decision restricting weapons to the hands of the state, arguing that “disarming is stripping Lebanon of its defensive capability in preparation for extermination.”

He said Hezbollah rejects any discussions over a defensive strategy before “halting the aggression, the full withdrawal of Israel, the liberation of the prisoners, and the return of the people.” He added that “the weapons will remain in our hands until the Lebanese state is able to perform its duty.”

The Hezbollah leader sharply criticized the Lebanese authorities and ongoing diplomatic efforts, saying: “If the government is incapable of securing sovereignty, let it resign.”

He also declared that “there is no political sovereignty in Lebanon; rather, it is under American tutelage,” while warning that “direct negotiations are rejected and are pure gain for Israel.” Qassem urged Lebanese officials to “abandon direct negotiations” and “return to national consensus.”

Additionally, he explicitly declared:

“Whoever confronts us alongside Israel, we will confront them just as we confront Israel.”

Qassem also pointed to the mounting Israeli losses in south Lebanon, stating that “there are real Israeli losses in southern Lebanon,” and saying Israel is responding to battlefield losses by “targeting civilians and homes.” He added that Israel only acknowledged some of those losses because of resistance drone footage, stressing that “the resistance’s drones will continue to pursue Israeli enemy soldiers.”

Qassem said Iran has “managed to humiliate America and Israel,” and expressed hope that Hezbollah would be included in any future “full cessation of hostilities agreement.”

He concluded by declaring that “all the killing and destruction aims to make us kneel, but we will not kneel,” adding that Hezbollah would remain in the field “until victory or martyrdom.”

❗️Trump withdrew from key diplomatic proposals with Iran following phone call with Netanyahu

The media coverage surrounding recent diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran has vastly outpaced the actual progress achieved in negotiations, according to Iranian affairs analyst Hassan Ahmadian.

​Speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic, Ahmadian stated that US President Donald Trump retroactively withdrew from two critical components of the proposals, which had previously secured mutual acceptance from both sides through intermediaries.

​The analyst revealed that Trump altered positions regarding a comprehensive ceasefire provision intended to encompass Lebanon, as well as the unfreezing of specified Iranian assets.

​Ahmadian noted that this sudden policy shift occurred immediately following a telephone conversation between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

❗️Trump wants Arab, Muslim countries to normalize with Israel in exchange for Iran deal

US President Donald Trump told Arab and Muslim leaders during a Saturday phone call that he expects them to normalize relations with Israel if Washington reaches an agreement to end the war on Iran. According to a report by Axios citing two US officials, Trump explicitly urged nations without current ties to Jerusalem to establish them, specifically targeting states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan. Trump later suggested on social media that Iran itself could perhaps normalize relations with Israel, though his initial demands on the call were reportedly met with total silence from the regional leaders.

The phone call included leaders from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain. Trump appears to be using the normalization demands to provide Israel with a strategic victory as a compensation prize for the nascent deal. Security officials in Jerusalem are reportedly alarmed by the emerging terms of the agreement, which will begin with a 60 day ceasefire extension. Israeli state media network Channel 12 reported that senior officials have warned the deal is highly problematic and fails to serve Israeli security interests.

Israeli officials fear the current framework only delays negotiations on key war goals by failing to address the ballistic missile program, regional proxies, or nuclear capabilities of Tehran. Security sources argue the terms grant Iran necessary time for economic and military recovery, making a future return to conflict difficult for Washington and Tel Aviv.

In response to the criticism, Trump defended his diplomatic efforts on social media by calling critics losers and stating he instructed his team not to rush, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told The New York Times that a sustainable deal cannot be achieved overnight.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 President Trump says it should be "mandatory" that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and others sign the Abraham Accords as part of any Iranian deal.

@BRICSNews

BREAKING | Israel escalates against the ancient city of Tyre (Sour) in south Lebanon, including Palestinian refugee camps, issuing new forced displacement orders and threatening strikes under the pretext of targeting Hezbollah.

The Israeli military ordered residents to immediately evacuate buildings in Al-Rashidieh and Burj al-Shemaly ahead of the attacks.

❗️Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took to social media to demand a drastic escalation in attacks on Lebanon in light of "explosive drones" launched by Hezbollah in direct response to Israeli attacks that have killed over 3,000 Lebanese people since 2 March.

Ben-Gvir urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to aggressively pressure the Trump administration for a green light to resume full-scale military attacks, calling for collective punishment measures against Lebanese civilians, advocating for the total destruction of the country's electricity grid and the military occupation of the strategic Al-Zahrani region in southern Lebanon.

"It is forbidden to normalize the reality of explosive drones. The time has come for the Prime Minister to bang on Trump’s table and announce to him that we are returning to war in Lebanon. We must cut off the electricity in Lebanon, occupy Al-Zahrani, and return to an intense war," he wrote.

❗️Smotrich: “We need to bring down 10 buildings in Dahiye in response to every drone.”

A heated clash reportedly erupted inside Israel’s security cabinet during a five-hour meeting on Sunday, according to a Ynet report published on 25 May, as Israeli officials debated how to respond to increasingly deadly Hezbollah drone attacks from south Lebanon amid talks of a possible US-Iran agreement.

According to Ynet, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We cannot defend ourselves to death. We need to bring down 10 buildings in Dahiye in response to every drone.”

Netanyahu rejected the proposal, replying: “What are you suggesting? That every time there is a drone, we bring down 10 buildings?” Smotrich answered: “Unequivocally, yes. Wars are won through deterrence and exacting a price.”

The report said Netanyahu pressed the Israeli military to rapidly develop defensive solutions against explosive drones after several Israeli soldiers were killed on the Lebanon front.

During the meeting, Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir reportedly said: “You cannot work with tweezers. A different equation has to be created,” adding that it should include strikes on buildings in Beirut and Tyre “in order to deter.”

According to Ynet, the discussions took place as Israel grows increasingly concerned over the emerging US-Iran negotiations and the possibility of an agreement that could halt fighting with Hezbollah while limiting Israel’s military escalation in Lebanon.

The meeting also followed the killing of Israeli soldier Sgt. Nehoray Leizer in south Lebanon in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack.

❗️Israeli warplanes targeted Al-Sultaniyah in south Lebanon's Bint Jbeil District with at least 5 strikes.

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 NEW: President Trump says negotiations with Iran are progressing ‘nicely’

He also says that for the ‘help’ the U.S. provided in bringing peace to the Middle East, it should be mandatory for Saudi Arabia and Qatar to immediately join the Abraham Accords (i.e. peace with Israel), and that other nations should follow suit, including Iran.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇮🇱/🇺🇸 Iran’s Foreign Ministry:

‘The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize ‘Israel’, and never will, as it is an illegal and occupying entity.

Therefore, it is impossible to engage in diplomatic relations with a usurping and genocidal regime which is the greatest source of instabillity and crimes against humanity in the region.

It would be better for Iran, which is a civilization that has existed for thousands of years, to be martyred in its entirety — rather than to engage in diplomatic relations or any other relations with the killer of Muslims’

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇺🇸 NEW: Iranian air defenses shot down an enemy drone during a surveillance operation in the Persian Gulf

The drone was shot down with a new and previously unknown air defense system, ‘Arash the Archer’.

@Middle_East_Spectator