He who constructs his 'ladder' from 'chaos' convinces himself that he will rise to dominion over men. Yet he remains blind to the first and most inevitable truth: the maker of chaos is always its primary victim.

The man who finds no value in honouring his obligations or preserving peace, but instead prospers through discord, deception, and perpetual strife, condemns himself to an exhausting and Sisyphean labour. Each day he must ignite a new fire merely to feed the old. He is not the master of crisis, but its prisoner; and no prisoner, however imposing his shadow, can ever be called truly powerful.

The fomenters of strife are, in truth, not architects of power but captives of the very forces they unleash. For once awakened, such forces do not discriminate between ally and enemy, nor between the hand that summoned them and the lives they devour.

Their final humiliation arrives the moment they realise that the weapon they forged to subjugate others has slipped its leash and now possesses a will of its own. In that bitter awakening lies the true poverty of their power—and the beginning of their inevitable downfall.

Why I don't support an additional army: every member state has one army.

If you allocate this army to NATO, then you can't use it elsewhere — you can't also create another army, just a parallel one.

That's why it is very important that we don't create structures that could create confusion.

U.S. forces disabled an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, June 8, after the vessel violated the ongoing blockade against Iran by attempting to sail to an Iranian port.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) disabled Palau-flagged M/T Marivex as it transited international waters in the Gulf of Oman toward Iran.

An F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) fired a precision munition into the ship's engineering and steering spaces after the crew failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces.

Marivex is no longer sailing to Iran.

Israeli officials are working to prevent such a move.

While there are currently no indications that Trump intends to push for reduced Israeli operations, concerns stem from the possibility that Iranian demands in negotiations with Washington could lead the Trump administration to argue that restraint in Lebanon would help advance diplomatic talks.

I told Bibi, you better be very careful with what you do, because you might soon be left alone against Iran.

Netanyahu argued that Iran had violated Israeli sovereignty and that a response was necessary. The U.S. understood Israel would respond but sought to limit the scope of the operation.

Five regional countries contacted Trump and asked him to pressure Netanyahu not to attack Iran.

Israel subsequently carried out two rounds of strikes in Iran before Tehran launched another response later that morning.

After Iran's final missile barrage, Tehran informed Washington that it was prepared for a ceasefire. As Israel prepared a larger follow-on strike, Trump called Netanyahu again and urged him to halt the operation, telling him, "You did what you did; now hold your fire; we are heading toward an agreement."

Netanyahu then returned to Israel's command bunker and ordered the planned attack canceled, despite aircraft already being prepared to launch attacks on Iran.

The violation of the ceasefire and the naval blockade were the causes of the recent tensions.

The military arena, the diplomatic arena, the arena of public participation, and the arena of serving the people are all interconnected parts of a single whole.

Diplomacy does not hinder military operations, nor do military operations hinder diplomacy. The goal of negotiations is to end the war and create lasting security, not to normalize relations with the U.S.

I assure the dear people that we will continue to defend the rights of the Iranian people with strength.

We will turn the naval blockade into yet another defeat for the enemy.

The case of Lebanon demonstrated that diplomacy, alongside military action, can push back enemies. At one time, we prevent an attack on Beirut through threats of retaliation and by suspending negotiations; at another time, through military action.

The choice is not between fighting and negotiating. Rather, we must fight when the time is right and negotiate when the time is right.

This is how we can defeat the enemy and make real the idea that negotiations are a continuation of the struggle.