The U.S. will leave the Middle East without any achievements, Iranian media reported on Monday citing Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, commander of the powerful elite Quds Force.
He noted that the U.S. and Israel should remember how they left Yemen likewise empty-handed in a prior campaign, according to the Tasnim and Mehr semiofficial news agencies.
Qaani suggested that the Iranian-backed Houthis rebels could close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as they did between 2023 and 2025. The attacks in Bab el-Mandeb prompted the U.S. to launch an air campaign against the Houthis. The rebels stopped attacking ships in the Red Sea after a deal with the Trump administration.
Spain’s government calls Trump’s naval blockade threat ‘senseless’
Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles condemned Trump’s threatened shipping blockade, saying it “makes no sense.”
“Since the war began, everything has been senseless,” Robles told Spanish broadcaster TVE on Monday. “Nobody knows the reason why this war started, a war that was supposed to be quick. This is just another episode of the downward spiral we have been dragged into, and that they have tried to drag the entire world into.”
Spain under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been Europe’s loudest critic of the U.S. and Israel’s military actions in the Middle East. The NATO member said earlier this month that its airspace was closed to the U.S. planes being used in Iran, and disallowed the U.S. from utilizing jointly operated military bases in southern Spain in the war effort.
Netanyahu says fighting to continue in Lebanon
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said fighting is continuing in Lebanon on Monday. The fighting was focused on the Bint Jbeil area, a strategic point that has been the site of fierce battles between Israel and Hezbollah over the years.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that Israel’s military is expanding beyond the five hilltops it controlled in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire with Hezbollah in 2024 towards a “solid, deeper security zone, which both prevents the danger of invasion and keeps the threat of terrorism away.”
Previously, Netanyahu said Israel wants to control the territory 8-10 kilometers (5-6 miles) from the border in southern Lebanon to remove the threat of short-range rockets or anti-tank missiles targeting Israeli cities and towns on the border.
Iran and Qatari foreign ministers discuss failed Islamabad talks
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The ministers discussed the Islamabad talks between Iran and the U.S. which failed to achieve a deal, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.
EU chief says bloc’s fuel bill is over $25B higher due to Iran war
The European Union’s fuel bill has risen by more than $25 billion since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran and is likely to mount,
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.
“Our bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over 22 billion euros – 44 days, 22 billion euros,” she said, noting that “the disruption of energy supplies will continue for some time to come.”
Von der Leyen recommended to EU governments that they start coordinating the way they use their oil stocks and store natural gas to avoid putting pressure on the market. She proposed to ease restrictions on state aid rules while the crisis lasts to help protect vulnerable consumers and sectors from high energy prices.
Trump is ‘bluffing’ over Hormuz threat, Iranian security official says
A U.S. threat to block the Strait of Hormuz is “more bluffing than reality,” according to Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission.
Rezaei warned that Tehran was prepared to respond if the situation escalates militarily.
“It will make the current situation (Trump) is in more complicated and will further agitate the market he is angry about, and we may also reveal other cards that we have not used in the game,” Rezaei said in a post on X.
Japan’s Takaichi Praises Pakistan’s Mediation Effort
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held telephone talks Monday with her Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif, during which she expressed support for his mediation efforts for hosting U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad.
Takaichi said she reiterated Japan’s position that what is most important is to promptly reach a final agreement and to de-escalate the situation through talks to ensure safe passages through the Strait of Hormuz.
Sharif said Pakistan hopes to cooperate with Japan in the effort, Takaichi said.
Source: AP news
