KOENIG

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi said that Iran is seeking to establish a lasting peace with Saudi Arabia, according to Iran state media IRNA. The comments are important because Iran is seeking to revolutionize its diplomatic ties across the region. Towards that end Iran’s foreign minister has made key trips and is seeking inroads in traditional western allies. This includes not only Saudi Arabia but also Egypt.

In other cases Iran is seeking closer ties with Russia and cementing its ties to the Syrian regime. This is all part of how Iran exploits the war on Israel and the use of its proxies to also conduct a multi-pronged offensive in the region.

A slew of crypto companies including Ripple [the developers of XRP cryptocurrency], Kraken and Circle are jostling for a seat on President-elect Donald Trump's promised crypto advisory council, seeking a say in his planned overhaul of U.S. policy, according to several digital asset industry executives.

Campaigning at a July bitcoin conference in Nashville, Trump promised a new council as part of a crypto-friendly administration. His transition team is discussing how to structure and staff it, and which companies should be included, the people said.

The price of Ripple's [XRP] token hit $1.43 after SEC Chairman Gary Gensler announced his resignation on Nov. 21, 2024, effective Jan. 20, 2025. This price increase comes as part of a broader rally in the crypto market, fueled in part by the optimism surrounding the re-election of Donald Trump. XRP has gained more than 150% in the past 30 days, up from about $0.50 where it had traded for much of the previous two years.

President-elect Trump announced Thursday evening that he's nominating former attorney general of Florida Pam Bondi as the next attorney general of the United States.

Trump's latest Cabinet pick replaces Matt Gaetz, the former Florida representative and nominee for attorney general, who on Thursday withdrew as Trump's pick for the top prosecutor...

"Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families," Trump wrote in his announcement. "Then, as Florida’s first female Attorney General, she worked to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs, and reduce the tragedy of Fentanyl Overdose Deaths, which have destroyed many families across our Country. She did such an incredible job, that I asked her to serve on our Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during my first Term — We saved many lives!

Iran said Friday it would launch a series of "new and advanced" centrifuges in response to a resolution adopted by the United Nations nuclear watchdog that censures Tehran for what the agency called lack of cooperation. The censure motion brought by Britain, France, Germany, and the United States at the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) follows a similar one in June.

It came as tensions run high over Iran's atomic program, with critics fearing that Tehran is attempting to develop a nuclear weapon — a claim the Islamic Republic has repeatedly denied.

The resolution — which China, Russia and Burkina Faso voted against — carried with 19 votes in favor, 12 abstentions and Venezuela not participating, two diplomats told AFP.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on Friday that he would invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the European nation despite the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and a former minister on Thursday.

Orban, in a conversation on state radio, accused the ICC of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes.” He added that the warrant would likely further inflame tensions.

Two U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News Thursday that a Russian "experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile" (IRBM) launched at Ukraine was not hypersonic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the attack Thursday evening in an address to the nation and said it was in direct response to the U.S. and the U.K. jointly approving Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range missiles to target Russia.

Putin and U.S. sources have since confirmed the strike was not an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but the Kremlin chief also claimed the weapon used poses a significant challenge for Western nations.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the tribunal in The Hague announced on Thursday afternoon.

The court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I “issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu and M.r Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest,” it confirmed in a statement. 

In a separate statement, the court ordered the arrest of Mohammed Deif, the supreme commander of Hamas’s military wing, who according to the Israel Defense Forces was killed in an airstrike on July 13.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant on Thursday afternoon, eliciting global uproar following the move. 

The United States rejected a decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief, a White House National Security Council spokesperson said.

"The United States fundamentally rejects the Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision," the spokesperson said, adding the US is discussing next steps with its partners.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, described the deployment of a US missile defence base in Poland as a provocation, claiming that it fits into a long-standing practice of placing NATO infrastructure closer to Russia's borders.

Details: Zakharova claimed that the deployment "raises the overall level of the nuclear threat" and that Russia considers the base a priority target and would be ready to strike it with its available means "if necessary".

In response, Paweł Wroński, spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry, emphasised that the base is purely defensive in nature.

"Its purpose is to intercept ballistic missiles, particularly from countries whose policies rely on constant threats and declarations of potential invasions. If Russia renews its threats, it means that in the future, the US and NATO will have to strengthen air defences along the entire eastern flank to make such threats unrealistic to carry out," Wroński said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nixed a Turkish initiative to mediate between Israel and Hamas “on the Gaza situation,” according to a report in Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Citing a senior Hamas source, the Qatari-owned, London-based pan-Arab news outlet went on to claim that Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar conducted an undisclosed visit to Turkey on Saturday, where he met with Turkey’s intelligence director to discuss the status of hostages in Gaza. According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Bar’s presence at the meeting was primarily to evaluate the Turkish proposal.

A senior Israeli diplomatic official told Israel Hayom that Netanyahu had authorized Ronen’s Turkey visit to explore potential hostage release arrangements and discuss bilateral relations.

The United States vetoed a U.N. Nations Security Council resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire on Wednesday morning, citing its failure to condition a halt in hostilities directly to the release of the hostages, whom Hamas continues to hold in the Gaza Strip.

“We could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages,” Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the council.

Wood accused Hamas—and not Israel—of blocking a negotiated ceasefire and cited Israel’s reference for a temporary ceasefire and a phased release of hostages.

Washington cast the lone vote against the measure among the 15-member body. It is one of five permanent members of the council that has veto power.

President-elect Donald Trump and his new administration are “uniquely positioned” to stabilize the Middle East, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel said on Wednesday.

“President Trump has strategically surrounded himself with a team of seasoned leaders who possess a deep understanding of the Middle East’s complex dynamics and the grave threats Israel faces from its enemies,” Haskel told JNS. “Supported by this powerhouse team, President Trump is uniquely positioned to stabilize the region and secure a better, more prosperous future—one that serves not only the safety and security of Israel, but also the strategic interests of the United States and democracies worldwide,” she added.

The partnership between Israel and the United States is built on a foundation of shared values, democratic principles and mutual interests, said Haskel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to hunt down terrorists who hurt hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, speaking during a visit to the Netzarim Corridor that splits the coastal enclave between north and south.

“To those who are holding our hostages: Whoever dares to harm our captives—his blood is on his own head. We will pursue you, and we will get you,” warned the Israeli leader in a video in Hebrew recorded on Gaza’s beach alongside the Mediterranean Sea.

At the same time, “whoever brings us a hostage will be given a safe way, for him and his family, to leave. We will also give a reward of $5 million for each kidnapped person. You choose—the choice is yours—but the result will be the same. We will return everyone,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting on Monday that Israel will review its ability to act against Iran once the new U.S. administration takes over.

At the start of the discussion, the prime minister said that while the war is being waged on seven fronts, “It has one source—Iran … [whose] goal is the destruction of the State of Israel,” according to a Knesset readout.

Netanyahu detailed three threats from Iran: its proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, its ballistic missiles and its nuclear program.

“Our ability to act against these three threats will be evaluated in the near future together with the incoming administration in Washington,” he said.

(photo: I24 News.tv)

A senior U.S. mediator said on Tuesday there was a "real opportunity" to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and that gaps were narrowing, signalling progress in Washington's efforts to clinch a ceasefire.

White House envoy Amos Hochstein spoke in Beirut after talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a day after the Lebanese government and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal, although with comments on the content.

"I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end," Hochstein told a press conference after the meeting. "It is now within our grasp. As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision."

Hochstein's mission marks a last-ditch attempt by the outgoing U.S. administration to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon.

The Biden administration has sanctioned Amana, the settlement movement’s main development organization.

While the impact of the move was likely blunted by this month’s election of Donald Trump, who may well reverse such sanctions, it still sends a signal to other Western countries that have followed the US in imposing similar sanctions against Israelis in the West Bank for the past year.

Amana has maintained ties with individuals and outposts that have already been sanctioned by the US for perpetrating violence in the West Bank, the Treasury Department says in its announcement.

If the International Criminal Court and its prosecutor Karim Khan don’t reverse their “outrageous unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis,” Senate Majority Leader-elect John Thune (R-S.D.) wrote on Sunday.

If the outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) “does not act, the Senate Republican majority will stand with our key ally Israel and make this—and other supportive legislation—a top priority in the next Congress,” Thune added.

In June, the House passed a bill calling on the U.S. president to sanction those who assist the ICC in its investigation, arrest, detention or prosecution of “a protected person” and sanctions and imposes visa bans on those people and their families.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to Beirut on Tuesday for talks on a truce between the Hezbollah terror group and Israel, a Lebanese political source told Reuters Monday, amid reports that Lebanon had responded positively to a ceasefire proposal submitted by the US.

Lebanon’s LBC media network reported Monday that a “positive” response to the US ceasefire proposal had been submitted to the US embassy in Beirut, and would be reviewed by Hochstein ahead of his visit to the region.

A leaked draft of the US proposal published by the Kan public broadcaster earlier this month showed that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah would include the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the establishment of an international oversight committee and the deployment of some 10,000 Lebanese Armed Forces troops along the border with Israel.

Iran publishes a picture of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei today after widespread unsourced reports on social media that he was either in a coma or had died.

The image shows him in his office talking to Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani, who was injured in Beirut in Israel’s September pager attacks against the Hezbollah terror group.

Multiple reports on social media claimed in recent days that Khamenei was in a coma. Other reports claimed that he had died or that he had nominated his son as his successor in a recent secret meeting.

President Biden has authorized Ukraine's military to use U.S.-provided long-range missiles on targets inside Russian territory, senior U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News on Sunday. 

The senior U.S. official said the weapons will mostly focus on the Kursk region of Western Russia. The decision was first reported by The New York Times.

According to the official, Biden's decision was spurred by the Russian decision to invite 10,000 North Korean soldiers into the fight against Ukraine in Kursk. A second official told Fox that it is unclear if Biden plans to approve the use of the missiles outside the Kursk region.

A Hezbollah rocket struck a synagogue in Haifa on Saturday, just one hour after the end of a prayer service.

The Avot Ubanim synagogue complex suffered major damage from the strike, but no one was hurt. 

“This is divine providence,” Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav told Israel Hayom. 

Five people were lightly injured on the way to shelters in various areas of Haifa during the barrage.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to reinstate its "maximum pressure" strategy against Iran, targeting Tehran’s economic stability and its ability to support militant proxies and nuclear development, The Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing sources close to the transition team.

The sources revealed that the administration plans to impose stricter sanctions, particularly on Iran’s oil exports, which serve as a critical revenue source. 

The anticipated sanctions could drastically reduce Iranian oil exports, which currently exceed 1.5 million barrels per day, up from a low of 400,000 barrels per day in 2020. Experts suggest that these measures would severely impact Iran’s economy. Bob McNally, an energy consultant and former US presidential adviser, indicated that reducing exports to a fraction of current levels would leave Iran in a far worse economic position than during Trump’s first term, Financial Times reported.

Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is reportedly expected to play a key role in the crafting and implementation of his father-in-law’s Mideast policy over the next four years, even though he won’t be formally part of the administration.

CNN on Friday cited several regional diplomats and Trump allies who voiced this expectation. Sources familiar with Kushner’s thinking similarly said he was unlikely to take a job in the administration but will likely be an outside adviser.

“No one on the incoming team has what Jared has, and that is trust. Jared earned it, he didn’t have it at the beginning. He earned it. That takes time to build,” said a regional diplomat.

Brian Hook said that Trump’s peace plan to resolve Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians — his so-called “deal of the century” — would likely be back on the table in a second Trump presidency, though he noted that the appetite for a two-state solution has diminished, following Hamas’s October 2020 attack that sparked the ongoing Gaza war.

The Israeli airstrikes on Iran last month destroyed a secret nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, 19 miles southeast of Tehran, Axios reported on Friday.

The clandestine site held sophisticated equipment used for testing explosives needed to detonate nuclear devices, the report read, citing three U.S. officials, one current Israeli official and one former Israeli official.

The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security acquired high-resolution satellite imagery of the facility, which showed that it was completely destroyed in Israel’s Oct. 26 attack.