As of mid April, Lebanon and Iran have become the center of international attention for becoming the number one targets of Israel and the U.S.’s attention.
After the U.S. first struck the nation of Iran on Feb 28 of this year, the country has repeatedly been facing airstrikes since. Regardless of this destruction and the execution of previous Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, his regime still holds a firm hand of power.
Iran has fully replaced their previous leader who had been ruling the nation for nearly 4 decades with his son, Mojtaba Khamenei. The regime remains steadfast in wanting to protect what little is left of its missile program, which the U.S. and Israel have been hyper-fixated on.
The U.S. government remains in a difficult position as President Donald Trump’s initial decision to send an allied attack with Israel was never approved, much less brought up, by the U.S. Congress.
“In Congress, we’ve heard varying objectives for dragging America into this war, and the administration has yet to articulate an the end game; and, in its hubris and arrogance, the administration is treating the American people and Congress as an afterthought,” Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX) said.
Though this feeling may be coming to fruition, the U.S. Congress voted to not remove American forces from targeting the country of Iran at the beginning of the month. The vote ended with a 53-47 vote, having a majority in allowing the Trump administration to continue to do as it wished.
“Here at home, Americans are bracing for higher fuel costs resulting from this war, while utility costs, groceries and the general cost of living continue to escalate. Donald Trump promised he would lower costs on ‘day one’ and prevent more endless wars. Not only has he turned his back on those promises, but he’s made the economy worse with his tariffs and cuts to healthcare, nutrition programs and more,” Escobar said.
Though new headlines share news of a tentative ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, Israel has not received the memo in regards to their northern neighbors.
“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two-week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” President Trump said on social media after a 10-point proposal was made from Iran.
“Both parties have displayed remarkable wisdom and understanding and have remained constructively engaged in furthering the cause of peace and stability,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Iranian-U.S. relations.
However, the Israeli-Lebanese conflict continues. Israeli forces have been relentlessly attacking the Lebanese state and the Hezbollah force, a paramilitary force that holds some state power within the country.
Dozen of Lebanese victims recently fell to Israeli forces on April 10, and after firing a response of rockets, Hezbollah defended its actions by posting that “these attacks would continue until the Israeli-American aggression against the country and the people stopped.”
On April 11, vice president JD Vance returned to the U.S. after spending 21 hours in talks with Iran. No resolution was reached.
