Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi has placed himself at the center of a high-stakes political and security test after pledging to President Donald Trump that he would disarm the country's militias and dismantle what is known as the "resistance" within two months.

As Israeli-American strikes pounded Iran, Tehran retaliated by targeting Gulf states over their hosting of U.S. military bases, prompting urgent questions about why countries such as Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, which host similar facilities, were spared.

U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s top leaders, with calls for uprising, but analysts say the regime’s complex system may endure.

The assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by “Israel” has cast a long shadow over the unity of Iraq’s Shiite "Islamic Resistance" militias, which are largely aligned with Iran.

After the new Iranian attack, US officials revealed vulnerabilities in the air defense system of the Washington-led international coalition base in Syria, which was targeted by drones.