Iran and the United States will hold a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will negotiate indirectly through mediators from Oman, a week after a first round in Muscat that both sides described as constructive.
Tehran has sought to tamp down expectations of a quick deal, after some Iranian officials speculated that sanctions could be lifted soon. Iran’s utmost authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this week he was “neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic.”
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a video speech on Friday that he strongly opposes the organization’s disarmament.
“Israel is talking about disarming the resistance in order to neutralize it,” Qassem said. “Anyone who thinks that we will be in a position of weakness that will allow Israel to enter all of Lebanon – that will not happen. If anyone thinks that we are weak and that we will accept what they say, then he is very mistaken.”
US Air Force jets struck several areas in the Houthi-controlled capital of Sana’a in northeast Yemen, Houthi state-TV reported on Friday night.
Al Masirah reported that Sana’a had been targeted with four strikes across several areas. Strikes targeted the Al Hafa and Al Sabeen districts, which lie to the south of the city and contain a city power plant and government offices.
The next set of strikes targeted the Bani Hushaysh district, a rural mountainous area to the immediate northeast of Sana’a. Al Arabiya reported that the strikes targeted several Houthi military camps in the area.
Over 1,000 families of fallen soldiers signed a letter on Friday opposing the recent letters from the security establishment calling for a swift end to the war.
The letter was organized by the Gvura Families of the Fallen Forum, which represents the families of fallen soldiers from the current war and previous wars, as well as victims of terror attacks.
The letter was intended to create a public opposition to recent calls from various sectors of the security establishment to refuse service and end the war.
The letter called for the war to end only with the achievement of all war goals laid out at the beginning of the war, which include the return of all hostages, the elimination of Hamas, and a long-term plan that ensures that Gaza cannot pose a threat to the State of Israel.
Hamas launched a massive attack on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border and taking some 240 hostages into Gaza.
Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered, including over 350 at the Supernova music festival and hundreds of Israeli civilians across Gaza border communities.
59 hostages remain in Gaza.
49 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says.
The IDF launched a ground invasion of Lebanon on September 30.
The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire came into effect on November 27 at 4 a.m.
Netanyahu confirmed the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire on January 17, 2025.
