{"id":94505,"date":"2026-04-09T05:57:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/?p=94505"},"modified":"2026-04-09T05:57:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:57:49","slug":"news-and-analysis-4-9-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/?p=94505","title":{"rendered":"News and Analysis 4\/9\/26"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Israeli\/US insistence on excluding Lebanon from the cease-fire is a fragile ceasefire&#8217;s weakest link &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/iran-threatens-new-hostilities-as-israel-pounds-lebanon\/live-76715205\">Iran Threatens New Hostilities as Israel Pounds Lebanon (<\/a>Deutsche Welle)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2026\/04\/08\/israel-strikes-beirut-lebanon-iran-ceasefire\/\">Israel Kills Scores in Beirut as U.S. Says Lebanon Is Not Part of Iran Truce<\/a> (Washington Post)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/world\/ceasefire-is-threatened-as-israel-expands-lebanon-strikes-and-iran-closes-strait-again\">Ceasefire Is Threatened as Israel Expands Lebanon Strikes and Iran Closes Strait Again<\/a> (PBS)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/will-the-conflict-in-lebanon-destroy-the-us-iran-ceasefire-maybe-but-it-was-already-shaky-280259\">Will the Conflict in Lebanon Destroy the US?Iran Ceasefire? Maybe, but It Was Already Shaky<\/a> (The Conversation)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8230; while news reports give contradictory Vance descriptions of the Israeli position:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/04\/08\/lebanon-attacks-israel-iran-ceasfire\">Vance: Israel Offered to Restrain Strikes in Lebanon During U.S.-Iran Talks<\/a> (Axios)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/08\/world\/middleeast\/jd-vance-lebanon-iran-cease-fire.html\">Vance Says Lebanon Was Never Part of Cease-Fire Deal<\/a> (NY Times)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;It is possible that the ceasefire itself will be the settlement: The United States, Israel, and Iran will not come to a final deal, but the ceasefire will continue indefinitely, with the risk of a flare-up hovering over the region&#8221; &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/analysis\/fragile-us-iran-ceasefire-issues-watch\">The Fragile U.S.-Iran Ceasefire: Issues to Watch<\/a> (CSIS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8230; &#8220;In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest&#8221; &#8212; Trump:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/04\/09\/trump-military-troops-iran-conflict-middle-east-hormuz.html\">Trump Says U.S. Ready for \u2018Next Conquest,\u2019 Warns Military to Remain near Iran Until \u2018Real Agreement\u2019 Is Honored<\/a> (CNBC)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even when incarcerated Epstein was on a work-release program &#8221; where he could leave the jail for 12 hours a day&#8221;; among his suggestions to Gulf states to separate themselves from terrorism was &#8220;Recognize Israel&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/culture\/69510\/jeffrey-epsteins-connection-with-gulf-royals-from-meccas-sacred-drape-to-royal-courts-how-the-disgra\">Epstein&#8217;s Ties to Arab Royals: An Offer to Tutor Crown Prince, a Gift from Mecca<\/a> (Miami Herald \/ Newsbreak)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;While the president has often wielded tariffs to pressure other countries, the Supreme Court this spring took away his main legal tool&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/04\/08\/trump-threatens-50-percent-tariffs-on-iran-arms-supplies-his-legal-path-is-murky-00863519\">Trump Threatens 50 Percent Tariffs on Iran Arms Supplies. His Legal Path Is Murky<\/a> (Politico)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Republicans are relieved over Trump\u2019s steps toward reconciliation in Iran \u2014 but they worry the measures are too little, too late to save them from a brutal midterm election cycle&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/04\/08\/republicans-fear-iran-will-cost-them-the-midterms-ceasefire-or-not-00864697\">\u2018We Lose the Midterms\u2019: Republicans Worry Iran Might Have Already Cost Them Congress<\/a> (Politico)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;A growing chorus of disaffected Trump supporters is sounding off in the replies to his posts on the social media platform he founded&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/08\/us\/politics\/trump-truth-social-iran.html\">Once \u2018Ultra MAGA\u2019, Trump Supporters Fume About Iran on Truth Social<\/a> (NY Times)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israeli\/US insistence on excluding Lebanon from the cease-fire is a fragile ceasefire&#8217;s weakest link &#8230; Iran Threatens New Hostilities as Israel Pounds Lebanon (Deutsche Welle) Israel Kills Scores in Beirut as U.S. Says Lebanon Is Not Part of Iran Truce (Washington Post) Ceasefire Is Threatened as Israel Expands Lebanon Strikes and Iran Closes Strait Again [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94505"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94511,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94505\/revisions\/94511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.minaret.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}