Antiwar.com’s Week in Review for May 15th, 2026

“Not even a little bit,” the president told reporters before departing for China when asked to what extent the financial situation for Americans was motivating him to make a deal with Iran.

“The only thing that matters, when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon…  that’s the only thing that motivates me,” he added.

While Trump has continued to frame the conflict about preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb, there was no evidence either before the June 2025 war or the current one that Tehran was pursuing nuclear weapons.

Sources told the outlet that Saudi fighter jets launched strikes against targets near Saudi Arabia’s border with Iraq and that some attacks occurred around the time the ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect.

The report said that the Saudi strikes targeted areas from where missile and drone attacks were launched against Saudi territory. It’s unclear if there were any casualties in the Saudi attacks.

Sources also told Reuters that rocket fire from Kuwait targeted militias in Iraq at least twice and that one attack killed several fighters and destroyed a facility used by Kataib Hezbollah, one of the main Iran-aligned militias in the country. It’s unclear if the attacks were launched by the US military or Kuwait’s own forces.

“As President Xi Jinping noted during the talks with President Trump, the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters.

“If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy. ‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water. Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the US. The US side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question,” Guo added.

The IDF claimed that the troops killed “dozens” of Hezbollah fighters in close-quarters combat and had gained effective operational control over the forested area they expanded into. Six people were also reported killed in various Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon’s south.

New evacuation orders were issued for yet more towns in southern Lebanon, and Israeli forces reportedly destroyed the solar-powered water station in Deir Mimas, overlooking to the Litani River from which it pumped drinking water for the locals.

This growing destruction and expanded offensive casts something of a pall over the direct Israel-Lebanon talks, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reiterated that his government wants a timeline for Israeli withdrawal, as well as US guarantees Israel will actually stop attacking.

“The Great Israeli Real Estate Event,” held last Tuesday at Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, was organized to assist prospective buyers in the United States, Canada, and the U.K. purchase land in the occupied West Bank, with the expo’s website advertising land for sale in Gush Etzion, a cluster of West Bank settlements illegal under international law. At least one company present, Harey Zahav, displayed maps and brochures advertising properties in Kfar Eldad, Karnei Shomron, and other West Bank settlements. Karnei Shomron is the subject of a $633 million Israeli government development agreement to nearly triple its population, an effort that Israeli Construction Minister Haim Katz called “a clear policy of settlement and building the land of our forefathers,” with a separate land designation designed to prevent Arab construction in the area.

In response to those illegal land sales, New Yorkers used their First Amendment rights to congregate at Park Avenue Synagogue to protest the contentious practice, with demonstrators arguing that it is inappropriate to use a religious institution to shield what is purely a political activity.

A crucial recent example of that strategy has been the decision by the United States and its NATO allies to use Ukraine as a military proxy against the Russian Federation and its leader, Vladimir Putin.  That approach has achieved some success.  Keeping Ukraine in the war has bled Russia physically and economically.  Achieving such an outcome has required a substantially greater effort on the part of the great power playing offense, though, than did either of the other two most prominent proxy wars: those in Vietnam and Afghanistan. The United States, other key NATO members, and the Alliance as a whole, have been deeply involved in supporting Kyiv’s military ventures – including launching air and missile strikes deep inside Russian territory.

With the onset of the war in Iran, Moscow now has a new opportunity to retaliate against the United States and Ukraine’s other NATO sponsors. Russian leaders are not hesitant about tormenting Washington.  Indeed, they are already taking tangible steps to do so.  Russia immediately deepened its food and other economic ties with Iran, providing a potential lifeline for that beleaguered country. Evidence emerged in early March 2026 that Moscow was even assisting Tehran militarily by providing crucial intelligence data on U.S. troop movements and other maneuvers. That assistance apparently included giving Iranian units targeting data on U.S. bases in the Middle East.  In early May, the Economist reported that Russia was providing highly sophisticated military drones to Iran, adding another phase to the growing partnership on drone technology between Moscow and Tehran.

Dave DeCamp

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