As the US-Iran war rapidly spreads and its effects began to be felt worldwide, Islamabad hosted mediation talks on Sunday as thousands of US troops arrived in the region. Kamal Alam explains Why Pakistan is well-placed to host US-Iran talks. Meanwhile, Alex Vatanka asks if Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf could be a potential US partner akin to Delcy Rodriguez in Venezuela after US media reports allude to the possibility. For its part, Iran dismissed the claims as “fake news”. Meanwhile, Christopher Phillips asks Could the US-Iran war deliver Trump his own ‘Suez’ moment? predicting that “the conflict will likely prompt political and economic shifts, even if the extent of those changes may not be known for years.”

For his part, Con Coughlin explains how The US-Iran war puts Europe in a Catch-22. “European leaders find themselves in the awkward position of either infuriating the US if they don't join the war or provoking Iran if they do,” he says. And Former European Council President gets candid on the US-Iran war. In an interview with Ahmed Maher, Charles Michel explains how Trump didn't consult with allies before attacking Iran in a war that benefits Russia at Europe's expense. Meanwhile, Anton Mardasov explains how The US-Iran war is mainly good news for Russia. In his piece, he says, “Rising oil prices will boost the Kremlin’s coffers as costs over Ukraine mount.”

In Business and Economy, Fareed Zakaria examines Iran and the new arithmetic of war, explaining how cheap autonomous weapons are overturning the economics of combat—and teaching the United States important lessons. Meanwhile, Amer Ziab Al-Tamimi explains how Foreign workers in the Gulf are paying the price of war. 

Al Majalla also covered the related war in Lebanon as Israeli officials pledged to turn South Lebanon into a buffer zone and even annex it. Amid intensifying international, regional and domestic pressure on Hezbollah, our weekly cover story asks whether this is The end of Hezbollah? For her part, Lina Khatib wagers that the group is living out its last days amid international, regional and domestic pressure against it. And Mimoza Al-Arrrawi pens a piece titled Beirut's daily grind: between refuge, ruin and routine. In it, she says, “People in Beirut push on with daily life, but in a subdued, robotic fashion shaped by war and emotional numbness.”

And onto Syria, Ibrahim Hamidi interviews Syria’s newly appointed deputy defence minister and the founder of the Kurdish Protection Units (YPG), Sipan Hamo, who explains how his fighters are now being integrated into the Syrian army following a deal reached earlier this year between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces. And last but not least, Atef Abu Seif pens a piece titled, Cultural genocide: Israel's war on Palestinian memory. In it, he says, “By making Gaza unrecognisable, Israel aimed to sever an indigenous people from any physical or emotional connection to their homeland.”