Recent Posts

Moving Albanian Drug Money, on Trust or in Crypto

Investigators have documented the use of foreign exchange offices in Albania to move drug money, either in crypto or via a centuries-old, trust-based system called Hawala. The area is known as Dollari – a narrow row of currency exchanges opposite Albania’s central bank in downtown Tirana. Here, cash is king, …

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Iran Update, October 29, 2025

Toplines The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire monitoring committee has agreed to meet more frequently, likely to encourage greater dialogue between Israel and Lebanon. The US-led, five-member committee was established as part of the November 2024 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement and is responsible for monitoring Israel and Lebanon’s compliance with the agreement.[1] US, French, …

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Former Lebanese Cabinet Minister Youssef Salameh: Lebanon No Longer Has An Active State – We Need A Direct American Mandate; We Should Be Brave Enough To Sign A Peace Deal With Israel

Youssef Salameh, former Lebanese cabinet minister, said in an October 21, 2025 interview with Transparency News on YouTube that the Lebanese should be brave enough to sign a peace accord with Israel, stating that anything less than that would be meaningless. He added that Lebanon had always been a pioneer …

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Iranian Reformist Intellectual Sadeq Zibakalam: ‘Iran Has Not Relinquished The Slogan Of ‘We Will Destroy Israel’… Not Only Do We Chant These Slogans, We [Also] Created The Resistance Axis’; ‘Iran Has Taken Every Possible Measure To Harm Israel’ – But ‘Israel Has Never Sought To Destroy Iran!’

In a September 30, 2025 interview with the Iranian Tabnak website, reformist Sadeq Zibakalam, professor emeritus of political science at Tehran University, expressed criticism unusual for the Iranian political landscape. He attributed direct responsibility for the tensions in the region to the Iranian revolutionary regime instead of to its traditional …

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Iran Update, October 31, 2025

Toplines An X account attributed to Mossad claimed on October 30 that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Political and Security Affairs, Ali Asghar Hejazi, and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Mohammad Pakpour have sidelined Khamenei and are “making decisions independently.”[1] CTP-ISW cannot …

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