Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The battlefields in Syria lie silent, the US-NATO attack for regime change failed. But, in the northeast the conflict continues between the US occupation forces and those who are trying to oust them. Syria, Russia and their allies have a strategic plan to free the area of terrorists and communist separatists supported by the US. In 2016, the US military invaded and occupied areas in the northeast of Syria. Currently, there are 900 US troops at 19 occupation posts in Syria, while the number of US security contractors there is unknown, but suspected to…

Speaking ahead of the opening of a two-day summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday, South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the BRICS bloc aims to claim its place on the global scene. “Today the world takes notice of this bloc because it’s at the forefront of the global discourse,” to reduce dependence on the dollar, Mashatile told business leaders from the BRICS late on Monday. “We are not here to compete with the West. We want our space in global business,” he added. South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said earlier this month that strengthening the New Development Bank (NBD), also known…

In an uncertain and unpredictable world, BRICS offers a path to “true multilateralism,” the Chinese president has said Chinese President Xi Jinping has condemned the “Cold War mentality” still “haunting our world,” while laying out his geopolitical vision to the BRICS summit in South Africa on Wednesday. “We gather at a time when the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation,” Xi told the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa, in Johannesburg. He added that the world “is undergoing major shifts, division and regrouping, leading to more uncertain, unstable and unpredictable developments.” “The Cold War mentality is still haunting our world,…

Contracts concluded with India in the development of Chabahar Port should bear executive guarantees, Secretary General of the Iranian Ship Owners’ Association Yahya Ziaei Mehrjerdi underlined. Speaking with IRNA on Wednesday, he noted that every country is seeking to secure its interests and India is no exception in this regard. He criticized Indian companies’ lack of performance and dereliction of their duties in Chabahar Port and called for clinching a good contract that would secure the interests of the country. Mehrjerdi reiterated that Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization has made huge investments in Chabahar. “We should wait to witness the active presence…

Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati contacts Army Chief General Joseph Aoun to gather more information regarding the helicopter crash. An Air Force helicopter crash during a training exercise in Lebanon resulted in the tragic loss of two crew members, with one more sustaining injuries, as confirmed by the army’s official statement on Wednesday. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati took steps to contact Army Chief General Joseph Aoun to gather more information regarding the helicopter crash. A statement from Mikati’s office on Wednesday emphasized his effort to acquire details about the incident. Source: Almayadeen

Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Mohammad Ali Nikbakht met with visiting Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual interest. During the meeting, the two sides emphasized the establishment of the Iran-Malaysia Joint Agricultural Cooperation Committee for the operationalization of a memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides in Malaysia in July. Malaysia is one of the most important countries in West Asia and the Islamic world, Nikbakht underlined. He termed the exchange of high-ranking delegations of the two countries in economic and agricultural fields as “determining and significant” and added…

Iran’s economic growth over the past two years hit 4.2 percent on average, Mohammad Shirijian said, noting that this rate stood at 0.6 percent during the previous four years. From the economic point of view and economists’ perspectives, once the annual economic growth of a country is above three percent for two consecutive years, it can be concluded that that country has come out of the economic recession, he highlighted. Source: Tasnim

Rawhi Fattouh, Speaker of the Palestinian National Council, the parliament, today said the place of the settlers and racist Israeli cabinet ministers is the International Criminal Court (ICC), not the Palestinian land. Fattouh was responding to a statement by the Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, in which he stated during his meeting with settler leaders that the place where Israeli does not intensify settlements, “there is terrorism,” describing these statements as an explicit call to encourage terrorism and violence. “The place of settlers, their leaders, and racist government ministers is the ICC, not the Palestinian land, and wherever settlement…

Javad Owji made the remarks in a meeting with members of the Iranian Parliament’s Energy Committee at the National Iranian Oil Company in Tehran. Hailing the interaction between the Oil Ministry and the Parliament’s Energy Committee, the minister added the oil industry would not witness such achievements if the committee did not support it. Elaborating on his ministry’s main jobs done over the past two years, Owji referred to an increase in investment, completion of semi-finished projects, and growth of oil, gas, refining and petrochemical production, which the minister said have activated these industries and motivated contractors and will certainly boost…

Algeria’s top diplomat tours West Africa in an effort to solve the crisis in neighboring Niger. Algeria’s Foreign Minister, Ahmed Attaf, began a tour of West African countries on Wednesday, in a bid to find a solution following the coup in neighboring Niger. Attaf was “mandated by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune” to go on a diplomatic tour to Nigeria, Benin, and Ghana, the Algerian foreign ministry said on X, formerly known as Twitter. He is set to hold “consultations on the crisis in Niger and ways of dealing with it” with his counterparts in West African countries, which form part of…