Author: Steven Sahiounie

Intricate details are not provided in the meeting that occurred at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse’s building number five which happens to be the same location of a historic meeting between Kissinger and 1971 premier Zhou Enlai.  Chinese leader Xi Jinping described the 100-year-old former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as a “legendary diplomat” after meeting in Beijing on Thursday, according to Chinese state media. Kissinger took advantage to call for a rapprochement between the US and China, which coincided with a trip by US climate envoy John Kerry. State broadcaster CCTV said: “On July 20, President Xi Jinping met former US secretary of state…

Turkish Defense Ministry officials stressed that Ankara “sees no alternative to the grain corridor” Russian members have left the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul following Moscow’s withdrawal from the grain deal, the TRT TV channel reported on Thursday, citing sources in the Turkish Defense Ministry. According to the media outlet, the Turkish Defense Ministry expects that the grain deal will be restored. The relevant agencies maintain contact with all the parties. Ministry officials also stressed that Ankara “sees no alternative to the grain corridor”. Source: Tass

According to Maria Zakharova, the participants will discuss the strengthening of the BRICS strategic partnership, including its institutional development Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in an extraordinary BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting via video link on July 20, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing. “On July 20, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry will take part in an extraordinary meeting of BRICS foreign ministers via videoconference,” she said. “The participants will discuss the strengthening of the BRICS strategic partnership, including its institutional development, and pay special attention to the preparations for the upcoming…

Iran renewed its commitment to continue supporting the Syrian people and government to overcome the threats of terrorism and foreign occupation, in addition to assist Syria in its rebuilding and preserving territorial integrity. “It is necessary to guarantee sending non-politicized humanitarian aid to all Syrian areas, but it is very important to respect Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national sovereignty during this process,” Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said before the UN Security Council, adding that sending aid must help to rebuild infrastructure, strengthen the Syrian economy, and support sustainable and long-term development.…

By:Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Lebanon remains in a state of financial, political, and social collapse. Lebanon is flying on autopilot without any President. In the south of Lebanon on the border with Israel there is increasing tension as Israel has attempted to steal more Lebanese land. Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Professor Hussein Gharbieh, Lebanese International Relations and Middle East Lecturer to talk about the latest developments and situation in Lebanon. 1. the Lebanese economy is on the edge of collapse.  However, the IMF has offered Lebanon $3 billion but this deal is not acceptable to all parties. In…

The launch comes in response to a US nuclear-armed submarine making its way to South Korea, for the first time since the 1980s.  Yonhap reported that the DPRK launched at least one ballistic missile into the sea hours after a senior US official confirmed on Tuesday that a US nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) is in South Korea, in a first since the 1980s. The launch was confirmed by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, who claimed they were still determining what sort of missile had been fired and that it had fallen in the East Sea, commonly known as the Sea of Japan. According…

The Israeli entity insists on committing terrorist crimes to express its failure, along with its terrorist tools represented by ISIS and al-Nusra Front, to weakens Syria and its people, Foreign and Expatiates Ministry said in a statement. “Syria condemns in the strongest possible terms the Israeli aggression on points in the surrounding of Damascus, calling on the UN and the Security Council to resume their responsibilities in condemning such aggressions and to immediately act to oblige Israel to stop these criminal policies” the Ministry added. The statement reiterated “Syria calls on the Western states that back Israeli occupation to allow…

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune thanks China’s support in Algeria’s bids to join BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Tuesday stronger ties with Algeria in a meeting with the gas-exporting North African nation’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, as Beijing looks to diversify its energy supply. Tebboune began a five-day state visit to China on Monday, his first since assuming the presidency in late 2019. Algeria, Africa’s largest natural gas exporter, has sought to join the BRICS economic group that includes Russia and China and that positions itself as an alternative to Western hegemony. “China is ready to work…

The Russian Foreign Minister tells his Iranian counterpart that Russia has no doubts about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed on Tuesday that his country fully respects Iran’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said. During a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the two foreign ministers described that Russia-Iran ties are growing and underlined the will of presidents Vladimir Putin and Ebrahim Raisi to expand relations as much as possible. According to the Foreign Ministry statement, Lavrov and Amir-Abdollahian discussed the second meeting of the foreign ministers of…

The Israeli occupation forces fired missiles on the Syrian capital of Damascus in an unprovoked act of aggression and in violation of Syria’s sovereignty. The Israeli occupation carried out aggressive attacks on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus, Syrian state news agency SANA reported early on Wednesday. The Syrian air defense systems quickly took to working on intercepting the aggression, the agency reported. Explosions were heard in the sky over the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Syrian media reported. The Syrian Ministry of Defense announced later in the day that soldiers in the Syrian Arab Army sustained injuries due to…