Author: Steven Sahiounie

The United Kingdom’s current relations with Russia are not the way London would like to see, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. “The Prime Minister was clear that the UK’s current relationship with Russia is not the one we want. He said significant bilateral difficulties remain, including the poisonings in Salisbury in 2018. The Prime Minister also underscored the importance of Ukrainian sovereignty,” a Downing Street spokesperson said after their telephone call. The Kremlin said after the conversation that the two leaders exchanged views on the current situation in…

The dialogue on strategic stability is developing in a right direction, it is professional and substantial, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said, speaking at the International Advisory Council of James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies – CNS of Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (California) Monday. “On September 30, Geneva hosted the second round of consultations between the interagency delegations led by deputy foreign ministers. The conversation is developing in the right direction and of a professional and substantive nature,” the Russian Embassy’s Facebook page quoted him as saying. “An important result already achieved thus far is…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned on Monday the measures imposed by Sudan’s military forces. A statement issued by the Department of State read: “We firmly reject the dissolution of the civilian-led transitional government and its associated institutions and call for their immediate restoration.” The statement added that the “arrest of Prime Minister Hamdok and other civilian leaders is unacceptable.” It also asked the military forces to ensure their safety and “release them immediately,” as these new developments may derail “the country’s transition to democracy and are a betrayal of Sudan’s peaceful revolution.” The State Department also condemned the use of…

The US Department of State welcomed the statement issued by the United Nations Security Council regarding the Iraqi October 10 election. In its statement, the Department of State congratulated “the people and the Government of Iraq for a secure, technically sound, and largely peaceful election process”, describing it as an opportunity for the voters to shape their future through a government that reflects their will. Furthermore, Washington noted that it joins the international community in condemning the violence threats against the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Independant High Electoral Commission (IHEC), urging all parties to respect the rule of…

US officials told the Associated Press on Tuesday that “Iran resourced and encouraged the attack” on the US base in Syria’s al-Tanf, “but that the drones were not launched from Iran.” US Central Command had announced on Thursday that al-Tanf base located on Syria’s border with Iraq and Jordan was subjected to a “deliberate and coordinated attack” by drones, confirming that there were no casualties among the US forces. Israeli media also tackled the attack on Saturday, analyzing it, noting that the attack carries an Iranian message to the Israelis that “the period of absorbing Israeli attacks in Syria will not last forever,” according…

The Israeli occupation forces stormed the Swih neighborhood in the town of Silwan in al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem).  Residents of al-Quds called for a widespread solidarity stand with the residents of the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan, in concurrence with a session in the Israeli Supreme court looking into the decision to evict 86 families from their houses in favor of settlement organizations. The occupation has been increasing the rate of its aggressions, the latest of which was last Saturday, when large numbers of Israeli soldiers stormed the town. The Palestinians responded to these attacks with firecrackers. For its part, the Islamic…

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki has warned the EU against acting “with a gun to our heads,” claiming Warsaw would defend itself by any means available if the EU launched a “third World War” by holding back Covid-19 recovery funding. The strongly worded statement came after the European Commission threatened to leave Poland without billions in grants and loans as a response to a controversial decision by the country’s Constitutional Tribunal, which prioritized national laws over those of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). “What will happen if the European Commission starts a third World War? … We are going to…

The price of natural gas in Europe on Monday rose above $1,100 per thousand cubic meters on the Intercontinental Exchange in London, trading data shows. The cost of November futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands traded at $1,109 for a thousand-cubic-meter unit as of 07:00 GMT, or, in household terms, $107 per megawatt-hour. At its peak, the cost of the commodity reached $1,139 per thousand cubic meters. The crisis in the European gas industry escalated earlier this fall, after spot gas prices soared on low-storage-capacity fears, nearly breaching the threshold of $2,000 per thousand cubic meters earlier in…

The head of Sudan’s ruling council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has announced the dissolution of the transitional sovereign council and the government, enacting a state of emergency amid a military coup after the PM’s arrest. In a statement delivered on Monday, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of a Sovereign Council of military and civilian members which runs the country, declared a state of emergency and dissolved the government. Following the arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other officials by troops, Burhan stated that the military would oversee the remainder of Sudan’s transition to democracy and will hand over to a…

Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna says Iran’s demand from US administration to guarantee the landmark nuclear deal signed by Iran and world powers in 2015 is not only logical, but also “corresponds … to elementary common sense.” Mikhail Ulyanov made the remarks in a Sunday tweet while answering to a follower who asked him about his opinion on why the US administration of Joe Biden refuses to guarantee the deal even through his own presidency. Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi told reporters in early July that the Islamic Republic had asked Washington to provide strong…