Author: Steven Sahiounie

US President Joe Biden has raised the issue of ransomware attacks “by criminals based in Russia” in his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling on Russia “to take action,” the White House said.Biden “underscored the need for Russia to take action” to deal with the cybercriminals acting on its territory while pointing to what the White House described as “the ongoing ransomware attacks … that have impacted the United States and other countries around the world.” Source: RTV

There are an estimated 900 or more US troops currently in Syria – both in the southern enclave of At Tanf and in the northeast, where they are “securing” the oil wells and helping the Kurdish-dominated SDF operate a de facto independent government. Their presence violates international law and the government in Damascus is opposed to it, but Washington insists they are there to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist group as part of an international coalition. The US stays committed to keeping this “limited military presence” in northeast Syria – “for the sole purpose” of defeating IS and…

At least one explosion has rocked the Conoco gas field in Deir ez-Zor province, which is occupied by Washington-backed SDF forces, with initial reports suggesting no casualties among American troops stationed in the area. Local sources, cited by Syrian state news agency SANA, noted “unusual movements of the occupation forces” following the blast, but details were scarce as the area is controlled by the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces. A US defense official confirmed the attack to Reuters but said the fire was “indirect” and apparently caused no casualties or damage. This is the latest in a series of attacks against American forces in Syria. On June…

The Russian Federal Security Service has thwarted several terrorist attacks that militants belonging to the “ISIS” organization tried to carry out in different regions of the Russian Federation. In an official statement, the authority said that it had thwarted a plot to carry out terrorist attacks in “Moscow”, “Astrakhan” and the Russian “Kabardino-Balkaria Republic”, where 6 militants were liquidated and two of the organization’s militants were arrested. The statement explained that the attacks were planned during the summer of this year by militants of terrorist cells affiliated with ISIS, adding that one of the cell members was arrested last Thursday,…

A number of “SDF” militants were injured when a motorcycle bomb exploded near the headquarters of the Democratic Union Party in the town of “Al-Shaddadi”, south of Al-Hasakah city. Sources indicated that the booby-trapped bicycle exploded at noon on Monday in the “Al-Shaddadi” municipality building, which the “SDF” converted into a headquarters for its “Democratic Union Party”, which led to the injury of 3 gunmen of varying severity. The sources indicated that the explosion resulted in significant material damage to two commercial stores, in addition to other damages that occurred in part of the party’s headquarters, at a time when…

Turkish intelligence is preparing a batch of armed Syrian factions supported by it, to exploit them and transfer them to fight in “Afghanistan”, according to the same method that it used in “Azerbaijan” and is still following in “Libya.” Private sources confirmed that the Turkish forces had prepared a batch of Syrian militia fighters to transfer them to Turkey and then Afghanistan, revealing that the Turkish intelligence had asked the faction leaders to prepare /2000/ armed as a first batch. The sources indicated that “the Turkish directives came during a meeting held between officers of the Turkish intelligence service and…

The Knesset session witnessed chaos after the opposition parties, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, objected to an agreement reached by the Israeli government regarding the Citizenship Law. Israeli Knesset votes on the citizenship law After lengthy deliberations, the Israeli Knesset voted on the Citizenship Law that prohibits the reunion of Palestinian families. The Law received a blow for not obtaining the majority of 61 votes from the Knesset members. The result was a tie with 59 MKs voting in favor and 59 MKs voting against. As per oral agreements, 1,600 family reunification requests out of 45,000 will be approved. What happened…

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh confirms that his country’s stand concerning the Nuclear Agreement and lifting the embargo is one of principle, adding that “President Raisi’s government will abide by the Nuclear Agreement if it is signed.” Khatibzadeh stated that progress has been made in the Vienna talks with the assent of all participants, adding that the remaining issues require a decision from the other parties, especially Washington. Furthermore, the Spokesman also explained that Tehran is not rushing toward the nuclear agreement, but at the same time “Iran will not allow the prolonging of the negotiations.” At the same time, German…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says any Washington attempt to hold talks with Moscow from “a position of strength” is doomed to failure and that Russia will respond harshly to any unfriendly step taken by the United States. “Attempts to talk with us from a position of strength are doomed to failure from the beginning. We will respond harshly and decisively to unfriendly actions. One should interact honestly if Washington really wants stable and predictable, as they put it, relations,” Lavrov told the Indonesian Rakyat Merdeka newspaper when asked about the future of Moscow-Washington ties after a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin…

Iran says the policies it has been pursuing on the 2015 nuclear agreement with major world powers are among the “fundamental positions” of the Islamic establishment and thus will not undergo any change when the new administration takes over. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the new administration to be formed by President-elect Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi will abide by an agreement that may be reached in Vienna, Austria, on a potential revival of the Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The remarks came after some Western officials spoke of what…