Author: Steven Sahiounie

Khaled Iskef, Syrian Journalist The number of killed militants from the Syrian factions present in Azerbaijan, who are fighting in the Karabakh region against the Armenian forces, has raised. Sources stated that 27 Syrian militants sent by Turkey to Azerbaijan were recently killed, totalling more than 160 killed. Some of thier bodies were transferred secretly to Syria, while others are still in Azerbaijan. Despite the increased number of Syrian militants killed in Azerbaijan, the camps on the Syrian-Turkish borders continue to recruit more fighters in order to involve them in the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, noting that the new batch that Turkey…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The UN Security Council arms embargo on Iran from 2007 has expired Sunday, which will allow the nation to buy weapons.  While Iran has repeatedly stated it has no intention of buying weapons of mass destruction, and WMD had no place in their defense. The Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran said Iran may now buy any necessary arms and equipment from any source without any legal restrictions and solely based on its defensive needs while adding that Iran could export defensive armaments based on its policies.  In August, the Trump administration…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Lebanese population faces between six to twelve hours of electricity cuts per day, and in some rural areas, there is simply no electricity provided by the government grid. Amid the backdrop of decrepit infrastructure, government corruption, devalued currency, and widespread poverty, Lebanon began talks with Israel concerning their maritime borders in the gas-rich Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday at the UNIFIL headquarters at Naquora.  The UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL has been monitoring the disputed land boundary since Israel’s’ military withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000, ending a 22-year occupation. The two sides met together…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Latakia: Friday morning in the coastal city of Latakia, Syria seemed normal at first. Even though the October weather was still far hotter than normal, not many noticed the unusually strong winds wiping through the countryside, filled with olives, citrus, and various fruit and nut trees. The usual cooler, humid breezes blowing eastwards from the Mediterranean were replaced by a westerly wind blowing out to sea in a sudden reversal of normal weather patterns. The olive trees were heavy and ready to be harvested. In a usual year, there would already have been at…

A week after the heated debate with Biden, who raised allegations of Trump’s ties with Moscow that have long been proven false, POTUS ordered the release of all documents related to the so-called Russiagate in a bid to end the longstanding “hoax”. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has commented on recent allegations by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who accused Trump of being “Putin’s puppy” during the first debate, saying that such remarks only characterise the level of political culture, or lack thereof, of the former US vice president. Putin added that such remarks also benefit Russia’s global image, as they suggest…

White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said on Wednesday that the pace of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan could leave as few as 2,500 troops in the Central Asian country by early 2021. O’Brien’s comments mark the lowest definitive number given by a Trump administration official about troop number reductions in Afghanistan since US President Donald Trump’s comments in early August, which said there would be roughly 4,000 troops in Afghanistan by November, when the US presidential election is being held.

Persian Gulf state Qatar has formally requested to purchase advanced F-35 stealth aircraft from the United States. If permitted, Qatar would become the second Middle Eastern state to use the jets after Israel. On Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing sources close to the deal, that Doha had issued a formal request to obtain the fifth-generation fighter jet. The US State Department refused to confirm or deny the deal, saying it will not do so before the offer is formally presented to Congress. US President Donald Trump has said he “would have no problem with” selling the F-35 to Gulf states, but noted on September…

new survey has revealed that Arab populations continue to overwhelmingly oppose the recognition of Israel and the establishment of ties with it, despite recent decisions by rulers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to normalize with the Tel Aviv regime. The 2019-2020 Arab Opinion Index was based on face-to-face interviews conducted with 28,000 individual respondents across 13 Arab countries, including Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt and Mauritania, between November 2019 and September 2020. The result showed that the nations viewed Israel as the primary threat their country was facing. When asked whether they would “support or oppose diplomatic recognition of Israel by…

The former director of the CIA and the National Security Agency under George W. Bush has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, warning against the consequences of US President Donald Trump’s re-election. “If there’s another term for President Trump, I don’t know what happens to America,” retired Gen. Michael Hayden said in a 90-second video ad. “Truth is really important, but especially in intelligence,” he continued. “President Trump doesn’t care about facts. President Trump doesn’t care about the truth. He doesn’t listen to his experts.” Hayden, 75, who is suffering from aphasia as a result of a stroke in 2018, further continued his statement with a…

The U.S. State Department expressed Washington’s “deep concern” over reports of Turkey’s preparations to test the S-400 missile defense systems it had purchased from Russia.“We are aware of these reports and continue to categorically oppose Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems,” a State Department spokesman said Tuesday, as reported by the Tass News Agency.The Turkish newspaper Yeni Akit reported earlier Tuesday that the Turkish army may soon conduct tests on S-400 systems near the shore of the Black Sea.The newspaper published video clips that it said showed the army transporting parts of the S-400 system towards the northern…