Author: Steven Sahiounie

Unidentified people have published and distributed leaflets calling on residents of eastern Deir Ezzor, which is under the control of the U.S.-led Coalition and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to join a popular uprising against the latter and its aides in the region.According to reports, the residents of Abu Hammam in eastern Deir Ezzor found leaflets calling for an uprising against the U.S.-led Coalition and its allies.This comes at a time of great tension between the U.S.-backed forces and local tribesmen, in particular, the Akidat Tribe, as minor clashes have been reported between the latter and SDF in a few towns…

The United States’ claim that the UN sanctions on Iran were restored is misleading as the UN Security Council (UNSC) took no steps leading to the restoration of restrictions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed “the return of virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran” under the snapback mechanism of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.“The US continues to mislead the international community by speculating that the UN Security Council conducted some sort of procedures to restore the effect of UNSC resolutions…

Due to an increase of attacks against the Russian-Turkish joint military patrol in Syria’s de-escalation zone, both countries trained to face the enemy.On Friday, Russia and Turkey worked out a strategy of joint actions in case one of their convoys gets attacked during a mission.The armies of both countries trained together simulating various scenarios such as reconnaissance of targets, the transport of damaged equipment, first aid and evacuating the wounded.Training exercises such as this one have become necessary, after Ankara failed to ensure the security of the M4 highway as per agreement.

Two Russian Tu-160 strategic missile carriers have broken their own world record for non-stop flight in their class, spending more than 25 hours continuously in the air, the Russian Aerospace Forces’ commander of long-range aviation Lt. Gen. Sergey Kobylash told reporters on Saturday.“Today, a new record for range and flight duration was set by two long-range flight crews on Tu-160 supersonic strategic missile carriers. The Russian Aerospace Forces pilots were in the air for more than 25 hours and covered more than 20,000 kilometers [12,400 miles],” Lt. Gen. Kobylash said.The previous world record, which was also set by a Tu-160…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Hundreds of Lebanese migrants are taking to the sea in small boats in a desperate life and death struggle to survive the economic, political, and social collapse of the tiny nation once called the ‘Switzerland of the Middle East’. The chain of events culminating in the drowning of Lebanese recently began with the murder of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, next to the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006, and then the horrific explosion which destroyed the Beirut Port on August 4, killing nearly 200 and injuring thousands more and was widely blamed…

Russia has no information suggesting North Korea is preparing to conduct submarine launches of ballistic missiles, Pyotr Ilyichev, the head of the Department of International Organizations at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Sputnik on Saturday.Earlier this month, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies claimed that North Korea was preparing a test of a medium-range submarine-launched ballistic missile, citing satellite images of a North Korean shipyard.“We have no such information. Such analytics in delicate matters should be approached with caution, as it often carries a purposeful political charge,” Ilyichev said.The diplomat said any “drastic” steps by North Korea would…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia was forced to create hypersonic weapons after the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) in 2002.“The withdrawal of the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 forced Russia to start developing hypersonic weapons. We had to create these weapons in response to the deployment of the US strategic missile defense system, which was capable to actually neutralize, reset our entire nuclear potential in the future,” Putin said during a videoconference with Gerbert Yefremov, the Honorary director and designer general of Russia’s rocket and missile developer…

A twin airstrike on a Taliban base in the northeastern Afghan province of Kunduz has left 30 civilian casualties, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday.“One airstrike was carried out in the Nikpai area of the Khanabad district of Kunduz, and when people gathered in the area another attack took place in which up to 30 civilians were killed and wounded,” an eyewitness told Sputnik.According to another witness, the airstrikes left 12 civilians killed, including children, and 18 others injured. The witness added that seven Taliban militants had been killed and two others had been injured as a result of the…

Neither side of the Russian-Turkish commission which is monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire in Syria has reported any violations over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.“The Russian side of the representative office of the joint Russian-Turkish Commission on issues related to violations of the truce recorded no ceasefire violations. The Turkish part of the commission did not record any instances of firing,” the ministry said in its daily bulletin.The Russian military did not hold any humanitarian operations in Syria in the given period, the Defense Ministry added.Russian officials also confirmed that almost 500 Syrian…

The commander of the naval forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Brigadier General Ali Reza Tungsiri, said that the Gulf region should be free of foreign presence and Iran could conduct joint maneuvers with the Gulf countries.Tungsiri told the ISNA newspaper, “The Gulf states should not make a foothold for Israel in the region, because that will cause them harm … Israel’s coming to the Gulf region will not be in the interest of the Gulf countries and will pose a threat to Iran.”Tungsiri stressed that Iran will not initiate any war, “but we will not fear it if it…