Author: Steven Sahiounie

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said that Algeria will not bless the Arab normalization agreements with Israel and will not be part of them.The Algerian president stressed, in an interview with local media on Sunday, that his country will not normalize relations with Israel, pointing out that it will also not bless those who signed a peace agreement with Tel Aviv.Tebboune explained that he “noticed a kind of rush towards normalization,” pointing out, “We will not participate in normalization, nor will we bless it.”The Algerian president continued: “The Palestinian issue is sacred for us, and it is the mother of issues…

A new rocket attack was reported on Sunday evening around the Baghdad International Airport.According to local sources, Camp Victory near the Baghdad Airport was targeted by two rockets from unknown assailants around the capital city this evening.No one was reportedly harmed in the attack and minimal damage was done to the area.

On Sunday, a senior U.S. official said that the United States will impose sanctions on more than two dozen people and entities involved in Iran’s nuclear, missile and conventional weapons programs.The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that Iran may have enough fissile material to build a nuclear weapon by the end of the year and that Tehran has resumed long-range missile cooperation with nuclear-armed North Korea.According to the agency, the new sanctions are in line with the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump to limit Iran’s regional influence and they come after a week of…

The United States is ready to discuss with Russia any issues of mutual concern, but does not intend to withdraw its nuclear weapons from the European states, US Special Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea told Russia’s Kommersant newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.Billingslea also stated that the US was ready to discuss the issue of missile defense systems with Russia, but the latter had not put forward any proposals in this regard. At the same time, the special envoy stressed that his country would not introduce any restrictions regarding the missile defense.According to the envoy, Moscow is clearly…

On Sunday, the Bahraini media reported that the Bahraini security services had managed to “thwart a terrorist plot,” claiming that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was behind it.The Bahraini daily “Akhbar Al-Khaleej” (Gulf News) reported that the country’s Ministry of Interior managed to foil “a huge terrorist plot that received support and funding from fugitives in Iran and members of the Revolutionary Guard.”The newspaper said elements in Iran were responsible for forming a “new terrorist organization” bearing the name “Saraya Qassem Soleimani” (Qassem Soleimani Company), noting that these elements had drawn up plans to blow up a number of public and…

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…