Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator President Trump hosts a signing ceremony today in Washington which joins Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Israel in the ‘Abraham Accord’ which establishes full diplomatic relations between Israel and the Persian Gulf monarchies, and portends the possibility that other Arab states will join the strategic realignment of the Middle East. The accord comes with a prize: for Trump, it is a boost for his re-election campaign, for UAE it is US-made F-35 fighter jets, Reaper drones, and EA-18G Growler jets, and Bahrain is expecting air defense systems. The ‘Abraham Accord’ is not a…

Russia has expanded its military base next to a local airfield near the city of Kobani in the north of Syria, according to newly released satellite images.The area was formerly occupied by the US military in the fight against the Islamic-State, before they were ordered to withdraw from the area on November 13, 2019.The area is now used by the Russian Military Police and Aerospace forces with several Mi-8 and Mi-35 helicopters stationed on the base. Thus, providing air cover for military patrols in the area. The US zone of influence has significantly decreased before the Turkish led “Spring of…

Greece is allegedly in talks with Russia to upgrade the S-300 missile system, the Greek publication DefenceNet.gr reported this week.According to the online publication, Greece is in talks with Russia about upgrading their current S-300 PMU-1 to the S-300 PMU-2, which, the electronic newspaper said, would not violate NATO’s weapons ban against the Russian Federation.“The PMU-2 version of the S-300 brings the system quite close to performance with the Turkish S-400: It includes the 54K6E2 command and control station, the 30N6E2 Tomb Stone trapping radar (evolution of the already operating 30N6E radar) and a new version for the long-range search…

Russian armored vehicles, under the air-cover of helicopters, have moved towards territory  currently occupied by the International Anti-Terrorist Coalition led by the United States in northeastern Syria.The Russian forces are tasked to monitor the illegal presence of the forces led by the United States military. During their patrol, the Russian servicemen have inspected ten illegal settlements in the territory.Earlier last month, the Russian government criticized the United States and accused the administration under President Donald Trump of stealing Syrian oil, following a deal with the Syrian Kurds to revamp the country’s oil fields in northeastern Syria.

Greece, in conjunction with the United States, will begin a five-day military exercise using tanks on Monday near the land border with Turkey.According to the Greek newspaper Ethnos, the joint Greek-American tank exercises will be held from September 14th to September 18th at the Xanthi Training Center.According to the information, the ABRAMS tank modified for the M1A2 will participate in the exercises.The newspaper said there will be a competition between the tank crews participating in the maneuvers in the art of driving and accuracy of shooting (Tank Challenge 2020), organized by the Xanthi IV Corps of the Greek Army.Earlier, the…

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed arm of the Hamas Movement, announced that it had found a “valuable” military treasure deep in the sea of ​​Gaza.The group cclarified that hundreds of shells were found on board of two British warships sunk off the coast of Gaza and that the brigades had re-manufactured these shells as part of their missiles.The commander in the engineering corps of the brigades, Abu Salman, said: “We examined the British shells that we found in the depths of the sea after being recycled by the Al-Qassam Brigades.”He added, “We conducted an experiment on a 40 cm-thick reinforced…

The Kremlin’s Press office announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his french counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the Libyan conflict at length during a phone conversation on Monday.The Statesmen discussed the importance of greater cooperation to implement the decisions made during the Berlin Conference (January 2020), which was passed as Security Council Resolution 2510.French President Macron also reiterated his country’s position to find a political solution to the on-going conflict and to respect the arms embargo imposed by the United Nations.Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Libya, pointing out that all major…

The Iraqi military, in cooperation with the US-led international coalition, has eliminated a senior leader of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, outlawed in Russia), who was responsible for financing IS camps, in the western Al Anbar province, Iraq’s Security Media Cell, an official outlet providing information on the country’s security, said on Monday.“The air forces of the international coalition in cooperation with the Iraqi forces’ counter-terrorism service made a landing in the town of Rutba in the Al Anbar province. [As a result of the operation,] a terrorist, who has been the major provider of finance for IS camps…

The sound of heavy artillery was heard along the Lebanese-Israeli border on Monday, a source told Al-Masdar News this afternoon.According to the source, artillery fire was heard inside the occupied Sheba’a Farms region, which was accompanied by machine gun fire as well.The source added that the artillery fire was likely from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), as they are in control of those border villages in the occupied Sheba’a Farms region.The Israeli Defense Forces have yet comment on the reports.

Sounds of tube artillery are heard in the vicinity of the Shebaa farms area on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Lebanon’s official NNA news agency reported on Monday. Earlier in the day, the NNA reported an explosion in the area of the Golan Heights at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli borders. The blast origin and a source of smoke in the area have yet to be identified.The sounds reached the settlements of El Aarqoub and Hasbaiyya, located not far from the farmlands, the news outlet reported.Alongside with the artillery fire, sub-machine gun bursts also take place near the Israeli border, according to…