Author: Steven Sahiounie

President Donald Trump has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, Fox News reported on Wednesday.The US President was nominated by a Norwegian lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde for brokering the peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.“For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees,” Tybring-Gjedde told Fox News in an interview.According to the nomination letter sent to the Nobel Committee the deal overseen by the Trump administration was a “game changer that will turn the Middle East into a region of cooperation and prosperity,” Fox…

The Russian Air Force was seen conducting a number of strikes over the northeastern countryside of Latakia on Wednesday, as their warplanes struck the positions of the jihadist forces near the Turkish border.According to reports from the Latakia Governorate, the Russian Air Force targeted the positions of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) at the key town of Kabani, which is considered the aforementioned jihadist group’s main stronghold in the Latakia Governorate.The Russian Air Force’s attack coincided with the heavy artillery strikes that were carried out by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) troops in the Jabal Al-Akrad region of northeastern Latakia.In…

The Assistant Speaker of the Iranian Parliament for International Affairs, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, warned that after the UAE’s normalization with Israel, any Israeli aggression against Iran would bring the UAE into the circle of response.Abdollahian said in an interview with Al-Alam TV that the UAE “first endangered its own security, because where the Zionists set their feet, insecurity was the fruit of that, and in the second degree, they endanger the Persian Gulf’s security, and thirdly, they endanger their own security and fourthly, they endanger the security of their neighbors, including the Islamic Republic.”Abdollahian continued, saying: “Since the UAE disclosed…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has turned its forces away from the battlefield and towards the massive fires engulfing western Syria.According to a field source in Latakia, the Syrian Army has begun using its air assets to help put out the massive fires that are ravaging the Latakia and Hama countrysides.In particular, Syrian Arab Army helicopters were seen on Tuesday, attempting to put out the flames over the Masyaf area, which has recently witnessed wide-spread forest fires.The Syrian Army troops were also seen aiding the exhausted civil defense teams that have been vigorously trying to put out these fires.These massive…

The Russian military is sending another missile system to Syria amid reports of Turkey’s armored vehicle buildup inside the Arab Republic, Avia.Pro reported on Monday.“According to media reports referring to statements in the Russian defense department, the Russian military has sent ‘rippers’ of Turkish tanks and armored vehicles to Syria, which will be tested on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic under the control of the Russian military. One such complex can simultaneously destroy up to 10 enemy armored vehicles from a distance of up to 100 kilometers, which will allow the Syrian Army to destroy several hundred Turkish…

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov confirmed, during a joint press conference on Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem in the Syrian capital, that Syria and Russia have diplomatic relations in various fields and work is underway to strengthen them, indicating that the Russian delegation held constructive talks with the new Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous.Borisov said, “Moscow handed Damascus last July a Russian project on expanding trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, indicating that the new agreement between Syria and Russia includes more than 40 new projects in the energy…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Lebanon has been faced with political upheavals, and the huge explosion which destroyed the Beirut Port.  Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse asked a noted expert on Lebanon, Dr. Marwa Osman, to explain the recent visit of French President Macron to Beirut, and what it portends.   Steven Sahiounie (SS): Recently, France’s President Macron met with Mohammed Raad of Hezbollah. Do you think France is changing their position on Hezbollah? Marwa Osman (MO): I don’t think it is a matter of position, rather a matter of a realistic view to the Lebanese political arena. Who hold the…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Centuries ago, the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea was the center of the world. Today, we are facing a new dispute which could erupt into a regional war in those historical waters, as Turkey and Greece face off in a dispute over borders, gas fields, national pride and alliances. Greece and Cyprus have accused Turkey of breaching their sovereignty by drilling in their waters. On August 10, Turkey sent the Oruc Reis research vessel and an escorting flotilla of warships to the waters between Cyprus and the Greek islands of Kastellorizo and Crete,…

On Friday, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense confirmed the destruction of two tunnels used by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) in its criminal operations. “A joint force from the headquarters of the 8th Brigade of the 7th Division, and a force from the headquarters of the 1st Regiment, the brigade above, and a processing detachment from the field engineering battalion of the 7th Division managed to find two tunnels, the first of 40 meters long closed with a dirt berm, and upon opening the earth berm, six packages of homemade C-4 were found,” the Iraqi security forces said. The statement added…

A U.S. military aircraft was observed on Friday entering Ukrainian airspace and flying across the country towards the Crimean Peninsula.Using flight radar websites, Twitter users were able to track a U.S. B-52 bomber entering Ukraine’s western region from neighboring Poland, where the aircraft was later seen traveling towards the Azov Sea. The U.S. flight is of great interest because it is rare to see an American aircraft enter Ukraine, let alone, approach the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia claims as its territory.Furthermore, it is not exactly clear what the Russian response to this flight will be; however, the Russian military has…