Author: Steven Sahiounie

The perimeter of the American embassy in Baghdad on Saturday night was subjected to a missile attack, before it was addressed by the Iraqi air defenses. The Iraqi media said that the Patriot system repelled a Katyusha rocket attack against the American embassy, ​​and after its interception the missile landed on one of the apartments near the embassy. They added, “The rocket landed, injuring a child and causing material damage to an apartment.” On Saturday, the U.S. military tested the Patriot missile defense system in the Iraqi capital several times. Iraqi media said that “the defense systems known as the…

On July 2, the Houthis repelled an attack by Saudi-backed Yemeni fighters on their positions in the area of Rshaha al-Sharqiyah on the border with the Kingdom’s southern province of Najran. The Yemeni group’s media wing released a 4-minute video documenting the failed attack. The video shows Houthi fighters targeting the attackers with artillery, heavy machine guns and improvised rocket-assisted munitions, IRAMs. The fighters can be also seen fighting with the attackers at a short range. Saudi-led coalition warplanes supported the attack by carrying out a series of airstrikes on Houthi positions in Rshaha al-Sharqiyah. Nevertheless, the coalition’s airstrikes were…

Khalifa Haftar is losing not only militarily positions but, above all, the political support of his international allies. Among the powers behind the Libyan camp in the East, the rating of Marshal is collapsing as the rating of the Chairman of the Tobruk “Parliament”, Aguila Saleh, grows. It seems that Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which have supported Haftar since his ascension in 2015, but also his more restrained sponsors like Russia and France, are less supportive of the Marshal’s policy and may find it necessary to change his figure as the leader of Eastern Libya. Hawtar’s…

The United States is seeking to seize four tankers sailing towards Venezuela with gasoline supplied by Iran in itslatest attempt to disrupt ever-closer trade ties between the two states. According to the US, the sale was arranged by a businessman, Mahmoud Madanipour, with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the US designates as a foreign terrorist organisation. “The profits from these activities support the IRGC’s full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad,” prosecutor Zia…

The Libyan Air Force has destroyed a Turkish MIM-23 Hawk air-defense system in al-Watiya Air Base in the western Libya, a source in the Libyan National Army (LNA) told the media on July 5. According to the source, nine pinpoint airstrikes targeted the Hawk air-defense system and a KORAL electronic warfare system that was stationed nearby. “We were monitoring the deployment and installation of a Hawk air-defense system along with its attached radars by the Turkish occupation for the last few days,” the source told Libya al-Hadath, adding “today the Turkish Minister of Defense was informed while he was in…

For the second day in a row, an explosion rocked the Turkish-occupied city of Afrin in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo. An improvised explosive device, which was planted under a SUV, exploded on July 5 morning. The explosion took place near a headquarter and jail of the Turkish-backed Hamza Division in Afrin’s city center. According to the North Press Agency, the SUV’s driver, whose identity is yet to be revealed, was killed in the explosion. Two other people were reportedly injured. A day earlier, an officer of the so-called Free Police, a law enforcement body backed by Turkey, was…

The Damascus government wants the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to hand over the SDF-held parts of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in exchange for a political settlement, Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, Ferhat Abdi Şahin, claimed on July 4. Şahin, whose is known by his nom de guerre Mazlum Abdi, made his remarks while he was attending a rare meeting with Arab tribal leaders from Raqqa in al-Hasakah city. The Kurdish commander said that the SDF will not accept these demands, stressing that Raqqa and Deir Ezzor will be run by their respective councils. He also noted that the two areas were…

The U.S.-led coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have arrested suspected terrorists in a successful spacial operation in eastern Deir Ezzor. The operation reportedly took place in the town of Husayn‏ on July 5 morning. Helicopters of the coalition landed in the town with support from SDF troops. Several attack helicopters supported the operation. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, four men suspected of being ISIS members were arrested in the course of the operation. The U.S.-led coalition and the SDF intensified their anti-terrorism operations this year in response to the ever increasing attacks by ISIS cells. Most…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The European Union (EU) hosted a virtual conference titled “Supporting the future of Syria and the region” from June 22 through 30.  This is the fourth such conference focused on the crisis in Syria, #SyriaConf2020, and was co-chaired with the United Nations (UN).  Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, said, “Syrians have suffered for too long. After nine years of conflict, there is a risk that the world becomes immune to the pictures and accounts of unacceptable and unnecessary suffering but we cannot allow that to…

Ankara’s actions could lead to a humanitarian disaster By Jonathan Smith Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), confirmed in media statements on June 25, that Turkey and loyal armed groups are preparing to attack Sirte, calling for joint efforts to save the city. He explained that more than 60,000 civilians inside the city should be saved and a long-term political solution found in Libya. Gargash stressed the futility of a military solution to the Libyan conflict. He explained that the League of Arab States (LAS) made a sharp statement condemning the presence…