Author: Steven Sahiounie

Washington has consistently objected to NATO-member Turkey acquiring the Russian-made S-400 missile systems, claiming they were incompatible with security standards of the alliance and might compromise the operations of the new US fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets. Turkey is committed “in principle” to its earlier announced plans to activate the Russian-made S-400 missile defence systems acquired last year, despite procrastination due to a spate of issues, Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin was quoted as saying by France 24 on Monday. Speaking in an interview, the spokesperson referred to the COVID-19 pandemic as having delayed the matter of activation, slated originally for April, and…

Two of the five Iranian oil vessels have already arrived in Venezuela. The first one, the Fortune, docked at El Palito refinery. The arrival of the tankers in the midst of the blockade and gasoline shortage which have racked the country is geopolitically significant for a number of reasons. The Iranian oil tanker Fortune docked at dawn on 24 May at El Palito refinery in Venezuela. The vessel’s journey had been followed for three weeks, since it was known that, along with four other tankers, Forest, Petunia, Carnation and Faxon, the ship had departed Iran for the Caribbean. Much of the country…

United Nations (UN) experts have disclosed a secret military operation by several Western countries in Libya that is aimed at supporting Libyan rebels under the command of military strongman Khalifa Haftar by interrupting Turkey’s shipment of arms to the government in Tripoli. The UN said in a confidential report seen by the German news agency DPA that at least 20 people, all members of privately-owned military companies in Australia, France, Malta, South Africa, Britain, and the United States, had been involved in the so-called “Project Opus” to support the Libyan rebels. The report said the mercenaries boarded a cargo plane…

The second-in-command of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has hailed the 2000 liberation of southern Lebanon from the Israeli occupation as a “turning point” in the history of the Middle East, saying the victory shattered the Israeli military’s invincibility myth. Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem made the remarks on Monday as Lebanon was celebrating the 20th anniversary of the end of Israel’s occupation, Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Manar television network reported. The official said thanks to the blow dealt to the Israeli military two decades ago, “we have moved from the stage of despair to hope, from surrender to resistance, from humiliation…

An Israeli private aircraft has reportedly landed at Khartoum International Airport as the Tel Aviv regime and Sudan’s sovereign council are engaged in cooperation towards normalization of bilateral ties. The London-based and Arabic-language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi, citing Israeli journalist Shimon Aran, reported on Tuesday that a Hawker 800 mid-size and twinjet plane, with the registration number N84UP, had arrived at the principal airport of the Northeast African country. The report, however, did not provide any information about the purpose of the flight and those onboard. Sudanese government officials also refused to answer any of the al-Quds al-Arabi questions about the corporate to which the aircraft belongs. Sudanese army spokesman Brigadier General Amer…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The Iranian oil tanker Fortune arrived in Venezuela yesterday, the first in a flotilla of five, Forest, Petunia, Faxon, and Clavel, carrying gasoline from Bandar Abbas to Puerto Cabello. The second ship, Forest, has entered Venezuelan waters today. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves but must import gasoline because the refining infrastructure has deteriorated over the last two decades. Venezuela has provided citizens subsidized gasoline for less than a penny a tank, but due to US sanctions and other factors, the local refinery stopped production. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned the US to…

The Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, announced the capture of 12 people, who said they were “mercenaries of Syrian citizenship.” A statement of the Military Information Division of the National Army said on Saturday that “the armed forces targeted a gathering of groups inside the Yarmouk Camp, after placing them in a tight ambush by luring them inside the camp.” The statement said that this targeting “left a large number of dead among the groups, and our units have captured 12 mercenaries who hold Syrian citizenship belonging to these groups.” The Media Division posted a video…

Rumors circulated on social media has this past weekend, claiming that Lebanese President Michel Aoun had passed away. However, the official National News Agency (NNA) of Lebanon denied the authenticity of these reports, pointing out that there is no truth to these rumors. The agency said that some groups on WhatsApp reported the rumor of the death of Lebanese President Michel Aoun. The agency denied that it had published anything of the kind, noting that it had nothing to do with any of these rumors. They would add that the purpose of these rumors is to create confusion in the…

Yemen’s Houthis (Ansar Allah) continue their operations against Saudi-led forces in Yemen

A new Iraqi armed group identifying itself as the al-Muhandis’ Revenge Brigade (MRB) announced on May 21 that its fighters had carried out two attacks on U.S. forces. The group is named after Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the former Deputy-Commander of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). Al-Muhandis was killed along with Iran’s Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani in a U.S. strike on the Baghdad International Airport last January. In its first official statement, the group said its fighters carried out the following attacks: On April 17, MRB fighters targeted a CH-47 Chinook helicopter of the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad’s…