Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

On May 24 morning, a new rocket attack targeted the US-operated Bagram Airfield in the province of Parwan in Afghanistan’s eastern region. In a statement released by its news agency, Amaq, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist group said its fighters launched five Katyusha rockets at the airfield. The term “Katyusha” is usually used by the group to refer to 107 mm rockets. Afghan security forces quickly uncovered the improvised multiple rocket launcher used in the attack. The launcher was hidden in the trunk of a civilian car, that was completely destroyed. ISIS used the exact same tactic…

On May 6, Obretix, a Twitter defense blogger, shared satellite images of a Turkish MIM-23 Hawk medium-range air defense system in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib. The system is currently deployed in a military camp in the vicinity of the town of Almastumah in southern Idlib. Three M-192 launchers of the system, each armed with three missiles, can be seen in the images. Almastumah is located less than 12 km from the frontline with Syrian Arab Army (SAA) troops in southern Idlib. From there, the Hawk system, which has a range of up to 45 km, covers most of…

The Libyan National Army (LNA) announced on May 24 that its air-defense units had shot down a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) near the town of Bani Waled, southeast of the capital, Tripoli. Nevertheless, photos of the UCAV wreckage revealed that it was a Chinese-made Wing Loong II. According to available information, this type is being operated in Libya only by the UAE, the main backer of the LNA. A day earlier, the LNA claimed that it shot down a “Turkish” drone near the town of Qaryat. The drone also turned out to be a Wing Loong II. Two…

An Iranian Air Force commander says the country will unveil domestically-produced planes in the near future. Brigadier General Mohammad Zalbeigi, the commander of Shahid Lashgari Airbase in Tehran, says the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) is progressing with the same pace as other countries despite the sanctions. “We have had considerable progress in designing various types of aircraft, thanks to the efforts of the IRIAF personnel and knowledge-based companies,” he said in an interview with Mehr News Agency. “God willing, we will witness the designing and production of aircraft built at the IRIAF in the near future, “…