Author: Steven Sahiounie

The situation between Iran and the United States almost escalated into a full conflict after a US drone strike killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in January, prompting Tehran to retaliate by firing ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq hosting US forces. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stated that the “Americans won’t stay in Iraq and Syria and will be expelled”, according to his official website. In the meantime, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated that Tehran will retaliate if Washington takes action against the fuel deliveries to crisis-hit Venezuela. The statement comes…

Biden and Obama knew about the FBI seeking to investigate the incoming National Security adviser, and the former submitted a formal “unmasking” request for all intelligence agency information held on Flynn. Donald Trump demanded Sunday morning former President Barack Obama and his deputy Joe Biden go to jail for their involvement in the witch hunt against Michael Flynn. Speaking to Fox Business, he dubbed the targeting of his former national security adviser “the greatest political crime in the history of our country”. “If I were a Democrat instead of a Republican, I think everybody would have been in jail a long time ago, and…

A group of five Iranian tankers was previously spotted sailing through the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and is believed to be heading towards Venezuela. Media reports have suggested that Tehran could be helping Caracas overcome its domestic fuel crisis, which has partially been caused by American sanctions. Tehran has summoned the Swiss ambassador to the country, representing Washington’s interests, to lodge a protest against the alleged plans of the US Navy to intercept its tankers that are on their way towards Venezuela with a cargo of fuel. Earlier, the possibility of such a move by Washington was reported by Reuters,…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Every day we see the conflict in Libya on media news coverage, but what if you were taken to the battlefield and found yourself captured by terrorists?  This is the viewers experience when watching the new action-thriller “Shugaley”, which is free to watch online, and based on the true story of Russian sociologist Maxim Shugaley and his Arab interpreter Samer Sweifan who were kidnapped in Libya by terrorists.  In the course of his research, Shugaley (Kirill Polukhin) discovers explosive information, which leads to the pair being kidnapped by terrorists who work for the government…

The North Korean leader recently disappeared from the public for nearly a month, sparking rumors regarding his health status. He returned at the beginning of May for a ribbon-cutting event without any explanation about his absence, further fuelling the speculation. Head of the North Korean spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), Jang Kil-song was removed from his post along with the head of Kim Jong-un’s security, Yun Jong-rin, the Korea Herald reported, citing a document obtained by South Korea’s Unification Ministry. The Korea Herald reported that Kwak Chang-sik will become the new Supreme Guard, protecting DPRK’s leader, while South Korean…

US President Donald Trump announced in April that the United States would suspend funding, accusing the organisation of botching the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response. The Trump administration is set to partially restore funding to the World Health Organisation, according to a draft letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “[The administration will] agree to pay up to what China pays in assessed contributions”, the letter, obtained by “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, says. “That is why I’ve decided the United States will continue to partner and work with the World Health Organisation …”, it continues, apparently on behalf of President Trump. “China owes a massive…

Moscow sold a major part of its US treasuries in 2018, when the country first raised the idea of reducing the use of the dollar, including in international trade, due to Washington using it as an instrument of pressure on sovereign states. Russia reduced its ownership of US Treasury securities by $9 billion to a record-low of $3.824 billion between February and March 2020, US Treasury data shows. The sudden drop was preceded by a brief period, where the Russian Central Bank was slightly increasing its holdings of US government bonds. Since reaching the last low of $8.5 billion in July…

On Saturday, the TASS news agency quoted a military source as saying that Russia had begun production of the latest generation of Su-35 jets for Egypt, under a signed contract with Cairo. The source said to the agency: “At the Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur plant, production of the Su-35 has begun, which is to be delivered to the Egyptian Air Force under a contract which concluded in 2018.” The source pointed out that “the timing of delivery of the first batch of aircraft to the Egyptian side and for a reason related to the special restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic has…

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd Al-Sha’abi) announced on Friday that they repelled an Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) attack near the Samarra Dam in the Salaheddine Governorate. The PMF stated that “the 3rd Regiment of the 7th Brigade in the Popular Mobilization Forces thwarted the infiltration of an enemy boat carrying a group of members of the organization,” referring to “confronting the terrorists before they were forced to flee.” They added that “the Popular Mobilization Forces searched the area during a subsequent operation and found a small boat belonging to ISIS in the area containing food supplies.” The Iraqi Armed Forces have…

The Iranian Noor New Agency reported on Friday that the U.S. attempts to disrupts an Iranian fuel shipment to Venezuela will have face repercussions. “In the early hours of Saturday morning, local time, in response to reports that American warships were sailing towards the Caribbean, the United States intends, like pirates, to create insecurity in international waterways. It will create a serious risk and will certainly not pass without repercussions,” the Noor Agency said, as quoted by Reuters. A senior official in the Trump administration said that the United States is considering measures it could take in response to a…