Author: Steven Sahiounie

heavy clashes broke out between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and ISIS remnants in the eastern countryside of Hama. According to pro-government sources, army units destroyed a vehicle of the terrorist group near Sad Abu Fayad, east of the city of Salamiyah. At least two fighters of the group were killed as a result. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that a Syrian service member was also killed in the clashes. However, this is yet to be verified. ISIS cells increased their activists in the mountainous regions of eastern Hama over the last year. The terrorists may…

Iraq’s Kata’ib Hezbollah resistance group says Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi has agreed to form a committee to probe the US assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. In a statement on Thursday, the group said the decision was taken after al-Kadhimi, currently the director of Iraq’s National Intelligence Service, requested to have a meeting with the group to explain his position on the assassination. The formation of the committee was decided during the meeting, the statement said, adding that “we requested that the work of the committee be done with complete transparency”. The US assassinated General Soleimani,…

Syria’s UN ambassador says the Security Council has failed the Palestinian and Syrian people by not enforcing its resolutions on the Israeli occupation due to pressure from certain permanent members of the council. “The UN, due to pressure by some permanent members of the Security Council, has so far failed to enforce resolutions calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Arab lands, particularly Resolutions 242, 338 and 497,” Bashar al-Ja’afari said at a UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East via video link on Thursday. Ja’afari also described the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as an integral part of…

A major human rights group has urged authorities in the English Premier League to dismiss a bid by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and allies to take over the ownership of a club, saying the controversial figure fails the very basic tests of ownership rules in the competition. The Fair/Square Projects’s recent plea is a second by a rights group to urge the dismissal of a bid by bin Salman and others to take over Newcastle United amid reports the ambitious Saudi prince is trying to use a recession caused by the new coronavirus pandemic to buy the dominant…

Washington’s plans to win a market share in the nuclear technologies sphere from Russia look strange and show that the United States is yet not aware of the new reality of the coronavirus, Russia’s permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said. “From the political point of view, the presentation of such tasks looks at least strange and shows that the US energy sector representatives have not yet understood the new reality emerging in light of the coronavirus, which, I believe, calls for cooperation instead of tough competition”, Ulyanov said. The diplomat also expressed the belief that it…

by Tim Korso The US earlier pulled the plug on its donations to the World Health Organisation citing the latter’s alleged mismanagement in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and purported conspiring with China to hide facts about the outbreak during its initial stages. The US will not take part in the launch of a new global initiative by the World Health Organisation (WHO) designed to organize the joint development of medicine against the coronavirus, a spokesman for the US mission in Geneva said. “There will be no US official participation. We look forward to learning more about this initiative in support…

On 22 April, the Iranian military said that its first military satellite Noor (Light) had been successfully placed into an orbit located 425 kilometres (624 miles) above the Earth’s surface, using a Qassed (Envoy) carrier. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo doubted the launch’s compliance with UN resolutions. An Iranian satellite that was launched on 22 April is inconsistent with a United Nations Security Council resolution, the UK’s Foreign Office said in a statement. “Reports that Iran has carried out a satellite launch – using ballistic missile technology – are of significant concern and inconsistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2231”, a…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On April 22, the 41st anniversary of the establishment of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), they launched the ‘Nour’ satellite, aboard the ‘Qased’ three-staged satellite launcher, during an operation located in the desert at Dasht-e Kavir. IRGC commander General Salami said, “Today, we gaze upon the Earth from skies. This honorable moment is the starting point of the establishment of new global power.” He added, “Today, the world’s powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defense plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) seized some western-made weapons that were left behind by the militant forces who used to control some parts of Damascus and Al-Quneitra. According to reports, the Syrian Arab Army confiscated these weapons after conducting a combing mission along the Quneitra-Damascus axis in southwestern Syria. Among the seized weapons were anti-tank missile, RPGs, rifles, Western and U.S.-made submachine guns, hand grenades, satellite broadcasting, telecommunication devices, medicines, and medical equipment in addition to a number of stolen cars. Since the Summer of 2018, the Syrian Arab Army has been uncovering several weapons caches that were left behind…

The U.S. is hindering a plan to conduct an assessment health mission in the al-Rukban Camp in the 55-km occupied zone in southeast Syria, the joint coordination headquarters of Russia and Syria announced on April 22. The joint headquarters said in an official statement that the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent an official request for the UN to conduct an assessment health mission in al-Rukban to assess the humanitarian situation and study the real situation with the spread of COVID-19 there. The UN supported the Syrian initiative. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised a questionable plan to implement…