Author: Steven Sahiounie

The United States has announced new sanctions targeting several Lebanese companies for their alleged links to Hezbollah.Among the blacklisted companies is Arch Consulting and Meamar Construction, which has several recycling contracts with the Lebanese government.In addition, the US government added Hezbollah Executive Council Sultan Khalifa Asaad to its OAFC list of sanctioned individuals.Prior to today’s announcement, the US also added two former ministers to its blacklist last week.US Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, justified the sanctions and accused Hezbollah of “exploitation of the Lebanese economy and manipulation of corrupt Lebanese officials”.The recent move by the US government comes in…

Russian and Turkish army officials met on Wednesday to discuss the situation inside Syria, where both countries currently have a large military presence.According to a source in Damascus, the two sides discussed a number topics, including the ceasefire in the Idlib Governorate and the Turkish presence in areas controlled by the government.The source said Turkey rejected the Russian proposal to handover their observation posts, which are currently surrounded by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).He added Turkey proposed a plan that would require the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to withdraw from Tal Rifa’at and Manbij in northern Aleppo and handover these…

In this handout image provided by Albatross, The Tamar drilling natural gas production platform is seen some 25 kilometers West of the Ashkelon shore in February 2013 in Israel. The offshore Tamar drilling site which was originally dispatched from a shipyard in Texas at the end of last year is due to start producing natural gas next week. Over the past few years Israel has suffered from a shortage in natural gas, but with the new platform that weighs 34,000 tons and will be mainly operated by Israelis, the US company Nobel Energy which owns a 36% stake in Tamar,…

President Donald Trump’s administration pledged on Wednesday, to impose “full” U.S. sanctions on any international arms company that does deals with Iran as soon as the United Nations arms embargo on Tehran is extended.The warning came from the U.S. envoy on the Iran file, Elliott Abrams, during a press briefing hours after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States will return to the international organization next week to try to re-impose sanctions on Iran.The U.N. Security Council rejected a U.S. attempt on August 14 to extend an international embargo on arms supplies to Iran beyond the…

The Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman, Major General Ahmed Al-Mismari, announced the killing of the emir of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) terrorist organization in Libya, Abu Abdullah, in a specific operation west of Sabha.According to Mismari, the LNA received information about an Islamic State terrorist cell in the neighborhood Kafi of Sabha, pointing out that the “116th Infantry Battalion clashed with the group in a battle that lasted seven hours straight.”He said, “The battle ended with the elimination of nine terrorists and the arrest of two women, one from Benghazi named Sana Abdul-Hadi Salem, born in 1980, the wife of…

The UK Court of Appeal will hear Venezuela’s Central Bank’s case against the Bank of England, which holds the country’s gold, from September 22-24, lawyers who represent Venezuela told Sputnik on Thursday.“Following the granting of a full appeal against the High Court’s Judgment in the Banco Central de Venezuela’s (“BCV”) claim against the Bank of England, it has been confirmed that the English Court of Appeal will hear the BCV’s Appeal from Tuesday, 22nd September to Thursday, 24th September,” Zaiwalla & Co, the London-based law firm representing the BCV, said in a written statement sent to Sputnik.On July 2, the…

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, sent a strong message towards Ankara following further provocations against Greece.“Turkey is and will always be an important neighbor. But while we are close together on the map, the distance between us appears to be growing,” she said during her speech at the European Parliament.The strong stance of the European Union comes after renewed Turkish provocations against Greece, following a dispute over gas and drilling rights in the Mediterranean Sea.“Yes, Turkey is in a troubled neighborhood. And yes, it is hosting millions of refugees, for which we support them with…

According to Xi Yunyang, Professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China could be ready to dump the entire US debt in case of a military confrontation between both countries.“Under normal circumstances, China will gradually sell Treasuries and reduce its balance sheet to about $ 800 billion. But in the event of an extreme scenario, for example, a military conflict, China can sell the entire US national deb,” he added in an interview with the Global Times.While this is an unofficial declaration, it is a threat for the United States and could plunch the world into recession.The PRC…

Turkey’s latest decision to extend the navigational telex off the coast of Cyprus is a further provocation against Greece.The drilling activities by the Turkish ship “will fuel further tensions and insecurity in the Eastern Mediterranean,” according to the spokesperson for external affairs of the European Commission, Peter Stano.The move seems like the ultimate provocation, while it seemed that both countries were open to deescalate the situation in the Mediterranean Sea and open up new forms of dialogue.Earlier this month, Turkey agree to withdraw its research vessel Oruc Reis, which was seen as an important step by the European Union.Meanwhile, both…

A resident of the US state of Minnesota has been charged with providing support to the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia), the Department of Justice announced in a press release.“Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, 23, of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, has been charged by indictment with providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (IS), a designated foreign terrorist organization,” the release said on Wednesday.Al-Madioum was detained overseas by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and recently transferred into FBI custody and then returned to Minnesota, the Justice Department noted.“On June 23, 2015, Al-Madioum, a native of Morocco and…