Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator More than 15 military transport planes flew from Russia to Italy delivering disinfection units, 180 doctors, 100 personnel which include specialists in biological protection, nurses, ventilators, and masks.  The experts sent to Italy have worked on international epidemics including African Swine Fever and in developing an Ebola vaccine. Italy’s Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte had requested help from Russia, and the government commissioner for the coronavirus emergency, Domenico Arcuri, confirmed the help had arrived.  ‎‎Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s Foreign Minister, personally welcomed the first Russian plane to arrive on Sunday.   Videos emerged online of…

On March 20, forces loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya shot down a Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was supporting them by mistake. GNA sources released a video showing government fighters showing off the wreckage of the downed UAV. The fighters laugh as they falsely claim that the drone was being operated by the Libyan National Army (LNA). The UAV was identified as a Bayraktar Mini, manufactured by Turkey’s Baykary. The drone has a range of 10 km with an endurance of up to 60 minutes. This type of Turkish UAVs was not spotted in…

Iranian-backed forces, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, are establishing dozens of positions south of the Syrian capital, Damascus, Zaman al-Wasl reported on March 25. According to the pro-opposition outlet, the new positions include barracks, training camps, intelligence bases, technical workshops and a drone base. All the positions are allegedly located near the Shiite-majority area of Set Zaynab. The outlet revealed one of the positions, a supposed “drone base” located 5 km to the south of Set Zaynab. The base is supposedly being operated by Hezbollah and hosting several Iranian-made Muhajir-4 drones. Zaman al-Wasl contradicted its own narrative by acknowledging that the supposed “drone base”…

The online G-20 summit, which was held on March 26, once again demonstrated the doubleness of the Saudi leadership. During the video call the country’s king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, demonstrated that he has a portrait, which is directly banned under the official form of Islam of Saudi Arabia – the Hanbali school. In Saudi Arabia, the official form of Islam is Sunni of the Hanbali school, in its Salafi version. The Hanbali school derives sharia predominantly from the Quran, the Hadiths (sayings and customs of Muhammad), and the views of Sahabah (Muhammad’s companions). In cases where there is…

The global economic downturn due to coronavirus and the breakup of OPEC+ has sent the ruble tumbling, which could give Russia an unexpected advantage in the oil price war. While the ruble is now at its lowest level against the dollar in four years, the cheaper ruble has a silver lining for Russia’s oil producers in the oil price war for market share with Saudi Arabia. The collapse of the OPEC+ deal and oil prices has hit Russia’s financial markets and currency, leading to a sharp drop in the ruble versus the US dollar. The lower the ruble slides against the…

The Saudi-led coalition has reportedly agreed to a truce in Yemen – five years to the day of launching an intervention there – as part of a United Nations call for a global armistice among the Covid-19 pandemic. Riyadh’s decision to stand down follows the acceptance of the ceasefire by the pro-Saudi followers of ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels that have controlled the capital since January 2015. The chair of the Houthi rebels’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, welcomed Riyadh’s support for the ceasefire, while expressing hopes in a tweet later on Wednesday that it would “translate [into]…

A faction of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) blows the lid off a plot by the US military to carry out massive aerial operations — backed by ground troops – against bases of the elite anti-terror force, which is currently busy helping the government in the fight against a new coronavirus pandemic. In a statement on Wednesday, Kata’ib Hezbollah reported “suspicious activities by the US and its mercenaries” in Iraq in preparation for an operation, according to Iraq’s Baghdad al-Youm website. In the current difficult situation, when Iraq has mobilized all its resources to contain the spread of the coronavirus…

An  Iraqi security source says the US-led military coalition purportedly formed to fight the Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh has handed over a strategic air base in the northern province of Nineveh to the Arab country’s military. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency on Thursday that forces from the US-led alliance departed Qayyarah Airfield West, which lies some 70 kilometers (43.4 miles) south of Mosul and on the west bank of the Tigris River, and handed it over to Iraqi government troops. “The coalition will operate from fewer locations, but remains committed to supporting our partners in their…

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement has warned Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against continuation of their military aggression against Yemen, saying the United States is simply blackmailing and humiliating the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi regimes to pursue its own agenda. “The general evaluation and studies confirm that economic losses inflicted on the Saudi regime have been huge and its ambitions have not been realized. The Saudi and UAE economies are suffering from economic crises, and continue to decline,” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech broadcast live from the capital Sana’a on Thursday afternoon, which marked the anniversary of Saudi…

The coronavirus pandemic has lead to a significant strain being places on the United Kingdom’s National Health Service as an increasing number of people begin to fall ill and require medical attention. Indian doctors working in UK’s National Health Service (NHS) issued a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday demanding that he scrap the surcharge imposed on foreign-born doctors. Anyone in the UK on a work, study or family visa for longer than six months must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), brought in April 2015, in order to contributed additional funds to the NHS. “We believe that this surcharge is…