Author: Steven Sahiounie

This comes amid repeated statements from Iran, Russia and China calling on Washington to lift its sanctions against Tehran during the spiralling coronavirus pandemic. The US has imposed Iran-related sanctions on five companies and fifteen individuals, the Department of the Treasury said. These include entities in Iran and Iraq which the US believes are linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Treasury added that it has also updated information about Iran’s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei, who was included in the US sanctions list in summer 2019. Washington has repeatedly imposed Iran-related sanctions on different entities and individuals in the past few weeks…

The Daily Sabah newspaper reported, citing Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor Irfan Fidan, that the investigation into Khashoggi’s death had been completed. The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office has charged 20 Saudi citizens for the premeditated murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and demanded life sentences for 18 of them, media reported on Wednesday. According to state news agency Anadolu, the other two defendants have been charged with incitement of first degree murder. The Daily Sabah newspaper reported, citing Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor Irfan Fidan, that the two men are former deputy head of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services Ahmed al-Asiri and former…

Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has tested positive for coronavirus, his household said. “The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus,” Clarence House said in a statement. “He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual.” “The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus,” Clarence House said. The Prince and his wife, Camilla, are self-isolating at home in Scotland. “It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince caught the virus owing to…

On March 23rd, Politico published a piece looking into the crashing prices of oil, and specifically the US West Texas Intermediate benchmark. In it, it described the way US President Donald Trump initially praised oil and natural gas as “our gold.” “That’s our gold,” Trump declared. “That’s gold underneath our feet.” He did so during the ceremony when Shell Oil was beginning to build new natural gas processing facility, and celebrated the nation’s shale boom. The collapse of energy prices, due to the Saudi-initiated price war with Russia, has led to the cancelling of that project. The crash is also estimated to…

Case involves a 73-year-old man who arrived from Saudi Arabia via Tunisia around two weeks ago, local media reports War-ravaged Libya recorded its first case of the coronavirus on Tuesday, local media said, citing a health organisation which operates in areas held by both sides in the conflict. The Libya Observer reported that the case involved a 73-year-old man who arrived from Saudi Arabia via Tunisia around two weeks ago. Libya, which has been mired in chaos since the 2011 overthrow of longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi, is divided between the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord and a rival administration in the east which backs military commander Khalifa Haftar. Both administrations have imposed…

Human Rights Watch report says that some civilian activists in al-Mahrah governorate were illegally detained and transferred to Saudi Arabia. Saudi forces and their allies arrested, tortured and illegally transferred dozens of civilians who opposed their presence in Yemen’s southern governorate of al-Mahrah to the kingdom, according to a Human Rights Watch released on Wednesday. Former detainees told the rights group that they were subject to beatings and electric shocks after they were accused of supporting the kingdom’s opponents in the region. The detainees said the crackdown began after local leaders established a peaceful sit-in to oppose the presence of Saudi forces in the governorate in December 2017,…

Russian mobile medical teans and viral agent defense experts who have arrived in Italy for assisting the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will be working in the city of Bergamo, Lombardy region, the Russian Defence Ministry said on March 24. “It has been determined, following consultations, that Russian military experts, who have experience in fighting epidemics … across the whole world, will start fulfilling tasks in the Italian city of Bergamo,” the defense ministry’s statement reads. The Russian COVID-19 response team is now preparing for a 600-kilometer long road. It is coordinating documents and preparing vehicles and equipment for…

UPDATE: The Russian Defense Ministry commented on the incident saying that 2 Turkish soldiers were injured and 2 vehicles were damaged. *** On March 24, a Turkish military column became a target of an IED attack in southern Idlib. The incident reportedly took place in the village of Sefoen near the area of Jabal al-Zawiya. Pro-militant sources claim that a Turkish soldier was wounded and a military vehicle was damaged in the attack. The March 24 incident was the second IED attack on Turkish forces in Greater Idlib within the past 7 days. On March 19, 2 Turkish soldiers were killed and…

On March 23, Russian and Turkish forces carried out a second limited joint patrol in southern Idlib. The patrol involved six armoured vehicles and took place along a short chunk of the M4 highway west of the government-controlled town of Saraqib. This part of the highway remains the only safe place within the entire security zone, which was set to be established in the framework of the Russian-Turkish de-escalation agreement. After the March 23 patrol, the Turkish side got additional time to neutralize terrorists and radicals entrenched in the agreed to buffer zone. This was the second time when Moscow…

A cargo ship operated by the Russian Navy passed through Turkey’s Bosphorus strait en route to Syria on Tuesday loaded with ambulances, Reuters said. The Dvinitsa-50 ship, part of Russia’s auxiliary fleet, was reportedly carrying at least three military ambulances along with a shipping container on its deck. Russia operates a naval facility at Tartus in Syria and an airbase in Latakia. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday that an immediate nationwide ceasefire is needed across Syria to enable an “all-out-effort” to stamp out the coronavirus and prevent it from ravaging a…