Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, political commentator On February 21, 2020, Alex Crawford of SKY NEWS, a UK news media, filed an article concerning Idlib.  She had traveled to Idlib, in northwest Syria illegally, without any Visa to enter Syria.  She entered illegally across the Turkish border which is under the control of the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, Jibhat al-Nusra, aka Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.  This group is not an armed Syrian opposition or rebels; they are internationally recognized terrorists, deemed so by the UN, the US and the UK.  Western journalists, from Jeremy Bowen of the BBC to Fred Pleitgen of CNN…

series of Russian airstrikes targeted the surroundings of Turkish “observation posts” in the so-called Greater Idlib region. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the posts are located in the Almastumah Camp, 6 km to the south of Idlib’s city center, and near the town of Shir Mughar in northwest Hama. Al-Mastumah’s post is one of many positions established by the Turkish military earlier this month, while Shir Mughar post was set up last year under the Sochi agreement. No Turkish casualties were reported as a result of the Russian airstrikes. However, equipment supplied by Turkey may have been destroyed.…

Yemeni armed forces have unveiled four domestically-built long-range, surface-to-air missile defense systems, which could act as game changers and alter the course of battle in the face of the deadly campaign led by Saudi Arabia against Yemen. The president of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Mahdi al-Mashat, who was speaking at a ceremony in the capital Sana’a on Sunday, identified the systems as Fater-1 (Innovator-1), Thaqib-1 (Piercer-1), Thaqib-2 and Thaqib-3. The systems have entered service following successful tests, the official announced. Yemeni Minister of Defense Major General Mohamed al-Atefy, Chairman of the General Staff Major…

 Head of Hamas’ political bureau Ismail Haniyeh will visit Moscow with a delegation in one week, the group’s deputy chief Saleh Al-Arouri has announced. “A Hamas delegation headed by Ismail Haniyeh will visit several Arabic and Islamic countries. In one week, the delegation will pay a visit to the Russian capital, Moscow”, Al-Arouri told the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV on Saturday. He added that the group was interested in maintaining relations with Russia, which supports the rights of the Palestinian people. Earlier this week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov held…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Saturday that he intended to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in Istanbul on 5 March to discuss the situation in Syrian Idlib. “I held telephone conversations with Putin, Macron and Merkel on Idlib. We will meet together on 5 March and discuss this topic again”, Erdogan said, speaking in Izmir province. On Friday, Erdogan said that the leaders of France and Germany had offered Putin hold a summit on Syria on 5 March in Istanbul. Earlier in February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that…

Schools in the Iranian capital are closing for two days amid the spread of the new coronavirus in the country, the Tehran education department has announced. Schools will be closed on Sunday and Monday in order to ensure the safety and health of all students, the department said in a Saturday statement, adding that disinfection will be carried out at educational facilities in Tehran. Educational facilities will also be closed for different periods of time in other parts of Iran, including the province of Qom, where the first coronavirus cases were reported this week. All cultural events will be canceled…

The Russian Navy is closely watching the USS Ross, a guided-missile destroyer, as it heads north after entering the Black Sea, the National Defense Management Center said Sunday. “The Black Sea Fleet has deployed its capabilities to monitor the movement of the US Navy’s Ross destroyer, which entered the Black Sea at 6:30 p.m. [15:30 GMT],” the military said in a statement. This is the first time this year that the Arleigh Burke-class warship comes to the Black Sea for what the Pentagon bills as operations to enhance regional maritime stability together with NATO allies and regional partners.

Sixteen members of the Turkish armed forces and more than 100 Syrian mercenaries have died fighting in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, the Sky News Arabia TV channel reported on Sunday, citing sources in the Libyan National Army (LNA). According to the channel’s Twitter, 16 Turkish soldiers and over 100 Syrian mercenaries have died in Tripoli clashes. Earlier in the week, the LNA commander, Khalifa Haftar, said that the rival Government of National Accord (GNA) had used the current ceasefire to deploy Syrian mercenaries to Libya. Meanwhile, the Turkish forces arrived in Libya earlier this year under an agreement between the GNA…

Steven Sahiounie, political commentator Fierce clashes between the Syrian Arab Army and the Turkish Army and their terrorist allies raged in Idlib on Thursday, killing two Turkish soldiers and wounding five. The situation has calmed somewhat on Friday as President Erdogan will call President Putin in the evening to discuss the battlefield events. Russia has maintained its position that Turkey withdraws from Idlib and honors the 2018 Sochi agreement, in which Turkey was bound to separate civilians from armed terrorist groups. The European Council stated that the 27 EU member states have called on all parties in the Idlib conflict…

Russia has continued filling its coffers with gold, having added almost 7 tons of the precious metal to its reserves in January. The country’s total gold holdings amounted to 73.2 million troy ounces (2,276.8 tons) as of February 1, and are worth around $116 billion, according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). The bullion stockpile comes at a time of gold price skyrocketing to a 7-year high, as traders have turned to traditional safe havens amid the coronavirus outbreak. The precious metal soared to $1619.20 per ounce on Thursday. In recent months, Russia has been…