Author: Steven Sahiounie

Moscow believes that the reason for the recent deterioration of the situation in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone is Turkey’s failure to comply with previous agreements, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday. “We see the reasons for the current deterioration in Turkey’s chronic failure to fulfil its commitments under the Sochi memorandum of September 17, 2018, and the transfer by Ankara of Turkey-controlled units of the so-called moderate armed opposition to northeastern Syria into the zone of Operation Peace Spring and to Libya,” Zakharova said at a weekly briefing in Moscow. She stressed that Russia remains committed to the…

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander was killed by a US airstrike on 3 January 2020 near Baghdad International Airport. Washington claimed that Soleimani was planning to organise an attack on Americans in Iraq amid an escalation of tensions between US forces deployed to the country and a local Shia militia. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stated that late commander Qasem Soleimani could have killed American generals multiple times during operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries – but opted not to do such things. “Commander Soleimani was a man who was pursuing stability and calm in the region”, Rouhani…

Almost 30 people have been hospitalised in Lebanon as a result of clashes between protesters and security forces in the capital city of Beirut, with 190 others receiving medical assistance on the ground, the Lebanese Red Cross said on Tuesday. “Downtown Beirut: as of now, 28 [people] have been transferred to nearby hospitals, and 190 injured have been treated on location,” the Lebanese Red Cross wrote on Twitter. ​Earlier on Tuesday, local media reported that security forces had used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who gathered near the complex of government buildings to prevent the appointment of…

The United States has practically started pulling out its military forces from 15 bases in Iraq, senior parliamentary officials in Baghdad said, adding that Washington plans to keep troops just in Ein al-Assad and Erbil. “The US has started withdrawal from Iraq and started retreat from 15 military bases,” Ali al-Qameni, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defense Commission, was quoted by the Arabic-language al-Ahd news website, as saying on Monday. He said the Americans only insist on continued buildup at the two bases of Ein al-Assad and Erbil, but Iraqi people and the parliament are pressuring them…

US President Donald Trump gave a speech at the White House Business session, speaking regarding the US Fiscal Year 2021 budget, as well as hypersonic weapons. Regarding the hypersonic weapons, Trump said that Russia, which is the only country currently fielding such technology, actually was provided it by the Obama administration, while the US wasn’t working on any developments. Trump also boasted that progress was being made in terms of nuclear weapons, and that both China and Russia wanted to avoid another such arms race. “Now, at the same time, Russia and China both want to negotiate with us to stop this…

The US military is reportedly planning to announce a more than 50-percent rise in the number of cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among its soldiers following Iran’s retaliatory strikes on an American military base in Iraq last month. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement, told Reuters on Monday that there were over 100 cases of TBI after the attacks, up from the 64 previously reported last month. The Pentagon had stated weeks after the strikes that the numbers were expected to increase because the TBI symptoms could take time to manifest. On January 8,…

Russian oil and gas companies could triple their investments in Iraq in the near future, Yury Fyodorov, first deputy chairman of the Economic Policy Committee at the Russian Federation Council, has announced. The companies may spend up to $20 billion on oil projects in Iraq, Fyodorov said at a meeting with Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Abdul-Rahman Al-Husseini, according to Russian media. Today, our leading oil and gas companies such as Lukoil, Bashneft, Gazprom Neft are actively working in your country. The total investment has exceeded $10 billion,” the official said on Monday. He added that other companies, such as Zarubezhneft, Tatneft,…

Canadian lawyers previously submitted a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the victims of the crash, demanding $1.1 billion in compensation from the Islamic Republic. Among the 176 people on board, there were at least 57 Canadian nationals. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has responded to the complaint about the Ukrainian plane crash, calling it groundless. “Iran’s actions are based on international rules”, Zarif said, according to the website Khabaronline. Tehran has also refused to send the “black box” flight recorders abroad for decoding. A Kiev-bound Boeing belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed on 8 January, just minutes after taking…

The Turkish Defence Ministry previously stated that the Syrian Army was pushed out of al-Nayrab and that one of its helicopters was downed the same day. Syrian military forces have recaptured the village of al-Nayrab in Idlib Province after the 25th Army Brigade briefly retreated from it following a surprise attack by terrorist forces, a Sputnik correspondent on site reported. The forces started to take back control over the village less than an hour after abandoning it in order to prevent the terrorists from reinforcing their positions in al-Nayrab, the correspondent added. At the same time, the Syrian Army located to the west…

Previously, reports from some media outlets suggested that the highway had already been recaptured by Damascus’ forces, but a source in the Syrian Army dismissed them, pointing out that the liberation of the M-5 is still underway. The Syrian Army is preparing to retake control of the strategic M-5 highway that goes through Idlib province and, specifically, through a region that is currently controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra* terrorist organisation. A video shot by a Sputnik correspondent shows Syrian servicemen preparing armoured personnel carriers and tanks for the operation to liberate the highway from terrorists and retake control of it.…