Author: Steven Sahiounie

Iraq’s most powerful Shiite cleric has called for security forces to protect anti-government protesters. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s words came two days after at least eight protesters were killed in the holy southern city of Najaf. They died when followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed a protest site and fired live rounds, AP said. Sistani, a revered Shiite religious figure whose opinion holds sway over Iraqis, said security forces were “indispensable” and responsible for maintaining law and order. The comments came in his weekly Friday sermon delivered by a representative in Najaf. He directly condemned Wednesday’s attack. Security forces “must…

On Saturday, USFOR-A spokesperson Col. Sonny Leggett told reporters that “a combined US and Afghan force conducting an operation in Nangarhar Province was engaged by direct fire” a day before. Two US service members were killed and six others wounded in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, US military officials have confirmed. “We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time”, spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan Colonel Sonny Leggett stated. “Current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined US and Afghan force with a machine…

The Taliban* express readiness to enter direct talks with Kabul only after signing a peace deal with the US, the possibility of a temporary truce for the period of such negotiations is being discussed, the Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan and the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department said. “As Taliban representatives have stated, once the agreement is signed, they will be ready to start direct inclusive intra-Afghan negotiations with other political forces, including the government of Afghanistan”, Zamir Kabulov said. According to the diplomat, “the possibility of introducing a temporary truce between the Taliban and the government…

Terrorists attacked the Al-Rayyan gas station, the South Central region gas factory, the Ebla gas factory and the Homs refinery, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported. According to the report, the attack was carried out with shells dropped by unmanned aerial vehicles. Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Eng. Ali Ghanem said in a statement to SANA that terrorists and their sponsors have gain targeted the oil sector and its facilities on Tuesday dawn, particularly Ebla Gas Factory, South Central Gas Factory, al-Rayyan Gas Station and Homs Refinery.Minister Ghanem added that immediately the firefighting brigades which are affiliated to the oil…

Chinese policymakers are reportedly preparing measures for backing up the country’s economy following the coronavirus outbreak, which is expected to negatively impact the first-quarter growth. The government is debating whether to lower the planned 2020 economic growth target of around six percent, policy sources told Reuters. They said that China’s central bank is likely to lower its key lending rate on February 20, and cut banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) in the coming weeks. “Currently, monetary policy is being loosened, but the central bank will follow a step-by-step approach and watch the virus situation,” one of the sources said. China Development…

The European Union on Tuesday rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal for the Middle East and expressed concern about Israel’s plans to annex more Palestinian land. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell underlined the bloc’s commitment to a two-state solution, based along the 1967 lines, with the possibility of mutually agreed land-swaps, made up of Israel and “an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable state of Palestine.” Borrell also said that the US initiative “departs from these internationally agreed parameters.” The EU was especially concerned by statements “on the prospect of annexation of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank,” Borrell added.…

The European Union will extend indefinitely the time limit to resolve disputes in the Iran 2015 nuclear deal to avoid having to go to the UN Security Council or triggering new sanctions, the EU’s top diplomat said. “We are in agreement not to go directly to a strict time limit which would oblige (us) to go to the Security Council,” the EU’s Josep Borrell told reporters during a visit to Tehran on Monday. In remarks broadcast on Tuesday, he said “the willingness is not to start a process that goes to the end of JCPOA, but to keep it alive,” referring to the…

The IRGC commander was killed on 3 January in a US airstrike as he was leaving Baghdad International Airport, dramatically escalating tensions between the US and Iran. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, was carrying a message related to the Saudi-Iran mediation as he was travelling to Iraq, when he was assassinated by the US forces, Iran’s ambassador to the country has stated. The message contained the Islamic Republic’s stance on the possibility of rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh.But it was never delivered since immediately upon his arrival in Iraq on 3 January, Soleimani was killed in an…

The United States supports Turkey’s military action against the Syrian army in Idlib, seeing it as an act of self-defence, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said in a statement. “We stand by our NATO Ally Turkey in the aftermath of the attack, which resulted in the death of multiple Turkish personnel serving at an observation post used for coordination and de-escalation, and fully support Turkey’s justified self-defence actions in response”, Pompeo said. He blamed Syrian forces for the escalation of violence in Idlib province, in the country’s northwest. According to Pompeo, a mortar bomb attack on 3 February hit Turkish…

A growing number of US troops diagnosed with varying degrees of brain trauma from the January 8 missiles strikes conducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are eligible for the Purple Heart service award, according to the Department of Defense. Speaking to reporters during a recent news briefing, Jonathan Hoffman, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, referenced the criteria for service members to be awarded the military’s Purple Heart medal – which recognizes who have been injured or killed in the line of duty. The Pentagon spokesman explained that in the case of traumatic brain injury…