Author: Steven Sahiounie

The deployment of a Japanese Navy vessel to the Middle East reportedly comes after approval was sought by Tokyo in a careful bid to keep a delicate balance to avoid poor relations with Washington while maintaining ties with Tehran. JMSDF Takanami-class destroyer JS Takanami DD-110 has left Yokosuka Base and is heading toward the Middle East, according to an order from the Japanese Self-Defence Forces (SDF), the 47News media outlet said Sunday. ​According to the media report, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was present at the departure ceremony and addressed the public on the high importance of this navy mission.…

Drones downed on Sunday near Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in Syria were launched from the Idlib de-escalation zone, Maj. Gen. Yuri Borenkov, the commander of the Russian Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, said. “On 1 February, at about 11 p.m. Moscow time [20:00 GMT], Russian Hmeimim airbase airspace control means discovered unmanned aerial vehicles launched from an area of the Idlib de-escalation zone under the control of illegal armed units. Means of electronic warfare of the airbase intercepting and disabled all UAVs by disrupting their control systems”, the message read. No casualties and damage have been registered at the base after the attack,…

“Israel” has reportedly been supplying natural gas to Egypt since late 2019. A supply line was attacked late on Sunday in the Sinai Peninsula, according to reports. There has been no information on casualties. “Tel Aviv” has confirmed that there was attempted sabotage of the pipeline, the Israeli energy minister, Yuval Steinitz, told reporters, adding that the gas supply remains unaffected and a probe has been launched. “At this time, the natural gas is flowing from Israel to Egypt. The matter of the explosion, as it was, was examined by the ministry in coordination with all relevant parties”, Steinitz said,…

The United Kingdom has officially left the European Union after 47 years of membership, in a step cast by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the dawn of new era. Britain formally withdrew from the EU at 23:00 GMT on Friday, marking by both celebrations and anti-Brexit protests. Thousands of Brexit supporters gathered outside the British parliament to celebrate the country’s departure from the EU after more than three years of wrangling. London’s Parliament Square was lined with national flags, and government buildings were lit up in the red, white and blue of the Union Jack. Candlelit vigils were held…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned all options, including the most extreme ones, are on the table over the Syrian Army offensive against militants in Idlib province that may lead to more refugees crossing the border. “We will not watch the situation in Syria… We will not hesitate to do whatever it takes, including using military force,” Erdogan said on Friday in Ankara. He claimed that attacks cause an influx of migrants into Turkey. We will do what is necessary when someone is threatening our soil. We will have no choice but to resort to the same path again if the situation in Idlib…

the so-called Syrian National Army (SNA) launched a large attack from Turkish-occupied areas in northern Aleppo. The surprise attack targeted the towns of Kharabishah, Tell Rahhal and the Sha’alah RADAR Base. Within a few hours, the three areas were captured by Turkish a few hours. SNA sources said the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) lost equipment and personnel as a result of the attack. Furthermore, the sources alleged that a position of the Russian Military Police was overrun by Turkish-backed militants. The militants’ victory, however, didn’t last for long. The SAA backed by units of the Kurdish Afrin Liberation Forces (ALF)…

By Steve Brown Whether the CIA’s “Prince of Darkness” Mike D’Andrea was truly killed by the Taliban on Monday is irrelevant as far as the Agency is concerned. Such folks are plenty expendable with many more wannabe Ayatollah Mike’s out there willing to take his place. Under-employed Agency contract assassins hired in the name of hedge fund hubris are far more plentiful within and without the beltway than the faceless US-State bureaucrats who own them. Not a surprise. Not surprising too are the semi-denials from the western media concerning the downed CIA Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN). That’s militarist waste-speak for a spook shop in the…

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces says they targeted airports in southern Saudi Arabia and facilities belonging to Aramco oil giant over the past week in reprisal for the Riyadh regime’s air raids on the impoverished country. Speaking at a press conference in Sana’a on Wednesday, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said Yemeni fighters launched 26 rocket attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan, Abha and Najran regions as well as Khamis Mushait base, Aramco company and sensitive sites inside the kingdom on January 25-30. The airports hit in the Yemeni operation are used by the enemy for military purposes, he added. “The command’s instructions were…

The spokesman for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has said that Washington’s alleged numbers of “brain injuries” in its troops following the Iranian retaliatory missile strike on the Ain al-Assad airbase represent the number of dead troops. “We conclude that what the United States announces to be related to brain injuries from the attack on Ain al-Assad to be a metaphor for dead US troops,” Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif wrote for Iran’s Vatan-e-Emrooz daily on Saturday. “I believe that that the term ‘brain trauma’, whether mild, moderate or severe, reflects the number of dead, which they hesitate to formally announce,” he said.…

The Syrian army has retaken control of two villages in the eastern countryside of the northwestern Idlib Province as part of an operation to liberate the last major terrorist-held territory in the Arab country. Syria’s official SANA news agency reported on Saturday that army units had engaged in fierce clashes with foreign-backed Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists in Louf and Qamhana villages near the city of Saraqib. The Syrian forces, it added, finally recaptured the two villages and inflicted heavy losses on the Takfiri elements in terms of their personnel and equipment. Idlib and the area north of Aleppo Province form part of the…