Author: Steven Sahiounie

Last year, top lawyers for Maryland and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump alleging that the president was illegally profiting from foreign and state government visitors to his hotel in downtown Washington. On Thursday, Virginia-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s efforts to end a lawsuit alleging his ownership of a hotel in Washington D.C. violates anti-corruption provisions of the country’s constitution. The case will now return to a judge in Maryland for further proceedings. Trump opened the Trump International Hotel, that is situated on Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the White House, shortly before being…

On Wednesday, US special envoy for Iran Brian Hook warned that the US would force a unilateral “snapback” of all UN sanctions against Iran if the Security Council did not extend its arms embargo, promising that the embargo would remain in place “one way or another.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has accused the US’s top Iran official of making fresh “foolish claims” about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, noting that Washington has no business talking about the terms of an agreement it’s not part of. “Making foolish claims by US officials is nothing new,”…

Top stories in the Russian press on Thursday, May 14, prepared by TASS Izvestia: Ukraine dismayed by EU association deal Kiev seeks to review its association agreement with the European Union, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Vadim Pristaiko said. According to the official, European countries have not opened up their markets for Ukrainian goods while just a minute amount of products are exempt from duties. This is not the first time that Ukrainian officials have voiced their intentions to evaluate ties with Brussels, Izvestia writes. The association agreement between the EU and Ukraine was drafted hastily and as a result the…

James Jeffrey, the US special envoy for Syria and defeating the Islamic State, has made quite a frank confession of how he sees his job and that of US troops there: to create a new Vietnam or Afghanistan for Moscow. “Our military presence, while small, is important for overall calculations. So we urge the Congress, the American people, the president to keep these forces on, but again this isn’t Afghanistan, this isn’t Vietnam, this isn’t a quagmire,” Jeffrey said on Tuesday, during a video event hosted by the Hudson Institute. My job is to make it a quagmire for the…

The Syrian Armed Forces have sent more reinforcements to the Daraa Governorate on Thursday after sending a large convoy overnight. According to a military source in Daraa, the Syrian Army sent more reinforcements from the 4th Armored Division to the outskirts of Tafas, where they are planning to launch a new operation to clear the town of its remaining militants. The source told Al-Masdar that the Syrian Army is preparing to cordon off Tafas and launch a big operation to arrest the remaining militants behind the execution of nine soldiers in the nearby town of Mazrib last week. He added…

The timely production of key components for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation multirole combat aircraft has been put out of whack thanks to US lawmakers’ decision to kick senior development partner Turkey out of the programme, Breaking Defense has reported, citing a fresh report by the Government Accountability Office. According to the spending watchdog, as many as 15 key components for the F-35 once produced in Turkey are currently not “being produced at the needed production rate.” At the same time, the GAO reported that Lockheed has had to scramble to find new suppliers for a whopping 1,005…

The Saudi-backed Yemeni Army managed to score a big advance in southern Yemen on Wednesday after storming the positions of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the Abyan Governorate. According to reports, the Yemeni Army advanced in the Sheikh Salim area in central Abyan, seizing several sites from the STC forces. The Yemeni Army also carried out a deadly ambush in this area, which left many dead and wounded. They would also manage to seize eight vehicles that belonged to the STC forces during this battle on Wednesday. The Saudi-backed troops are now pushing further into Abyan, as they look…

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that Boeing will supply the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with more than a thousand missiles. The Pentagon said that the company will export to Riyadh about 650 SLAM ER missiles and 402 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Riyadh has signed a contract with the company for $ 1.971 billion to develop and transfer 650 SLAM ER missiles to Saudi Arabia. It is noteworthy that the range of these missiles is approximately 270 km, and the deal is expected to be completed by December 2028. As for the export of (Harpoon)…

The Egyptian Armed Forces were able to manufacture the ghostly corvette in the Alexandria Naval Shipyard Company in cooperation with their French allies. Egypt celebrated the inauguration of the first Ghoweind frigate, which was built at Alexandria Shipyard Company in 2018. The French shipyards in Lorient began building the first corvette, which was later called “Sajim Al-Fateh” in April 2015, and it appeared almost a year later in September 2016 in France in the presence of the Commander of the Egyptian Navy, Lieutenant General Osama Rabei, and Egypt received it on September 22, 2017, where it entered service in October…

Syria has emerged “victorious” in the “universal” war which was waged against it, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah said on May 13. “Syria emerged victorious at the end of a universal war. It has survived a scheme which aimed at dividing it. Of course there still are some regions like Idlib that are not liberated but in all Syria has triumphed,” Nasrallah said in a speech, according to the al-Manar TV. The Lebanese leader made his remarks during a televised speech commemorating Hezbollah’s commander Mustafa Badreddine, “Zoulfikar,” who was killed in Syria four years ago. In his speech, Nasrallah touched on…