Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Army Command – Orientation Directorate issued a statement on Saturday, in which it indicated that through its follow-up on one of the files pertaining to financing of terrorists, the Intelligence Directorate arrested a Syrian national who has been living for a long time in Lebanon and working in the domain of illegal money transfers, by sending money outside Lebanon in favor of one of the terrorist entities. Through the confessions he made about the ways he was transferring money from Lebanon, the Intelligence Directorate managed to identify a group of people (Lebanese and Syrians) working in the field of…

The Russian Ambassador to Iran, Levan Dzhagaryan, sat down for an interview with the Mehr News Agency on Saturday to discuss a number of topics, including Syria and the rumors about Iran, Russia, and Turkey agreeing to remove Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad from power. When asked directly about the claims that Iran, Russia, and Turkey agreed to remove the Syrian President, Dzhagaryan responded: “We are not the countries to decide the future of Syrian people and President Assad. Once again, I would like to confirm our position. The future of President Assad and Syria will be decided by Syrian people…

With Washington’s backing, Israel is planning to move forward on controversial plans to annex a broad swath of the West Bank, particularly the Jordan Valley, as early as this summer. PM Netanyahu last month issued a likely time table of “within two months”. Arab nations, especially in the gulf, have remained uncharacteristically mum about the whole thing as they focus on countering Iran (which has, it should be noted, actually brought Saudi Arabia into a quiet ‘covert’ intelligence sharing relationship with Israel over the past couple years). But Jordan on Friday finally went on the offensive, with King Abdullah telling the German magazine Der Spiegel that Israeli annexation of parts of the…

sources in the Libyan National Army (LNA) claimed that a Turkish unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) was shot down near the al-Wati’ah Air Base in the country’s western part. The sources released footage of the UCAV wreckage burning in a desert area near the air base. Observers identified the UCAV as a Chinese-made Wing Loong II, a type that’s known to be used by the UAE Air Force (UAEAF) and not Turkey. The UAEAF operates Wing Loong II UCAVs from air bases in eastern and central Libya to support the LNA against the Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). GNA supporters…

Saudi Arabia has reportedly asked members of the regime of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi residing in the capital Riyadh to leave and suspended financial support provided to them. The decision comes as slumping oil prices and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have saddled the kingdom with its worst financial crisis in decades. Citing an official with the self-proclaimed Riyadh-backed Hadi government, the Arabi21 news website reported on Friday that Saudi authorities had informed officials and employees in the Yemeni presidency and the prime minister’s office, in addition to a number of ministries, about their decision. The source, who was speaking on condition of…

A government watchdog fired suddenly by Donald Trump was investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said a Democratic lawmaker who accused the president of committing a potentially illegal act of retribution. Trump sacked State Department Inspector General Steve Linick late on Friday in his latest abrupt dismissal of an official tasked with monitoring wrongdoing inside a government agency. Eliot Engel, who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he had learned that Linick had opened an investigation into Pompeo. “Mr. Linick’s firing amid such a probe strongly suggests that this is an unlawful act of retaliation,” the congressman said in…

Iraqi army troops and police forces of Diyala province have launched a joint counterterrorism operation in the eastern parts of the country. In a statement, carried by the Arabic-language al-Masdar news agency, security forces said on Saturday that they had commenced “part of the Diyala Operations Command represented by the 5th Infantry Division of the Iraqi Army and the Diyala Police Directorate are conducting raids in southern Bahriz.” Bahriz is a town in the eastern province of Diyala located about ten kilometers south of Baqubah, the provincial capital, and 40 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The statement added that the goal of…

The United Arab Emirates cabinet minister in charge of foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, has denied media reports claiming Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed has died. “I spoke to Abdullah bin Zayed today, which we do every day. We had a long laugh over the fakes spread by Qatari accounts,” he tweeted on Saturday. ​He wished long life and health to the nation’s top diplomat and said he was praying for “wisdom and reason” for UAE neighbours. The UAE, Bahrain and Egypt tore up diplomatic ties with Qatar in 2017 after Saudi Arabia accused it of condoning terrorism, and blocked Qatari news outlets…

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,”…