Author: Steven Sahiounie

Black boxes of a plane that crashed in Iran will be deciphered in Ukraine, while French experts will participate in the technical work, France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) said on Saturday. BEA added communication and the investigation progress was the responsibility of Iran’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. Earlier on Saturday, Tehran admitted that the Ukrainian plane had been mistaken for a cruise missile and was unintentionally shot down by the Iranian military as they were waiting for a possible retaliatory attack from the United States. According to the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic…

Earlier, the Libyan National Army (LNA) welcomed the ceasefire initiative by Russia and Turkey, but added that the LNA would continue the fight for Tripoli. The Libyan National Army led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar declared a ceasefire in western Libya starting midnight local time on January 12, the LNA spokesman said. “The main command of the LNA announces a ceasefire from 00.00 local time [22:00 GMT] on January 12 in the west of the country, the other side [Government of National Accord (GNA)] must also adhere to this truce. In case of violation, there will be a harsh response,” LNA spokesman Ahmed…

Steven Sahiounie, political commentator Iranian forces launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases housing US troops in Iraq early hours of Wednesday morning. The al-Asad airbase in western Iraq was hit by 17 missiles, and 5 targeted at a base in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil. No US casualties were immediately reported. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the attack a “slap in the face” of the US, and observers seem to question whether the attack was designed to kill or inflict casualties, or was it carefully orchestrated to produce a closure to a…

The price of crude saw a significant jump following a series of Iranian missile strikes on American bases in Iraq, which also sent US stocks plummeting as concerns of a wider regional war take hold. The attack on Tuesday night drove the US oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude, to gain some 3.4 percent, while Brent crude is up similarly, by over 3.5 percent. The Dow Jones, meanwhile, took a hit, dropping by nearly 120 points, as the S&P 500 and NASDAQ also struggled, losing 9.1 and 2.8 points respectively. The Asian stock market also reacted to the news, with Hong Kong’s…

The US public must persuade Donald Trump to withdraw American troops from Iraq or become the target of retaliation, Iraqi militias, whose commander was killed in the airstrike on Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, warned. The deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was among the Iranian and Iraqi officials killed in a US operation in Baghdad on Friday. And PMF, which unites some 40 militias and has around 150,000 members, promised that they won’t let American “criminals” get away with murder. “All retaliation options are on the table… no red lines shall hinder our revenge,” Jawad Al Telbawi, a…

Iran fired a slew of missiles at US bases in Iraq, fulfilling its promise to avenge the death of its top general. Will both sides stop where they are, or are we witnessing the calm before an all-out storm?  Two waves of Iranian missiles rained down overnight on two military installations housing US and coalition troops, one in Al-Asad and one in Erbil. The strikes were heavy on symbolism, with Iranian leadership making sure that the US gets the message right. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the attack – codenamed ‘Martyr Soleimani’ after the slain commander of Iran’s clandestine…

The Turkish Defence Ministry has given no further details as to the exact area of the explosion or who is responsible for the attack. On Wednesday, four Turkish servicemen were killed in a car explosion in the north of Syria, the AFP news outlet reported, citing Turkey’s Ministry of Defence. According to AFP, the soldiers were killed on road patrol in the region where Operation Peace Spring had taken place last October. On 9 October 2019, Turkey conducted a military incursion, dubbed Operation Peace Spring, into Syrian border areas controlled by the Kurdish militants. Damascus views the Turkish offensive as a violation of…

The Tripoli-based Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) welcomed the Russian-Turkish statement on the situation in Libya. “The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord followed the meeting between presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin … and the published statement. The Presidential Council is highly assessing and welcomes the efforts of friendly countries, aimed at looking for the solution of the crisis,” the GNA said on late Wednesday in a statement, published on the Facebook page. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on all parties to the conflict in Libya to cease fire…

Two US military bases in Iraq were attacked early on 8 January with Iranian missiles in an act of retaliation for Washington’s operation that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani on 3 January in Baghdad. In his address to the nation, US President Donald Trump said that no US military personnel were hurt in the Iranian missile attack on its bases in Iraq on 8 January, while the bases themselves sustained “minimal” damage. He noted that this was due to precautions that were taken, the “dispersal of forces”, and an early warning system. The POTUS further announced that the US would impose “new powerful…

The CNN report about “government destroying Uygur cemetery” was apparently biased and partial, the Global Times found, after visiting the “cemetery” mentioned by the CNN. CNN reported last Thursday that “more than 100 Uygur graveyards were demolished by Chinese authorities,” showing satellite images of the Sultanim “cemetery” and jumping to the conclusion that China has been destroying traditional Uygur cemeteries as part of a “campaign to control Islamic beliefs and Muslim minority groups within its border.” The Global Times reporters on Monday visited the Sultanim “cemetery” in Hotan, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and interviewed local residents and officials to reveal the true…