Author: Steven Sahiounie

By: David Stockman By the twisted logic of Imperial Washington you could say the Iranians were asking for it. After all, they had the nerve to locate their country right in the middle of 35 U.S. military bases! Then again, your saner angels may ask: What in the hell is Washington doing with a massive military footprint in a region and in a string of backwater countries that have virtually no bearing on homeland security, safety and liberty? Djibouti? Oman? Kyrgyzstan? Uzbekistan? Afghanistan? Bahrain? Kuwait? And, yes, Iraq and Iran? In fact, Washington destroyed the former for no good reason…

US stock indices fell the day after Washington’s assassination of a top Iranian general, precipitating an international crisis that could lead to a shooting war. However, the stocks of US defense contractors soared. As the closing bell rang at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, the Dow Jones registered a 233.92-point drop, while the S&P 500 fell by 23 points and the Nasdaq by 71.42 points. Late Thursday night, the Pentagon confirmed it had assassinated Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in an airstrike at Baghdad airport. The same…

On Friday, a US drone attack killed Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) elite Quds Force in Baghdad, prompting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to state that Tehran will take revenge for what it views to be a terrorist action by Washington. An unnamed US official claimed that Iranian missile forces across the country were on a “heightened state of alert”, noting that the US military have been closely watching for further moves by Tehran, Reuters reported. According to the report, the official said that “it was unclear whether the higher readiness level was defensive in…

The dramatic move to expel US troops followed nearly two weeks of violence and escalations which culminated in the US assassination of a senior Iranian military commander on Iraqi soil. Iraq’s parliament was convened for an extraordinary session on Sunday, voting to terminate the operation of the US-led coalition against Daesh (ISIS),* and passing a resolution demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military personnel stationed in the country, including an estimated 5,000 US troops. Here’s what the move means in practice: US troops were originally withdrawn from Iraq in late 2011, in accordance with the 2008 status of forces agreement and ‘Strategic…

The U.S. should be awaiting attacks on its assets in European states in response to the assassination of Iran’s Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on January 5. In an interview with the Tehran-based al-Alam TV, Brig. Gen. Yadollah Javani also revealed that Syria, a key ally of Iran, will play a role in the response to the killing of Solimani. “The response to the assassination of General Soleimani and revenge against America will be strong in the right time and place,” the commander said, adding…

Earlier on Sunday, about 50 members of the UK’s Special Air Service (SAS) were sent to Iraq to help with the potential evacuation of Britons following Friday’s US drone strike which killed Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s elite Quds Force. A UK Royal Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine will be “in position to strike Iran” if the current tensions between Tehran and Washington over the killing of an Iranian general result in a full-fledged armed conflict, The Sun reports . The newspaper cited unnamed senior UK defence sources as saying that an Astute-class hunter-killer sub armed with Tomahawk cruise…

The response to the assassination of Iran’s Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Soleimani will be the expulsion of U.S. forces from the Middle East, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said on January 5. The Lebanese leader said in a memorial service for Soleimani and his comrades, who were killed in U.S. airstrikes on Baghdad airport earlier this week, that the U.S. will leave the region “humiliated” . “We are neither angered nor afraid, but we consider that there is a chance to get rid of the US occupation and hegemony,” al-Manar quoted Nasrallah as saying. Nasrallah said that U.S. forces, warships…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed on January 5 that Turkish military units had started moving to Libya to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) and provide “stability.” In an interview with CNN Turk, Erdogan said that several units will be deployed in Libya, but with no Turkish soldiers fighting. According to the Turkish President, senior Turkish military personnel will be coordinating operations in the Arab country. A headquarters for the Turkish Armed Forces will also be established there. “Turkey and Libya could work with international companies to search for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean,” al-Arabia quoted…

35 U.S. targets in the Middle East and “Tel Aviv” are within the reach of Iranian forces, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander said on January 4, stressing that the US and Israel must be in a constant state of panic following the assassination of Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani. Gen. Gholamali Abuhamzeh, IRGC commander in the southern province of Kerman, said that Iran reserved the right to take revenge against the U.S. for the death of Maj. Gen. Soleimani, the former commander of the al-Quds Force. “The Strait of Hormuz is a vital point for the West and…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies resumed on January 4 their strikes on the southeastern Idlib countryside, where a ground operation was launched last month. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the SAA artillery and rocket launchers struck terrorists’ positions in cities of Ma`arat al-Nu`man and Saraqib as well as the nearby towns of Ma’ar Shoreen, Ma’ar Shamshah and Talmenes. “The strikes eliminated a number of terrorists, injured others and destroyed their weapons and ammunition,” the SANA’s reporter said. The Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) and the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) also resumed their airstrikes on…