Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

Tensions between the US and Iran are beginning to put the world on edge with the collapse of relations since the election of Donald Trump in 2016 culminating in the assassination of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. A British admiral has warned that a potential US invasion of Iran would be comparable to the invasion of Germany in World War 2. Admiral Lord West said that the situation with Iran is “highly dangerous” following the assassination of Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani by the US in Iraq on Friday. West told the Daily Star Online that he believes it is “highly likely” that Iran…

Earlier in the day, three separate incidents took place in which rockets were fired in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, reportedly injuring at least five people as the Pentagon has purportedly continued attacking certain Iraqi military installations. An airstrike on the Iraqi-Syrian border and inside Syrian territory was reported by Al-Mayadeen, citing sources that claimed that forces deployed at the border posted a security alert. ​Local media claim, citing sources, that the most recent airstrikes have targeted installations of Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah militia in Al-Qaim region on the Iraqi-Syrian border. ​Unconfirmed reports claim that at least 5 people were killed in the US strike targeting “Imam…

Tensions are running high in the Middle East as Iran promised a decisive retaliation against the United States following the killing of Iranian top military official Qasem Soleimani. Two Katyusha rockets have hit the country’s Balad Air Base north of Baghdad hosting US forces, Reuters reported citing security sources. There are no immediate reports of casualties. ​Reuters previously cited the local police as saying that a rocket of the same type landed inside the Green Zone’s Celebrations Square near the US Embassy in Baghdad, causing no casualties. According to al Arabiya broadcaster, the road leading to the US Embassy was closed…

By Elijah J. Magnier The US did not plan to kill the vice commander of the Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi brigade Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes when it assassinated Iranian Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani on Thursday at 11:00 PM local time at Baghdad airport. Usually, when Soleimani was arriving in Baghdad, security commander Abu Zeinab al-Lami, a deputy officer to al Muhandes, would have welcomed him. This time, al-Lami was outside Iraq and al-Muhandes replaced him. The US plan was to assassinate an Iranian General on Iraqi soil, not to kill a high-ranking Iraqi officer. By killing al-Muhandes, the US violated its treaty…

By Elizabeth McLaughlin The Pentagon is deploying roughly 3,500 more troops to the Middle East in response to rising tensions in the region with Iran and one day after a U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian military commander. The soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division could leave Fort Bragg in North Carolina for the Middle East as early as this weekend, two U.S. officials told ABC News. One official indicated the troops could be stationed in Kuwait, where 750 soldiers from the same brigade were deployed on Tuesday following violent protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The decision to deploy additional…

Steven Sahiounie, political commentator Qasem Soleimani was assassinated last night in Baghdad by a drone strike ordered by President Trump. The Iranian Commander of the ‘Quds Force’ was killed alongside the leader of the Iraqi ‘Popular Mobilization Forces’, Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, aka Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, along with at least 6 persons. Regional leaders and analysts feel that Trump has crossed a ‘red-line’ by killing such a high-level Iranian official. This may illicit a comparable attack on a US official of equal stature. This decision by Trump is unprecedented, and many feel demonstrates his chaotic Middle East foreign policy. Defense Secretary…