Author: Steven Sahiounie

The first units of the medical special forces arrived at the Russian military police base near Kobane in northern Syria, where they will provide assistance to the local population. Special forces medics arrived near Kobane on a Mi-8 helicopter along with equipment, medicines, dressing materials. According to surgeon Sergey Ponomarev, local residents have not had adequate medical care for a long time. “Chronic diseases are neglected, acute [diseases], respectively, too … We are ready to work here all the way … After some time, the full medical team will arrive. I think we will be able to take about 100…

The Syrian army recaptured four villages in the northern province of Idlib from militants over the past four days, Sputnik correspondent reported on Monday. The Syrian army regained control of the village of Umm Halahil in the southeast of the Idlib province, causing substantial damage to the terrorist group, and also recovered the villages of Dahra-Zarzur and Sir. Over the past day, the military has also recaptured the village of Al Musharrafah in the province’s southeast and taken control of the agricultural areas adjacent to it. As a result of an operation carried out in August, the Syrian military has…

Turkey is set to test its Russian S-400 defense missile system despite repeated warnings from Washington that it could lead to sanctions, Turkish media report. Broadcaster CNN Turk cited the governor’s office in the capital Ankara as saying on Sunday that the Turkish military planes, including F-16 fighter jets, would conduct low- and high-altitude flights over the city on Monday and Tuesday as part of “anti-air defense system tests.” Turkey’s Milliyet newspaper also confirmed that the flights aimed to test the S-400 radar system. Ankara began receiving the S-400s from Russia last July but they are not yet operational. The two countries…

By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich When protests in Hong Kong, Iraq, and Lebanon erupted, I was fully anticipating protests in Iran to follow. In 2018 alone, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) had spent millions of dollars in these countries (and elsewhere) to promote America’s agenda. However, I did not expect unrest in Iran to take place while I was visiting the country. In retrospect, I am glad that I was here to be witness to these latest events. On Thursday, November 21st, friends took me to a very charming Iranian restaurant in the heart of the city. During our lunch, they talked…

BY ERIC ZUESSE Since this news-report is going to be especially harsh regarding today’s Democratic Party in the United States, readers should be aware that until that Party nominated Hillary Clinton in 2016, this writer was, and consistently voted as, a Democrat, and that I have never been, and never could be, a Republican. In no way does this article reflect a Republican viewpoint. It is not partisan — not favoring one person’s viewpoint over any other’s. (Though it does favor trustworthy evidence over untrustworthy hearsay and witnesses, etc.) This article is written by a consistent progressive, which means a person…

Three people were killed as a result of protests in Iraq’s southern city of Nasiriyah, amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations throughout the country, media reported. According to the Al Arabiya news outlet, police forces used firearms to disperse protesters. On Saturday, US Vice President Mike Pence arrived unexpectedly in Iraq and discussed the situation with the Middle Eastern country’s Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi Muntafiki. Nationwide protests are sweeping across Iraq. People demand the ouster of the government, as well as economic reforms, better living conditions, social welfare and an end to corruption. As of now, the death toll from the protests has…

Iraqi border guards along the Iraqi-Syrian frontier have increased security measures to prevent Daesh* terrorists from finding their way into the country, INA reported. According to the INA news agency, Iraq is setting up defence structures along the border in the provinces of Nineveh and Anbar. On Friday, a regional representative of Iraqi Kurdistan, which occupies a part of northern Iraq, said that up to 20,000 Daesh fighters still remained in Iraq and Syria. In early November, the US news outlet NBC said that militants from the Daesh terrorist group, following their defeat in Syria, were moving across the border into northern Iraq to…

The latest round of demonstrations comes in response to a statement by former US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman, who said that “the demonstrations and the reactions to them by Lebanese leaders and institutions fortunately coincide with US interests”. Several dozen Lebanese citizens have over the weekend been protesting near the US Embassy in the capital city of Beirut to express their discontent at what they call US intervention in Lebanon’s internal affairs. The protesters were seen burning US and Israeli flags in front of the embassy. ​The demonstrators were also seen carrying placards that read “USA, mind your own business”…

The leader of Iraq’s Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, which is part of the country’s Popular Mobilization Forces or Hashd al-Sha’abi, says Washington and Tel Aviv are members of “a third party” that has been behind many deaths during the recent unrest. Qais al-Khazali told Dijlah TV, an Amman-based Iraqi satellite television channel, on Saturday that the committee set up to investigate the violence is merely an administrative body, and thus cannot identify the “third party” responsible for the killing of demonstrators. He stressed that “Israel and US have a great role in the third party.” Khazali further said the…

A child was killed and 17 other children were wounded when a landmine, left by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, was detonated in a village in Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, state media say. Syria’s official news agency SANA said that the planted explosive device exploded as children were playing in a schoolyard at al-Taybeh Village on Sunday, adding that the victims were taken to a number of hospitals in the eponymous provincial capital. Dr. Issam al-Arfi, the assistant director of al-Assad Hospital, told SANA that a girl lost her life on the spot and other victims received wounds…