Author: Steven Sahiounie

By Nauman Sadiq In response to Washington unilaterally cancelling the Iran nuclear deal and imposing sanctions on Iran, Tehran has announced on Tuesday that it will begin injecting uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges at Fordow nuclear facility. Though like the previous retaliatory measures taken by the Hassan Rouhani government, this step too is reversible. Donald Trump has repeatedly said during the last three years that the Iran nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration in 2015 was an “unfair deal” that gave concessions to Iran without giving anything in return to the US. Unfortunately, there is a grain of truth in Trump’s…

A trade war between the world’s top two economies cut US imports of Chinese goods by more than a quarter, or $35 billion, in the first half of this year and drove up prices for American consumers, a UN study showed on Tuesday. Beijing and Washington have been locked in a trade feud for the past 16 months although there are hopes that an initial deal offering some relief may be signed this month. If that fails, nearly all Chinese goods imports into the United States – worth more than $500 billion – could be affected. US imports from China…

Two months ago, Iran opted to refuse to fulfill another part of the nuclear deal’s obligations, giving its member states ⁠— the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China ⁠— another 60 days for its rehabilitation in an attempt to protect Tehran’s interests, which expire on 5 November. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is expected to announce the fourth stage of nuclear obligations’ reduction. The immediate details of the measures involved and the contents are not yet known, but the spokesman for Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi has previously stated that Tehran did not have many options that fit…

Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition in the skies over the kingdom’s southern border region of Najran, in retaliation for the alliance’s military aggression against their conflict-stricken country. The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, wrote in a post published on his Twitter page that Yemeni forces and their allies shot down the drone over al-Sawh area of the region, situated 844 kilometers (524 miles) south of the capital Riyadh, on Tuesday morning. He added that Yemeni army forces and Popular Committees fighters targeted the unmanned aerial…

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran gives a response to the United States’ policy of pursuing “economic terrorism” and “blackmail” in a way quite opposite of what US President Donald Trump was led to believe. Zarif made the remarks in a tweet on Tuesday after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the country will start injecting uranium gas into centrifuges at the Fordow enrichment facility on Wednesday, in the fourth step Tehran is taking away from the multinational nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in response to the United States’ withdrawal. In a speech…

By Scott Ritter In the past month, the name and image of General Mazloum Adbi, the commander of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, has become well known to Americans. The decision by President Trump to precipitously withdraw U.S. forces from northeastern Syria, thereby greenlighting a Turkish military incursion which targeted Mazloum and his forces, prompted a widespread discussion about the American “abandonment” of its Kurdish allies, and General Mazloum quickly became the face of the Kurds. After the targeted killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, by elite commandos from the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), General Mazloum’s status as a heroic figure was cemented,…

By Nauman Sadiq During the Soviet-Afghan conflict from 1979 to 1988 between the capitalist and communist blocs, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab States took the side of the former because the Soviet Union and the Central Asian states produced more energy and consumed less. Thus, the Soviet bloc was the net exporter of energy, whereas the capitalist bloc led by Washington was the net importer of energy. It suited the economic interests of the oil-rich Gulf countries to maintain and strengthen a supplier-consumer relationship with the capitalist bloc. Now the BRICS countries are equally hungry for the Middle East’s energy,…

President Donald Trump stressed last month that the American military will retain control of Syria’s oil, adding that some US troops will be withdrawn, as US allies will secure the Syrian border. The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed on Tuesday that the US decision to establish military bases in the country to “secure” the Syrian oil fields is illegitimate, as doing so violates international law. “Any actions that aim to bolster the illegal military presence of the United States [in Syria] go against the international law and are unacceptable from our point of view”, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin told reporters. American troops…

ISIS militants are fleeing Syria and moving to ungoverned areas in northern Iraq, media reported, citing US military and commanders of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the region, who also hinted at the threat of the re-emergence of the self-proclaimed “caliphate.” According to the NBC broadcaster, militants have moved to a valley that is controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces on one side and by the Iraqi Armed Forces on the other. The militants are reportedly moving to uncontrolled areas between the two sides. “They have some tunnels, they have some caves. And they are moving — especially at night,” Gen. Sirwan…

Protesters blocked roads in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon on Monday, continuing the wave of demonstrations that have immobilized the country since mid-October. The protest is effectively a sequel of Sunday evening’s anti-government demonstration that saw tens of thousands of Lebanese streaming into capital’s main square following a smaller rally earlier in the day in support of President Aoun. The protesters called for a general strike Monday and for a rapid formation of government following Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation last week. Unprecedented demonstrations have gripped Lebanon since October 17, demanding an overhaul of political leadership deemed corrupt and…