Author: Steven Sahiounie

Warplanes of the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) carried out on January 11 morning a series of airstrikes on Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) so-called “security zone” in Idlib’s city center. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the Syrian airstrikes targeted the outskirt of the “Cultural Center” in the city’s center. Several headquarters of al-Qaeda-affiliated HTS are believed to be located in that part of the city. Syrian warplanes also targeted the towns of Khan Assubul, Deir Sunbul, Sarmin, al-Nerab, Binish and the city of Ma`arat al-Nu`man, which are located to the east and south of Idlib’s…

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has repelled a ground attack led by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on its positions in the southeastern Idlib countryside, commander of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria revealed on January 11. In an official statement, Maj. Gen. Yuri Borenkov said that the attack, that targeted the town of Jarjanaz on January 10, was launched from the nearby town of Talmenes. “Up to 200 militants and 30 pickups with large-caliber machine guns were involved in the attack. With point fire from the tanks and artillery of Syrian government forces, the attack was repulsed, the militants…

US President Donald Trump has appealed directly to the protesters in the streets of Iran, wading into the grief and fueling anti-government discontent, after Tehran admitted to have accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jet. “To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage,” Trump wrote both in English and Farsi, addressing the protesters in Iran. “The world is watching,” Trump said in a separate tweet, warning the government of Iran against “another massacre of…

Caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has asked the United States to send a delegation to Iraq to begin preparing for a troop pullout, his office said on Friday. In a phone call late on Thursday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Abdul-Mahdi “requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set the mechanisms to implement parliament’s decision for the secure withdrawal of [foreign] forces from Iraq,” AFP reports. Some 5,200 US soldiers are stationed at bases across Iraq to support local troops preventing a resurgence of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).They make up the bulk of a broader US-led coalition, invited…

Stocks fell on Friday, reversing from an all-time high of 29,000 at the end of a volatile week full of geopolitical concerns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 133.13 points lower, or 0.5% at 28,823.77. Earlier in the session, the 30-stock average broke above 29,000 for the first time ever. The S&P 500 lost 0.3% to end the day at 3,265.35. The Nasdaq Composite also dipped 0.3% to 9,178.86. Boeing shares dropped 1.9% on Friday to lead the Dow lower. The financials and industrials sectors dropped at least 0.7% each to drag down the S&P 500. The major averages, however, posted…

On Friday, two reporters were shot dead in Basra, Iraq by unidentified armed men after filming protests in the country, according to the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory. Ruptly stringer cameraman Saaf Ghali has been killed in Iraq, according to Sputnik and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan. The operator was killed after filming a demonstration in Iraq related to the ongoing US-Iran tensions, Teller Report stated. “In Iraq, unknown armed people killed our stringer cameraman Saaf Ghali. Saaf actively filmed materials for our Ruptly video agency in the region. We will do everything to help his family”, Margarita Simonyan wrote on her Telegram…

US NATO ally Turkey has been increasingly distancing itself from Washington recently over their ongoing row over Ankara’s purchase of Russian air defence systems. Turkey might turn to Russia even more in search of air defence technologies and weapons like S-500s if western countries, specifically the US and France, continue to deny Ankara access to their technologies, Defence News online media outlet reported, citing anonymous Turkish officials. “Any Western reluctance to share technology for political reasons would lead us to look for alternative technologies in countries with which we do not have political problems. Most exclusively including Russia”, a Turkish…

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…