Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, Middle East observer First part of an exclusive 2 part observation President Donald Trump’s July 25th phone call with the President of Ukraine is the subject of an impeachment inquiry. Pres. Trump wanted to know if former Vice President Joe Biden, currently running for President in the 2020 election, could have broken the law in Ukraine. Trump’s questioning of past connections between Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, and the Ukrainian Gas company Hunter Biden worked for were the same questions asked back in 2014 in “Time” magazine by Michael Scherer. Ukraine had a revolution in February 2014,…

The Syrian Arab Air Force unleashed a heavy set of airstrikes over the northeastern countryside of the Latakia Governorate on Saturday. Led by their attack choppers, the Syrian Air Force repeatedly bombed the jihadist rebels around the town of Kabani, inflicting heavy damage on the latter’s defense in the process. According to a military source in the area, the Syrian Air Force also targeted the town of Al-Sirmaniyeh, which is located east of Kabani near the Al-Ghaab Plain. The source also said that the militants misreported the airstrikes over Al-Sirmaniyeh on Friday; he said they claimed the attack was carried…

Since the beginning of the month reserves rose by around $3.6 billion. As of September 1, they amounted to $529.083 billion. Russia managed to increase its bullion and foreign currency stockpiles by more than $64 billion since January, with gold holdings alone surging from around $87 billion to nearly $109.5 billion. Russia has been actively beefing up bullion reserves in line with its goal to cut its reliance on the US dollar and to diversify its foreign exchange reserves. In 2018, Moscow was recognized as the world’s most committed purchaser of gold and is currently the world’s fourth largest reserve…

Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi authorized the major Al Qaim crossing at the Syrian border to be opened on Monday, a representative of the Iraqi border crossing authority said Saturday. “Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi agreed to open Al Qaim checkpoint at the Syrian border on Monday, 30 September”, Alaeddin Qaisi said, quoted by the Alsumaria broadcaster. Al Qaim, also referred to as Al Bukamal (Al Bukamal-Qa’im) Al-Qa’im, located in the western province of Anbar, was one of the last liberated areas during the Iraqi military operation against the Daesh terrorist group in 2017. On the Syrian side it connects with…

By: TiM MURPHY On Friday night, the Washington Post published an absolute bombshell report about President Donald Trump: President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter. You’ve heard about this meeting before, because it was a big deal at the time—that’s the same one where…

The vessel recently left the port of Bandar Abbas where it was being held in custody, but, according to Tehran, it still faces charges of violating maritime rules and causing environmental damage. British-flagged oil tanker the Stena Impero arrived to Dubai after two months of detention in Iran, Reuters reported on Saturday. Seven of the Stena Impero’s 23 crew members were released earlier in September and left the Islamic Republic, while the remaining sailors were told to stay on board so that the ship could leave the port. The Stena Impero was detained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait…

Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters who threw rocks, broke windows and blocked a key road near the local headquarters of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). A series of protests in the Chinese-ruled city for and against Communist Party rulers in Beijing is planned ahead of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic on Tuesday, October 1, including at the consulate of former colonial power Britain. The protesters, many dressed all in black and wearing masks, took cover under umbrellas from the water cannon and fled after the demonstrations had taken a familiar turn…

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces says three Saudi military brigades were completely destroyed after Yemeni Army troops, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, mounted a large-scale military offensive in the kingdom’s southern border region of Najran. Speaking at a press conference in the capital Sana’a on Saturday evening, Brigadier General Yahya Saree described the major and efficient operation, dubbed God’s Victory, as the biggest-ever since Saudi Arabia and some of its allies embarked an atrocious military campaign on Yemen more than four years ago, noting that the offensive lasted several months and inflicted dramatic losses – both in terms…

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem has slammed as “illegal” the military presence of the US and Turkey in northern Syria, demanding an immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from his country. “The United States and Turkey maintain an illegal military presence in northern Syria,” Muallem said in his address to the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on Saturday. “Any foreign forces operating in our territories without our authorization are occupying forces and must withdraw immediately,” he said, asserting, “If they refuse, we have the right to take any and all countermeasures authorized under international law.” The…

The United States’ main mistake in its negotiations with North Korea is that it exerts maximum pressure on Pyongyang but never resorts to positive measures, according to Russia’s permanent representative at international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov. “The US partners have assumed the leading role in the process of negotiations. Their main mistake is they rely exclusively on pressure, while forgetting that some positive incentives should be employed, too, for the sake of success,” TASS quoted him as saying, in Moscow. “Pyongyang has for a long time refrained from tests, from ballistic missile launches, but it has seen no incentives. The…