Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, Middle East observer The attack Two oil refineries belonging to Saudi Aramco, Abqaiq, and Khurais, were attacked by drones and missiles on September 14, with damage so severe that the country’s crude output was essentially cut in half. Dozens of drones and missiles flew low to the ground on their way to cutting into the heart of the Saudi oil industry. The Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attacks and have presented their evidence in a televised press briefing; however, Saudi and US officials have claimed Iran is responsible. Saudi Arabia and the US…

The day before, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the attacks on two oil refineries in Saudi Arabia were “an Iranian attack” that was an “act of war.” Despite blaming Iran for the latest attacks on the Saudi Aramco oil facilities, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that he would prefer to see a “peaceful solution” to the crisis in the region. “We’d like a peaceful resolution. I hope the Islamic Republic of Iran sees it the same way,” he said after meeting with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates. Speaking further Pompeo said that…

BY TIM ANDERSON Despite Washington’s best efforts to isolate and destroy Syria, trade unionists have led a breakthrough in international solidarity with the independent nation. A two-day trade union conference in Damascus (8-9 September 2019) focussed on building international solidarity to resist foreign aggression, including economic war. More than 200 delegates from more than 40 countries, and from about 90 organizations, participated. Most were from the Arab and African regions, but notable was the presence of dozens of unionists and labor organizers from Europe and North America. The Third International Trade Union Forum conference was organized by Syria’s General Federation of…

India has bought military hardware worth $14.5 billion from Russia including Air Defense System Igla-S. India has released $14.5 billion payment to Russia for buying weapons and other military equipment. Major buying of India from Russia now includes state of the art S-400 systems and portable Air Defense System Igla-S. First S-400 Air Defence Unit will reach India by year 2020. The Igla-S man-portable air defence missile system (MANPADS) is designed to engage all types of visually observable aircraft and helicopters as well as pinpoint air targets like cruise missiles and unmanned air vehicles, both head-on and receding, at any…

Russia has called on all countries of the Persian Gulf region to sit down for talks to ease tensions triggered by recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, calling accusations that Iran was behind the raids “unsubstantiated.” “All the [Persian] Gulf countries and their partners both in region and outside must sit down for talks and start to defuse the tensions,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the capital, Moscow, on Thursday. Those states, he said, must “take easy steps through trust, transparency, mutual invitations to military events and other [events], which can help understand that it is necessary…

A report in the American newspaper the Wall Street Journal shows that Saudi Arabia has moved to import oil from neighboring Iraq to cover for lost production that came following attacks on crude processing installations east of the country. The WSJ said on Thursday that Saudis had demanded for as much as 20 million barrels of Iraq’s crude mainly for oil supplies for the kingdom’s domestic refineries. Sources within the global oil trade told the newspaper that it was absolutely critical for Riyadh to keep its position as the number one exporter of oil in the world despite Saturday attacks…

By Pepe Escobar We are the Houthis and we’re coming to town. With the spectacular attack on Abqaiq, Yemen’s Houthis have overturned the geopolitical chessboard in Southwest Asia – going as far as introducing a whole new dimension: the distinct possibility of investing in a push to drive the House of Saud out of power. Blowback is a bitch. Houthis – Zaidi Shiites from northern Yemen – and Wahhabis have been at each other’s throats for ages. This book is absolutely essential to understand the mind-boggling complexity of Houthi tribes; as a bonus, it places the turmoil in southern Arabian lands way beyond a…

Iran’s retaliation to any military attack will not be “limited to its source,” Tehran said in an official note to Washington, semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday. The note was sent to the United States via the Swiss embassy. Iran has reiterated that it was not behind recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. Tehran has also warned that any move by the US against Iran “will get immediate reaction,” the report said. Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said Tehran had no involvement in the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil installations, the Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.

The Chinese tech company Huawei said on Wednesday that it will offer more than $1 billion in investment over the next five years to attract global developers. The offer is part of the company’s broader computing strategy, which includes investing in basic research around its products to support new technology such as artificial intelligence. The firm also said it will make its hardware and software more readily available to its customers and partners. Huawei announced its developer program four years ago. The company says it has supported more than 1.3 million developers since then, as well as 14,000 independent software…

Earlier in the day, Saudi ambassador to London Prince Khalid bin Bander bin Sultan Al Saud said that the recent attack on the kingdom’s oil facilities was “almost certainly” backed by Iran. On Wednesday, the Saudi Defence Ministry organised a news conference to show journalists what it describes as an Iranian cruise missile and Delta Wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). “The investigation has shown that the drone’s type is Delta Wing, and the information obtained by the ministry indicates the drone’s technology is Iranian,” the department’s spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said. Speaking at the conference, the official said that the attack…