Author: Steven Sahiounie

The presence of Western forces in the Gulf is fueling regional tension, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim said on Monday. “The states of the Gulf can together secure the transit of ships,” he tweeted. Baghdad is seeking to reduce tension in the region “through calm negotiations and the presence of Western forces in the region will increase tension,” the minister said. The statement was in response to efforts by the Trump administration to set up a US-led naval security mission in the Strait of Hormuz. Britain said last week it would join the mission, while no other US allies have committed themselves so far.…

Sarah Abed, independent journalist and analyst After three days of intense negotiations in Ankara, US and Turkish officials reached an agreement on Wednesday to create a joint operations center and set up a safe zone east of the Euphrates in north eastern Syria. Deal details have not yet been disclosed. This last minute deal between Washington and Ankara is in response to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’sannouncement on Sunday that Turkey was prepared to carry out a unilateral cross-border operation to push back Kurdish militias on the Syrian Turkish border east of the Euphrates river, if the Washington didn’t cut ties with the…

The Syrian Arab Army has continued their advance in the southwestern countryside of Idlib tonight, targeting a village located near the Hama border. According to a report from northwestern Syria, the Syrian Arab Army captured the town of Mughar Al-Hamam after advancing east of the Hama Governorate border. The village is located northwest of the town of Al-Hobeit, which is currently under attack by the Syrian Arab Army in the southwestern countryside of the Idlib Governorate. The Syrian Arab Army restarted their offensive in northwestern Syria on Monday after the conditional ceasefire with the militant forces collapsed. Since restarting this…

The UN refugee agency has said fighting over Libya’s capital Tripoli has displaced more than 105,000 people since April, when a Libyan commander launched an offensive to take the city from the UN-backed government. The UNHCR tweeted on Friday that its relief aid could only reach about 2,200 out of 21,000 displaced families. In April, the self-styled Libyan National Army of commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive on Tripoli. Haftar, who is based in eastern Libya, boasts support from key Arab governments, but his military campaign has so far resulted in a stalemated conflict, AP said.

In an exposed attempt to justify its illegitimate military presence in Syria, the US has started to spread a propaganda on the return of Daesh (ISIS) terrorists as a report issued by Inspector General at the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) considered that Daesh terrorist organization is emerging again “in Syria because the US withdrew its forces from there,” and that “it has enhanced its capabilities” in Iraq. The statement, issued by the Pentagon, claimed that ” Despite of its loss of its caliphate on the regional level, yet Daesh organization has enhanced its capabilities in Iraq and it resumed…

By: Lilly Martin My 2 cents. I live in Syria. No one in Syria had any guns unless you were a police officer or a soldier. There were no holdups, no bank robberies, no home invasions, no school shootings, no angry neighbor shootings, no road rage ending with a bullet. The French association of travel agents voted Syria as the SAFEST tourist destination in the entire Mediterranean region (that was about 2000). We had no crime rate. You can’t rob a bank with a kitchen knife, it needs a gun. I always felt safe. I was never afraid. I am originally…

Steven Sahiounie, Middle East observer A recent report issued by the U.S. Pentagon’s Inspector General warns of conditions in Syria and Iraq which potentially could allow for ISIS to spread once again. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had not read the report but recalled the U.S. defeat of ISIS. The report warned of an ISIS goal to create turmoil in areas it had previously lost in Iraq and Syria. The Iraqi government forces have continued to fight terrorism, and have conducted raids in Northern Iraq for ISIS sleeper cells. The military track is not the only way to fight ISIS, which espouses…

Syrian Army units on Thursday established control over al-Sakhir town , Tal al-Sakhir , and Sawam’a al-Jaisat in Hama northern countryside after fierce battles against terrorists , inflicting heavy losses upon them in personnel and weaponry. A military source told the Syrian media that “Our forces operating in Hama northern countryside continue to carry out their combat missions with high efficiency against Jabhat al-Nusra and other armed terrorist organizations positioned in this area.” The source affirmed that our forces managed to destroy the terrorists’ gatherings, and storm their fortified positions and command centers after fierce battles, establishing control over al-Sakhir town , Tal…

The loss of China as the fourth largest market for US agricultural exports has put the already weakened sector in danger of further decline, experts warn, despite billions in federal aid already paid and more promised. Chinese companies have stopped buying US agricultural goods, the Commerce Ministry announced on Monday. While farming exports are not that large a portion of the United States’ annual GDP of $20 trillion, China has until recently been its fourth largest market, behind Canada, Mexico, and Japan. Overall, China accounted for $5.9 billion in US agriculture exports in 2018, according to the US Census Bureau. Its loss…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday claimed that the United States was attempting to starve the Iranian people by tightening economic sanctions against Tehran. “Terrorism is not only an armed attack on citizens, starvation of 82 million Iranians is also a form of terrorism,” Zarif said, aired by the Iranian television. He also added that the United States’ sanctions on Iran forced it to rely on its own people to produce the weapons they needed. In late July, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Zarif as part of its maximum pressure policy on Iran amid escalating tensions between the two countries. The sanctions…