Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, Middle East observer Erdogan demands a nuke Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated he refuses to accept that Turkey cannot acquire a nuclear weapon, apparently forgetting that Turkey is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.  He held up the example of his regional neighbor, Israel, and the fact they have multiple nuclear warheads, although they have never officially confirmed ownership.  Idlib is falling The Turkish military and the Turkish backed terrorists aligned with Al Qaeda are failing to hold on to their occupation of Idlib, Syria. The Russian air force and the…

Tehran will provide details on Saturday of its latest scaling back of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal in response to US sanctions, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. Atomic energy organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi will set out the details of Iran’s third cut in its nuclear commitments since May, the report said on Thursday. The previous day, President Hassan Rouhani said that the new steps included abandoning all limits set by the 2015 deal to Iran’s nuclear research and development, AFP said.

terrorist have shelled 21 settlements in the Syrian regions of Aleppo, Latakia, Idlib and Hama in the past 24 hours, Major General Alexey Bakin, chief of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria, told reporters on Wednesday. “On September 3, 26 shellings were registered. Militants from illegal armed groups shelled Benjamin, Sabikiyah in Aleppo province; Ayn al-Qantara, al-Asi, Ardash Daq, Qara Galiyah, Qara Djegez, Saraf, Nahsheba, al-Areym, Mamuhiya in Latakia province; Suqqokiyah, Zaitunah, al-Qasabiyah, Zaitundjiq, Tell al-Maqtwa, Huayn al-Qabir, Adjaz, Tell al-Turki, Sharjah in Idlib province; Ell-Jammasiayah in Hama province,” TASS quoted Bakin as saying. He…

The US state department has confirmed it offered millions of dollars to the captain of an Iranian oil tanker which is at the centre of a diplomatic row. Brian Hook, head of the department’s Iran Action Group, emailed the captain of the Adrian Darya 1 about sailing it somewhere the US could seize it. The vessel was suspected of moving oil to Syria, and was temporarily impounded by UK authorities in Gibraltar in July. It was released last month after Iran gave assurances about its destination. The US justice department, which had tried to block the release, then issued a warrant…

Sarah Abed, independent journalist and analyst The second largest sovereign state in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen, has been ravaged by war, deliberate starvation, and cholera for over four years. A 274 page U.N. report released on Tuesday, highlights the human rights situation including violations and abuses since September 2014. According to the report, which took two years to complete, the United States, France, and Britain may be complicit in war crimes for their involvement in the war in Yemen by not only supplying the weapons being used by the Saudi and United Arab Emirate coalitions, but also providing them with intelligence and…

Yemeni government officials have begun indirect talks with United Arab Emirates-backed southern separatists in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah to end fighting in Aden and other southern provinces, Reuters quoted a Yemeni official as saying on Wednesday. The fight for Yemen’s south has opened a new front in a multi-tiered war and threatens to further fragment Yemen. Government and separatist forces are both part of a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the Houthi group. The separatists, who seek to restore the former South Yemen republic, have seized control of the southern port of…

Berlin sees an increased risk of a no-deal Brexit next month because Britain has so far failed to come up with any suggestions to solve the Irish border question, a German government document shows. In a Brexit briefing to lawmakers, dated last Friday, the German government singled out the lack of alternative proposals, from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on the Irish border issue as the main problem preventing an orderly Brexit, Reuters said. “So far, the British government has not made any concrete proposals,” the document reads. “The likelihood of a disorderly exit of the UK from the EU on 31 October…

The tanker which was earlier detained by Gibraltar authorities over a tip from the US, claiming that the vessel was carrying oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions against Damascus, is now fewer than 10 nautical miles from the shores of Syria, according to intelligence sources, cited by Fox News. Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously known as Grace 1, has gone dark on maritime tracking resources, transmitting its position for the last time almost a day ago – at 15:53 2 September, Marine Traffic reported. The ship’s last known position was pinpointed to be in the East…

Iran doubts the readiness of participants in the nuclear deal to promptly get back to full compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and for this reason it gives Europe some time to do so, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “Europe has another two-month deadline for negotiations, agreement, and a return to its commitments,” the news agency Mehr quotes President Hassan Rouhani as saying. Rouhani said that in the future Iran would declare a third stage of reducing its commitments under the nuclear deal. “In my opinion, this step is the most important…

The Iranian authorities have decided to release seven crewmembers of the British Stena Impero tanker, including one Russian citizen, spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Iran Andrey Ganenko told TASS on Wednesday. “We can confirm that the Iranian authorities made the decision to free seven crewmembers at the request of the ship-owner company and in accordance with the opinion of the vessel’s captain. One Russian citizen is among those released,” he said. According to the spokesperson, the decision “was made because these seven people can leave the tanker without any ramifications.” “The remaining sixteen people can ensure that the tanker…