Author: Steven Sahiounie

 Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Monday called Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs of the capital of Beirut and the town of Qousaya a “declaration of war”. “Attacks on the suburbs and the Qousaya area violate the 1701 resolution; these attacks allow Lebanon to use the right to protect its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”, Aoun said during a meeting with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis. The president added that the Lebanese people were seeking peace, not war, and “we do not accept that anyone threatens us in any way”. Earlier in the day, Israel reportedly carried out airstrikes against…

BY TIM ANDERSON Having launched hundreds of attacks on Syria, while Damascus was distracted by its anti-terrorism operations, Israel has unleashed a wave of terrorism through drone attacks on Iraq’s popular mobilization forces (Hashd al Shaabi), followed by attacks on Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. In most cases the pretext is ‘Iran’, though Israel has not yet had the courage to mount open attacks on the region’s largest independent state. However, in the past, Mossad has assassinated some of Iran’s nuclear scientists, as detailed in Ronen Bergman’s 2018 book Rise and Kill First. Washington’s state media (Radio Farda) reported Israeli leader Benyamin Netanyahu…

The USA has illegitimately sent a new convoy containing tens of vehicles loading military and logistic equipment to Qamishli city in support of the separatist Qasad militia, which is besieging tens of thousands of civilians in the areas of its spread with a support of the US occupation forces spread in Syrian al-Jazira region. Local sources from Qamishli city monitored the entry of 200 trucks loading military and logistic equipment provided by the US occupation forces to Qasad militia as they were entered illegitimately through the river crossing of Simalka linking Kurdistan region of northern Iraq with Hasaka province. According…

Steven Sahiounie, Middle East observer The U.S. Embassy in Damascus has been closed for 8 years, but their Facebook page is still active. Recently, they posted a direct threat at anyone who might participate in the “Damascus International Fair”, which was founded in 1954 and is the oldest fair of its type in the Middle East. “The United States does not at all encourage businesses or individuals to participate in the #Damascus International Trade Fair on August 28th. …. Businesses or individuals who plan to participate in the Damascus International Trade Fair must be aware that if they make business…

The United States sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East in May in a “clear message” to Iran that any attack on American interests or those of its allies would be met with “unrelenting force” in response to what Washington described as a “number of troubling and escalatory indications”. Since being deployed to the Middle East in May, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has steered clear of both the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway linking Mideast crude producers to key world markets, The New York Times reported. The USS Abraham Lincoln remains…

BY ELIJAH J. MAGNIER An explosion occurred Tuesday at an ammunition storage warehouse used by Iraqi security forces operating under the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) close to the US air and military base in Balad, Salahuddin province, 64 km north of Baghdad. Over a week before, a warehouse at Camp-Sakr used by the Federal Police and PMF in Baghdad city blew up, causing casualties. The vice commander of the PMF Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes accused Israel of being behind the explosions, claiming “four Israeli drones were stationed at the US military base in Iraq, responsible for both explosions”. Israel Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu hinted at the responsibility of…

Earlier in the day, media reported that two Israeli drones crashed near Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut overnight, while one of them exploded in the air. The blast reportedly caused significant damage to the Hezbollah press service’s building and left three people injured. According to other reports, one of the drones was shot down by the Hezbollah movement, while the other one was seized. Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, said on Sunday that the Israeli drone attack is the first dangerous incident and breach of rules between the two countries since August 2006. He went on to say that one…

A digital currency backed by a group of nations is needed to compete with the US dollar, which has reached a level of dominance that poses a barrier to economic growth in much of the world, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said in a speech to fellow central bankers on Friday. “If the share of trade invoiced in SHC [Synthetic Hegemonic Currency] were to rise, shocks in the US would have less potent spillovers through exchange rates, and trade would become less synchronized across countries,” Carney said. In addition, reducing the influence of the US dollar on the global…

By Ahmad Al Khaled The Syrian army has managed to make significant progress in clashes with “opposition” groups in Northwestern Syria, taking the strategically important city of Khan Sheikhoun. The SAA also cut the highway located to the North from the city, blocking supply routes for armed factions. This advance allowed the government troops to besiege such larger towns as al Lataminah, Kafr Zita and Murak. It is expected that surrounded and isolated from supply lines, militants will not be able to fight and will eventually surrender to the army. This sequence of events looks very likely for several reasons. Firstly,…

Last month, the US suggested establishing an international maritime coalition to patrol the Gulf and ‘ensure freedom of navigation’ in the region. As of today, only the UK and Australia have joined the US-led mission. The British Royal Navy is sending a third warship, the Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender, to the Strait of Hormuz to ensure the safe passage of merchant shipping amid growing tensions with Iran. “Wherever the red ensign flies around the world, the UK stands by to protect freedom of navigation whenever is it tested. The men and women of HMS Defender will contribute to the IMSC…