Author: Steven Sahiounie

China is an important player on the global economic stage that cannot be left aside, JPMorgan Asia Pacific CEO Sjoerd Leenart said on Thursday at the 20th annual Global China Summit in Shanghai.

By: Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator When word broke that the Iranian helicopter was thought to have crashed, Saudi Arabia was one of the first nations to offer all help and support to Iran. Ebrahim Raisi, the 8th President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, along with his Foreign Minister and others. Raisi will be remembered foremost as a cleric. He was successful in garnering support from the political circles, as well as the religious ones. He studied Islam at the seminary in Qom, and called himself an ayatollah, which is a title reserved for…

Yemen’s Ansarullah leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has hailed President Ebrahim Raeisi as a “source of honor for the Islamic Ummah and a brave person in defense of Iran and Islamic countries”. “We share the grief of the martyrdom of the President of Iran, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and their comrades,” Houthi said in a televised address on Thursday. President Raeisi lost his life in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran on Sunday along with seven other passengers and crew including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. “Martyr Raeisi was the conveyor of Iran’s position towards the issues of the Islamic Ummah and he…

“President (Gustavo) Petro has given the order that we open the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, the representation of Colombia in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take,” Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo told journalists Thursday according to Reuters. Murillo added he believes more countries will soon begin backing the recognition of a Palestinian state before the United Nations, efforts Colombia has already supported. At the beginning of this month, Petro, who had already recalled the Colombian ambassador from Tel Aviv citing Israel’s massacre of Palestinians, said he would break diplomatic relations with Israel over its actions…

At least three million mourners marched in his home town Mashhad Thursday to bid farewell to President Raeisi, the mega city’s mayor said, following processions in the cities of Tabriz, Qom, Tehran and Birjand. The 63-year-old president lost his life on Sunday alongside his foreign minister and six others after their helicopter went down in the country’s mountainous northwest while heading to inaugurate an upgraded oil refinery unit in Tabriz. The incident engulfed Iran in shock and grief and generated a groundswell of support and solidarity from Muslims and non-Muslims across the world. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali…

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talks with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa will be held today in the Kremlin first with their inner circles and then over an official breakfast, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “First, the president and the king will talk in a small group and then break out into two delegations. This will be in the format of an official breakfast,” the Kremlin spokesman said. The meeting will be held in the Grand Kremlin Palace. As part of the talks, a number of agreements are to be signed. The King of Bahrain arrived in Moscow…

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran will continue to strengthen bonds of friendship with regional states despite the “difficult” loss of President Ebrahim Raeisi. Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who was visiting Tehran to honor the late president, whom the Leader described as a “polyhistor.” The Leader expressed gratitude for Qatar’s condolences and emphasized the importance of advancing collaborative relationship between Iran and Qatar. Ayatollah Khamenei said countries in the region have no option but to unite in the face of adversarial efforts to disrupt stability and peace in the region.…

Following the ICJ hearing held earlier this month on South Africa’s latest provisional measures request, the court will announce its decision tomorrow. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced today in a press release that it will deliver its order on the request for the “modification” and “the indication of provisional measures” submitted by South Africa on May 10 in its case against “Israel”. The court posted on X that Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the court, will read out the order in a hearing set to happen at 3 pm at the Peace Palace in The Hague. An overview by…

The attendees discussed the political, social, and military conditions in Gaza, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and the role of the Axis of Resistance.  A meeting was held between a group of Resistance factions and the chief of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami and the IRGC Quds Force Commander Brigadier General Esmail Qaani on the sidelines of the funeral ceremony for the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Tehran reported. The Resistance factions comprised Hamas, the Islamic Jihad Movement, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hezbollah, Ansar Allah in…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has left an entry in the book of condolences at the Iranian Embassy in Moscow over the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and that country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash. “I am deeply saddened by the news of the tragic death of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other Iranian statesmen in a helicopter crash,” Lavrov wrote, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s said on Telegram. The Russian minister noted that he recalls with warmth the meetings with the Iranian president and foreign minister. “They were true patriots of their country and…