Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The geopolitical landscape of the Middle East began a profound transformation beginning with the ‘Arab Spring’ in 2011. The current US-Israeli war on Iran is the latest link in the chain of events shaping the region. In the decades after 1948, the Middle Eastern conflict was perceived to be a Palestinian-Israeli conflict over land, human rights and freedom. However, the US and Israel have been successful in the last few decades in shifting the focus away from the Palestinian issue to a fragmented Sunni-Shia divide. Proponents of this view argue that this transformation did…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentatorTurkey is increasingly finding itself involved in a widening regional crisis as tensions linked to the ongoing conflict between Iran, the United States, and Israel continue to escalate. On Friday, March 13, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that NATO air defenses stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran toward Turkish territory. The ministry demanded an explanation from Tehran, marking the third such missile incident since early March.However, the Iranian Embassy in Ankara stated on X, that no projectile had been launched from Iran towards Turkey.NATO later confirmed that its…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On March 8, Iran’s Assembly of Experts announced that Ayatollah Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei has been elected as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, succeeding his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated by a joint U.S.–Israeli military strike on Tehran on February 28. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, assumes the country’s highest authority at a critical moment for Iran. His predecessor and father, Ali Khamenei, led the country for more than three decades after assuming the role in 1989. The elder Khamenei was killed at the age of 86 in Tehran at…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Lebanon has been thrust into the epicenter of a widening regional war begun by the unprovoked attack on Iran carried out by Israel and Iran resulting in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on February 28. Hezbollah, a Lebanese resistance group supported by Iran, began a series of cross-border exchanges, which quickly transformed into a high-stakes military confrontation, marked by Israeli ground incursions, intensive aerial bombardments, and a landmark—yet controversial—decision by the Lebanese government to ban Hezbollah’s military activities. The current wave of Israeli attacks surged after Hezbollah launched a high-profile missile…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On March 3, the American Embassy in Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was hit by a drone, not fired from Iran, but fired from Iraq. Previously, Iraqi militias aligned with Iran had claimed 16 operations using military drones aimed at hitting enemy targets both inside Iraq and beyond. These Iraqi militias follow hardline positions against American allies in the Middle East. The Iraqi militias are standing with their ally Iran, after the unprovoked February 28 attack by the US and Israel on Iran that resulted in the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Saudi Arabia has planned to designate Syria as the primary transit country for the East-to-Mediterranean Data Corridor (EMC), a major fiber-optic cable project linking the Kingdom to Greece and Europe. This marks a significant shift from the original route, which was planned to pass through Israel. The EMC project was announced in 2022 as a partnership involving Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Greece’s Public Power Corporation (PPC), Greek telecommunications firms, and satellite applications companies. Originally, the cable route was designed to pass through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel before reaching Greece. However, normalization talks between…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On February 13, dozens of Palestinians were injured as Israeli settlers carried out attacks across the occupied West Bank, destroying olive trees and vandalizing property. The Israeli military protected the settlers as they wounded about 54 Palestinians in attacks in several towns and villages. Near Talfit, Palestinian farmers were attacked by Israeli settlers south of Nablus in the West Bank. Israeli troops attacked Palestinians with tear gas and live ammunition after some had come to the aid of the farmers. Homes in the village were left with broken windows and cars were left with…

Steven Sahiounie, lournalist and political commentator On February 14, Saad Hariri addressed a crowd of tens of thousands gathered at the Beirut gravesite of his father, Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated exactly 21-years earlier. Saad Hariri announced the return of the Future Movement (Tayyar al-Mustaqbal) in the upcoming parliamentary elections in May, after disbanding the party four-years ago. However, he did not specify if he will run for office. Hariri, a former MP and Prime Minister, has been living abroad since bowing out of the political scene in 2022, which left the Sunni community fractured in parliament, where seats are…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Newly released files related to the late American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein reveal activities that go far beyond his well-documented sexual crimes and relationships with global political and financial elites. According to the documents, Epstein was involved in an organized network that financially supported Israeli military institutions, Zionist organizations, athletes presented as “ambassadors” for Israel, as well as academic and media bodies working to improve Israel’s Image abroad. Was Epstein working as a foreign agent for the State of Israel? An American working as a foreign agent for Israel—or any foreign principal—must report this to…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On February 1, Israel attacked Lebanon with chemical weapons. The Agriculture and Environment Ministries announced the toxic chemical was very high concentration of glyphosate. “The concentration in some samples ranges between twenty and thirty times the normally accepted levels,” they specified in a statement. President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack by Israeli planes, calling it “a flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty, as well as an environmental and health crime against the Lebanese people and their land.” Videos of the planes delivering the chemical attack appeared on TV and social media, while residents witnessed the…