Author: Mideast discourse

By:Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator There is a battle brewing in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. Thousands of Israeli occupation forces will be deployed to face a growing resistance force. The ‘natives are restless’ and the Lions’ Den has mobilized to fight for their freedom and human rights. The Israeli occupation has depended on divisions among the Palestinian factions. However, it has never before faced a unified force of motivated youth who are willing to die for freedom. 500,000 illegal Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank in some 130 settlements. Recently, Israeli forces reported that dozens of settlers…

By:Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes across Syria for many years, and the latest was on October 24 in a rare daytime attack in Damascus.  Israel views Iran as their chief national security threat.  Iran supports the resistance movement against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance group.  When the US-NATO attack on Syria began for ‘regime change’ both Iran and Hezbollah came to the aid of the Syrian government and fought not only the terrorists following Radical Islam, which were used as foot-soldiers by US President Obama, but much later also…

By: Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The US-employed terrorists, Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT), have turned against their partners, the US Army, stationed at al-Tanf base in the eastern Syrian desert.  On October 4, the terrorists, who are employed as mercenaries by the US military, attempted to break out of the illegal US base using a large-caliber machine gun on the pickup truck they were driving.  However, their break out was thwarted by the Syrian Arab Army who hold positions nearby and returned fire causing the MaT to retreat into the US base. Russian Major General Oleg Yegorov, deputy chief of the Russian Center…

The US and other forces in the Middle East have reportedly been put on alert Saudi Arabia has warned US intelligence officials of an imminent attack on its territory from Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. While no details of the intelligence in question was revealed by the newspaper, American, Saudi and allied forces in the Middle East have reportedly been placed on high alert. Iran intends to attack both the Kingdom itself and the Iraqi city of Erbil, where US troops are stationed, the officials told their American counterparts, according to the WSJ. Later on Tuesday, Pentagon…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The 2022 FIFA World Cup is about to open in November in the Islamic principality of Qatar in the oil-rich Persian Gulf. There have been continuing attacks on the government of Qatar from the beginning of the announcement that the tiny nation had been awarded the opportunity to be the first Arab nation to host the 2022 World Cup. The complaints against Qatar have focused on human rights abuses of the migrant workers who have built and maintained the infrastructure in Doha, and the lack of rights for the LBGT community. While football is…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator The presidency of Lebanon’s Michel Aoun is coming to a close and politicians are anticipating a possible power vacuum if a decision cannot be made soon to fill the office. The parliament voted on October 24, but with only a week left to Aoun’s term, some ballots were left blank. Independent MP Michel Mouawad and scholar Issam Khalife both received votes. The next vote was set for October 27 by Speaker of the Parliament, Nabih Berri. Prime Minister Najib Mikati is currently serving as caretaker, and politicians have suggested presidential powers could pass to…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator 13 people were killed and 58 wounded when Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired precision missiles and suicide drones at Kurds near Irbil and Sulaimaniya in northern Iraq on Wednesday morning. The attack was in retaliation after Iranian authorities accused Iranian Kurdish dissidents in Iraq of collaborating with Kurdish protesters in northwest Iran which is home to over 10 million Kurds. The first series of attacks began on Saturday, followed by more on Monday as Iran unleashed a wave of drone and artillery strikes targeting Kurdish positions. Koya, about 65 kilometers east of Irbil, was shelled. …

The sovereignty of Armenia is of value to America, the House speaker claims US House Speaker Nanacy Pelosi blamed Azerbaijan for the current flareup with Armenia and offered security assistance to Yerevan, as she arrived to the Armenian capital on Sunday. Pelosi said her trip was of prime importance in view of the “illegal and deadly attacks by Azerbaijan on Armenian territory.” “We strongly condemn those attacks. This was initiated by the Azeris and there has to be recognition of that,” she insisted. Border clashes erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday, with both sides accusing each other of initiating the violence.…

According to the Border Service, the two countries’ law enforcement agencies “are ensuring public order in border areas and are carrying out joint patrolling” of the motor road linking the Tajik cities of Khudzhand and Kanibadam and Jyrgyz settlement of Arka and Borborduk Additional forces and weapons are being withdrawn from the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in line with the agreements between the two countries, the Border Service of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security said on Sunday. “Under the existing agreements, additional forces and weapons are being withdrawn from the state border to the places of their permanent deployment,” it said.…

Syrian air defense shot down several cruise missiles and guided bombs while repelling the September 17 Israeli aerial attack on the capital, Damascus, Major General Oleg Yegorov, deputy head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, revealed. The attack targeted Damascus international Airport and several other positions to the south of the capital, including an alleged office of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). “Between 00:45 and 00:55 A.M. on September 17, four F-16 tactical fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force launched four cruise missiles and ten guided bombs from Golan at Damascus. Syrian air defense forces on duty shot down two missiles…