Author: Steven Sahiounie

By Pepe Escobar Afghanistan was bombed and invaded because of 9/11. I was there from the start, even before 9/11. On August 20, 2001, I interviewed commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, the “Lion of the Panjshir,” who told me about an “unholy alliance” of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the ISI (Pakistani intel). Back in Peshawar, I learned that something really big was coming: my article was published by Asia Times on August 30. Commander Massoud was killed on September 9: I received a terse email from a Panjshir source, only stating, “the commander has been shot.” Two days later, 9/11 happened. And yet, the day before,…

By Andrew Korybko Chinese-Indian relations are worsening after reckless statements by the latter’s media and officials, proving that ties between the two Asian Great Powers are much shakier than either side publicly acknowledges and thus raising the risk that President Xi’s unconfirmed visit to the South Asian state next month might not happen at all if this worrying trend isn’t reversed. CGTN opinion editor Huang Jiyuan published a thought-provoking piece earlier this week titled “Is this a turning point in India’s foreign policy towards China?“, which raised awareness about worsening Chinese-Indian relations as a result of the latter’s recklessness. The…

Sarah Abed, independent journalist and analyst On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump finally fired his third national security advisor, John Bolton after eighteen long and grueling months. John happens to be the thirty-fifth member of Trump’s revolving door administration to get fired or resign, since he took office in 2016. Bolton gives a different version of events but regardless of whether he was fired or resigned, Bolton is not in a powerful position anymore (and hopefully nevermore), and the world is a better place for it. Now some might think is an overly optimistic way to look at things and that his…

By Elijah J. Magnier French President Emmanuel Macron failed to promote successfully his Iranian initiative with the US administration despite the initial blessing of his US counterpart. This failure led Iran to make a third gradual withdrawal from its JCPOA nuclear deal commitment, raising two main issues. Iran has become a regional power to be reckoned with, so we can now scrap from reactions to its policies the words “submit,” or “bow to the international community”. Moreover, since Europe is apparently no longer in a position to fulfil its commitments, Iran will now be headed towards a total pull-out following further gradual…

A number of Syrian families who had been displaced due to terrorist acts returned home on Wednesday coming from Azraq Camp in Jordan via Nassib border crossing with Jordan. bodies concerned provided all the facilitations for receiving the displaced returnees, including buses, ambulance, and medical services. The returnees, numbered 27400 since the re-opening of the border crossing on October 15th, returned to Syria, using temporary passage tickets, head of the Immigration and Passports department at Nassib crossing Mazen Ghandour said.

Washington should give up its policy of aggression toward Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said. His remarks come hours after outspoken regime-change connoisseur John Bolton stepped down as national security adviser. During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rouhani pressed the US to “abandon warmongering and its maximum pressure policy” on Iran, and warned that failing to reverse course would further degrade Tehran’s commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif made similar calls for a US policy U-turn, tweeting on Wednesday that Washington’s “thirst for war” should end with the departure of its “warmonger-in-chief” Bolton. A government spokesman said after the…

Jordan’s house speaker said on Wednesday that a pledge by “Israel’s” prime minister to annex a key part of the occupied West Bank if re-elected could put its peace treaty with Israel “at stake,” AFP has said. The house of representatives “confirms that dealing with this occupier requires a new path that would place the peace treaty at stake,” Atef al-Tawarneh warned, according to Petra news agency. He also accused Israel of having “studiously broken all international treaties and [UN] resolutions.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to extend Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea –which account…

Moscow and Beijing are working on a new way to cut their reliance on the greenback, as Russia plans to issue its first yuan-denominated bond, which may help the two in skirting US tariffs and sanctions. The yuan bonds are expected to be issued by the end of the year or early next year, marking the first time that Russia issues its sovereign debt in the Chinese currency, officially called renminbi. While the two trade partners have been planning the move since 2016, it has been postponed several times. Now the global political landscape has changed for both Russia and…

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), known as Hashd Shaabi and comprised predominantly of Shia militias, on Wednesday claimed to have shot down a drone in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala. Earlier in the day, the PMF said it struck a drone flying over its headquarters in the province of Saladin, near Baghdad. “The tactical group of Hashd Shaabi’s 26th brigade deployed in the operational center in Diyala in the district of Kanaan managed to shoot down a drone, which was attempting to attack the Iraqi army,” the statement read. In August, the PMF accused the US-led international coalition, which operates in…

North Korea has launched several unidentified projectiles toward the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) on Tuesday. According to the South Korean military, the projectiles were fired eastward, from an inland area in the South Pyongan Province in North Korea’s west, TASS reports. The type of the projectiles and their range is yet unknown. “Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture,” the agency quoted JCS as saying in a statement. In turn, Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the two missiles did…