Middle East

Ex-CIA Agent Says US Wasted Trillions on Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, Achieved Nothing
As the US approaches the completion of its withdrawal from Afghanistan, which should be over by September 11, as well as in light of more and more audible demands from Iraq to withdraw troops from its soil, questions are increasingly emerging about the assessment of the almost 20-year military presence and the success of these operations. The US has squandered trillions of dollars on the [...]
Save
Turkey will not be silent about Israel’s ‘atrocities’, Erdogan tells Palestinian President Abbas
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting on Saturday that he would not be silent about “Israel’s atrocities” in Palestine. According to the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency, Erdogan stressed to Abbas during the meeting that Turkey “did not” and “will not remain silent about Israel's atrocities in Palestine.”  [...]
Save
Lebanon slides closer to complete collapse as Israel fears Hezbollah’s expansion of influence
The country’s economy is cratering, there are shortages of fuel and medicines, and people are going hungry on the streets. Yet what does the West worry most about? Hezbollah helping the starving get food. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab has warned the international community that the country could collapse in days, as even Israel offers aid fearing the expansion of Lebanese H [...]
Save
The failed US war in Afghanistan has sparked a new generation of American anti-interventionist, pro-Putin conservatives
Twenty years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, US and allied troops are finally leaving Afghanistan as the Taliban seem set to return to power. This failure has created a generation of conservatives opposed to US interventionism. This week, when asked whether the US mission in Afghanistan was a failure as American and NATO troops handed over Bagram airfield to the Afghan army, President Joe B [...]
Save
Israel faces change of government as anti-Netanyahu opposition announces agreement
A coalition of Israel’s opposition parties have announced they have reached an unlikely agreement and now have the votes to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving leader. Naftali Bennett, former defense minister for Netanyahu, and opposition leader Yair Lapid will lead the opposition parties under this new agreement that would split power in a “unity gover [...]
Save
Russia Reminds US Its Presence in Syria is Illegal After Washington Charges Moscow With ‘Violations’
Damascus and its allies have repeatedly blasted the US over their illegal occupation of Syrian territory in the country’s south and northeast, and have demanded that all foreign military forces not explicitly invited into the country by the Syrian government vacate the Middle Eastern nation immediately, in accordance with international law. The Russian Embassy in Washington has reminded [...]
Save
It’s Time to Return Incirlik & Kurecik Bases to Turkey, Reconsider Relations With US, Observer Says
Turks have taken to the streets in Istanbul, Ankara, Adana, and other cities to protest against Joe Biden recognising the events of 1915 as an Armenian genocide. The demonstrators called upon the Turkish authorities to end the US military's use of the Incirlik Air Base and Kurecik Radar Station in southern Turkey. "I believe that the time has come to return the bases provided by Turkey t [...]
Save
Turkish Media Account Accuses US of Mass ‘Genocide’ of 84 Million People Amid Armenia Spat
Already shaky relations between the US and its Turkish ally took another turn for the worse last week after Joe Biden formally recognised the actions of the Ottoman Empire against Armenians in the early part of the 20th century as genocide. The move sparked outrage throughout Turkey and demands to leave NATO or kick US troops out of the country. Clash Report, a Twitter and Telegram securi [...]
Save
OPCW chief must ‘find the courage to address’ Douma coverup allegations, says group including 5 senior ex-officials of watchdog
The scandal surrounding alleged manipulation of scientific data in the chemical weapons watchdog the OPCW, ignored by both the organization and the mainstream media, is only getting worse with time, a pro-whistleblower group said. A new statement from whistleblower-supporting organization the Courage Foundation complains that the leadership of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemica [...]
Save
US sells over a million barrels of seized Iranian fuel headed for Venezuela
The United States has sold more than a million barrels of Iranian fuel seized under its sanctions program last year, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing the US Department of Justice. The seizures were part of Washington’s economic sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program, and the US’ designation of a number of Iranian groups as terrorists. The US government under President Donald Tru [...]
Save
US Troops Not Involved in Guarding Syria’s Stolen Oil, Pentagon Says
In 2019, the US redeployed troops from the Syrian-Turkish border into the war-torn country’s interior, with President Donald Trump admitting freely that the forces were assigned to “take the oil.” Russia estimates that the Pentagon, the CIA, contractors and Kurdish militias make over $30 million a month smuggling the stolen oil out of the country. The US military presence in northea [...]
Save
Hundreds of Israelis get infected with Covid-19 after receiving Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine – reports
With the vaccine not providing immediate immunity to the coronavirus, over two hundred Israeli citizens have been diagnosed with the disease days after getting the Pfizer/BioNTech jabs, local media reported. The number of those who got Covid-19 despite being vaccinated was at around 240 people, according to data from Channel 13 News. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which the Israeli health au [...]
Save
‘Testament to transparency’? Pentagon reveals data on ‘confirmed’ civilian casualties of intervention against IS in Syria & Iraq
The Pentagon has released “the most comprehensive” data on civilian casualties of the US-led coalition operations against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, Airwars has said. Only officially conceded deaths are in it, though. The UK-based conflict monitoring group Airwars said “more than three years of extensive engagement” with the US military allowed it to obtain the “most accurate [...]
Save
‘If Greece Buys F-35 Fighters, Turkey Will Use S-400 Against Them’, Ret. General Says
Turkey is facing mounting pressure from its NATO allies in the Eastern Mediterranean region which makes its decision to deploy and operate the Russian-made S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft weapon system fully justified, says Ret. Major General Nejat Eslen commenting on Athens' alleged plan to acquire fifth-generation F-35 stealth jets in 2021. On 16 November, Greek weekly newspaper Proto Thema [...]
Save
China, Other Developing Nations Weigh in on Syrian-Israeli Spat, Tell Tel Aviv to Get Out of Golan
Israel occupied and annexed about 1,200 square km of Syria’s strategic Golan Heights in the aftermath of the Six Day War of June 1967. The United Nations condemned the move as “null and void and without international legal effect”. Damascus has vowed to get its territory back one day "by any means necessary". China and the Group of 77 bloc of developing nations has called on Israel [...]
Save
Israeli hospital chief rejects Western concerns over Russia’s Sputnik-V Covid-19 vaccine as ‘political,’ orders 1.5 million doses
The boss of one of Israel’s largest hospitals has placed a huge order for Russia’s Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine, arguing that concerns over the formula are due to tensions between Moscow and Washington, rather than safety issues. Zeev Rotstein, director of Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Centre believes Western objections are more political than scientific, telling Israeli newspaper Haare [...]
Save
‘US doesn’t know who it’s dealing with!’ Erdogan dismisses Washington’s threats over S-400 deployment
Turkey is not a “tribal state” that can be pushed around, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, dismissing the American warnings over its procurement of Russian-made S-400 anti-aircraft systems. Ankara will see through the deployment of its S-400 systems, which will not be disrupted by any threats or sanctions, Erdogan made clear, speaking in the eastern Turkish city of Malatya on Sunday. T [...]
Save
US threatens ‘serious consequences’ if Turkey puts into operation its Russian S-400 missile systems
The US State Department has warned the Turkish government of “potential serious consequences” to the two nations’ security relationship should reports of Ankara testing the Russian S-400 air defense systems prove true. “If confirmed, we would condemn in the strongest terms the S-400 test missile launch as incompatible with Turkey’s responsibilities as a NATO ally and strategic partn [...]
Save
Iran to Enjoy Free Arms Trade Under Nuclear Deal Starting on Sunday, President Says
Iran will become free to sell and buy weapons starting Sunday as the UN arms embargo will be terminated under the 2015 nuclear deal despite the active resistance from the United States, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday. "This 10-year oppressive embargo will be lifted on Sunday, 18 October, with people’s resistance and the efforts of our country's diplomats, despite 4 yea [...]
Save