President Trump’s chaotic first two weeks have seen senior aides reverse his most promising plans for restoring realism to U.S. foreign policy, especially regarding Russia and the Mideast, reports Daniel Lazare. Well, that didn’t take long, did it? The Trump administration hadn’t even reached its two-week mark when it surrendered a major portion of its independence and fell in behind the [...]

On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was looking to 'drive a wedge' between Russia and Iran in its effort to improve relations with Moscow while confronting Tehran. Multiple observers, from Russian foreign policy analysts to American paleo-conservatives, warn that a US-Iran clash would be a catastrophic mistake. [...]

Russia disagrees with a remark recently made by US President Donald Trump’s that branded Iran as “the number one terrorist state,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, citing partnership between Moscow and Tehran. “We do not agree with the definition,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. [...]

The Trump administration condemns Iran as somehow responsible for a Yemeni rebel group’s attack on a Saudi warship, but ignores the Saudi-inflicted bloodbath on the Yemeni people, as Gareth Porter explained to The long-running U.S.-backed Saudi war against a Yemeni rebel group has led to mass hunger and civilian slaughter — suffering comparable to the humanitarian crisis of Aleppo in Syria [...]

The only way for US President Donald Trump to liberate Raqqa, the de facto capital of Daesh (ISIS/ISIL), from terrorists, is to join forces with Russia and Damascus on the ground, Russian military expert Ivan Konovalov told Radio Sputnik. [...]

Speaking to Sputnik, Neve Gordon, visiting Professor of Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees Donald Trump's presidency as carte blanche for Tel Aviv to act in the occupied territories. [...]

If President Trump is talking about safe zones in Syria and the surrounding region, does he not know that there are already safe areas and camps run by the UNHCR in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, says foreign affairs commentator, Jonathan Steele. [...]

US mainstream media outlets, pundits and officials have pulled out all the stops in attempting to smear Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who traveled to Syria earlier this month and then had the courage to criticize the US's policy of funding and arming terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda on national television. [...]

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard appeared on CNN after finding facts that she believes proves Obama’s involvement in funding ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Gabbard went to Syria, then was interviewed by CNN afterward with Jake Tapper where she unloaded with information that Tapper didn’t want to hear. Tulsi Gabba [...]

The Iraq parliament want measures to be taken in response to President Trump’s executive order banning entry to the US to citizens of seven Muslim countries. Iraqis consider the measure “unfair,” and a panel has asked the government to “reciprocate.” [...]

US President Donald Trump continues the blizzard of activity with which he has begun his Presidency with pronouncements that the practice known as 'waterboarding' works, and that he wants to see 'safe zones' established for refugees within Syria. [...]

US President Donald Trump's idea to build safe zones in Syria has provoked mixed emotions in Ankara. Speaking to Sputnik, Turkish security analyst Dr. Nihat Ali Ozcan suggested that the introduction of safe zones in Syria would tip the balance in favor of the Syrian armed opposition. [...]

French and Iraqi forces have uncovered a mustard agent and missiles in an area formerly controlled by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) during a sweep of eastern Mosul. The mustard agent was found in an abandoned storage area near the historic Nineveh ruins, AP reported, hoping to avoid attracting attention from locals [...]

The video shows a passenger train making its first journey through the city of Aleppo for the first time in four and a half years. The war had left the railway service disrupted. However, as the city is returning to normal life, the train carried its first passengers through the newly liberated Aleppo. [...]

Russian constitutional proposals for Syria that were presented to the opposition at the Astana talks envisage that the president is elected for seven years and for no more than two consecutive terms, the document obtained by Sputnik, reads. [...]

Moscow's aerial operation in Deir ez-Zor will help to prevent militants from overrunning the Syrian Arab Army base and the key city in eastern Syria in the short term, but the operation will have an impact on other parts of the country, particularly the north, analysts told Sputnik. [...]

The recapture of Aleppo by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies marks a turning point not only in the conflict in Syria, but also in the dynamic of international conflict. For the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the rolling imperial engine of regime change via American-led military intervention has been stopped in its tracks. [...]

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has called on the US to put an end to the “illegal war” she believes it wages in Syria after visiting Damascus and Aleppo. During her trip, she spoke with civilians, religious leaders, opposition leaders, and President Assad. [...]

US President Donald Trump said he’ll establish “safe zones’ within Syria for people fleeing terrorism, risking becoming even more involved in the crisis. He also believes the US should have “taken the oil” from Iraq as it pulled its troops out in 2011. [...]

Israel will not impose sanctions against Russia, even under US pressure, Israeli Ambassador to Moscow, Harry Koren said Tuesday. "There are no such plans… Israel is very sensitive to the issue of sanctions, because we are threatened every time with sanctions.   [...]

The Russian Aerospace Forces have conducted airstrikes in Syria based on intelligence provided by the US-led coalition, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. The Pentagon later denied that cooperation took place.   [...]

Six Russian long-range Tu-22M3 bombers launched airstrikes on Daesh arms and ammunition depots in Syria's Deir ez-Zor, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.   [...]