Middle East

Iraqi Prime Minister Recommends Parliament to Order Withdrawal of Foreign Troops – Reports
The reports emerge as the US-led coalition fighting Daesh* in Iraq has said that it has suspended its fight against the terror group amid increased attacks on US personnel. The Iraqi Parliament has passed a resolution to demand the termination of all the foreign troop presence in the country, Sky News Arabia broadcaster reported. [...]
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Gabbard Blasts Trump Over Soleimani Killing, Demands Immediate Pullout of US Troops From Iraq, Syria
The Hawaii congresswoman and Democratic presidential candidate, who deployed to Iraq during her service with the US Army National Guard, has repeatedly warned that a conflict with Iran would be “far more devastating” to the US than its Iraq campaign. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has issued a series of statements slamming President Trump for the drone strike which killed senior Iranian Revolutio [...]
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Egypt Puts Itself at Risk of US Sanctions by Purchasing Russian Figher Jets, American Official Says
Russia intends to start deliveries of nearly two dozen Su-35E air superiority fighter planes to Egypt between 2020-2021 in a deal worth the equivalent of over $2 billion. US officials have repeatedly warned that the deliveries could lead to sanctions against Cairo. Egypt's decision to purchase Russian-made fighter aircraft may result in sanctions and a halt in the delivery of US military equipment [...]
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Mossad Chief Bragged About Possibility of Assassinating Soleimani Just Months Before His Death
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Trump’s decision to kill the top Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander on Friday, saying Tel Aviv stands alongside Washington in its “just struggle” against Iran. Mossad Director Yossi Cohen bragged that his agency could easily target Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani for elimination, telling an Israeli magazine in [...]
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Trump Sparks Outrage by Calling on American Jews to ‘Love Israel More’
US President Donald Trump on Saturday addressed the annual Israeli-American Council (IAC) National Summit in Florida, where some 4,000 Israelis and American Jews gathered. Speaking on Saturday at the 2019 IAC National Summit in Florida, President Donald Trump said that people in the United States should love Israel more. [...]
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US Long-Planned Assassination of Soleimani Lacks Legal, Strategic Justification – Ex-Envoy
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Trump administration’s unlawful execution of Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani is a strategic blunder of mammoth proportions that has now turned every American military official into a target, former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman told Sputnik. [...]
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‘We’re becoming the terror’: Virginia senator hated by ISIS calls Soleimani killing ‘tragedy,’ warns against war with Iran
General Qassem Soleimani was one of the most responsible for defeating Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, and his killing is a “great tragedy” that could result in a “vast war” with Iran, a Virginia senator and Marine veteran told RT. In a statement to RT on Friday, retired Virginia Senator Richard Black said that the assassination “may presage a new war of aggression—this time, against the [...]
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Iran, China & Russia combined naval exercise: A security trilateral to counter US presence? 🎞️
A first-of-its-kind combined naval exercise by Iran, China and Russia has wrapped up in the Gulf of Oman. The US has been watching closely, as it could be the beginning of a security coalition to counter American influence. The Iranian Navy had announced that the December 27-30 exercise, codenamed Marine Security Belt, was aimed at enhancing maritime security in the region, which has witnessed a s [...]
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Europe must wean itself off US ‘dictate’ or it will ‘lose’, Iran supreme leader’s adviser tells RT
Europe’s total dependence on Washington would lead it nowhere other than to its own demise, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has alleged, calling on Europeans to break free from America’s grip. Europe is a major political force on the international arena, yet it prefers to “quietly follow the policy imposed” by Washington, Ali Akbar Velayati told RT Arabic. [...]
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Senior OPCW official ordered deletion of ‘all traces’ of dissenting report on ‘Douma chemical attack’  – WikiLeaks’ new leak
The leadership of the chemical weapons watchdog took efforts to remove the paper trail of a dissenting report from Douma, Syria which pointed to a possible false flag operation there, leaked documents indicate.  In an internal email published by the transparency website WikiLeaks on Friday, a senior official from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) ordered that the doc [...]
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Turkish MP on US Senate Turkey Sanctions Bill: ‘This is an Irresponsible Move’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to close US and NATO military bases in Turkey after the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday, approved a bill imposing sanctions on Ankara after its offensive in Syria and purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems. 'If necessary, we can close Incirlik, and we can close Kurecik", Erdogan told Turkish channel Haber TV on Sunday. [...]
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US-Turkey relations at critical crossroads: what’s behind Erdogan’s threat to shutter Incirlik Air Base?
When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to close a vital airbase used by American forces, he wasn’t bluffing, and Washington should take his threats at face value, or risk losing a NATO ally, analysts say. [...]
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WATCH dozens injured in street battles between protestors and police on the streets of Beirut 🎞️
Dozens of people were injured and hospitalized in Beirut during street battles between thousands of anti-government protesters and armed police amid a worsening political and economic crisis in Lebanon. Protesters hurled debris, bottles and fireworks while police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse the crowds on a second night of unrest in the capital this past weekend. [...]
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Turkey May Close Incirlik Air Base for US Over Sanctions Against S-400 Purchase – Foreign Minister
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara will not abandon the Russian S-400 air defence systems in order to buy American Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a statement that Ankara may insist that the US leave Incirlik air base if Washington goes ahead with the sanctions it has threatened in response to Turkey's purchase [...]
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US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Approves Sanctions Against Turkey Over Its Purchase of S-400s
Washington has repeatedly threatened to sanction Turkey over its decision to buy the Russian air defense system, and moved to halt the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara over the purchase earlier this year. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has passed the 'Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act', which includes sanctions against Turkey over its dec [...]
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Russian military delivers first humanitarian aid to Raqqa, left in ruins by US-led coalition 🎞️
Russian military forces have delivered food and provided medical assistance to the residents of Raqqa in the first such humanitarian mission aimed at helping civilians who are struggling to survive in the city scarred by war. The first column of Russian military trucks loaded with food and medical supplies entered the capital of Syria's northern province on Monday. [...]
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‘Destroy, return, get rid of S-400’? Nope, Turkey says we’ll activate Russian missiles instead
Washington officials are reportedly demanding that Turkey “destroy or return” its Russian-made S-400 air defense systems to get back in the good books and rejoin the F-35 fighter program – but Ankara has no intention of complying. [...]
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Trump Offered Erdogan $100 Bln Deal in Exchange for S-400 Resolution to US’ ‘Satisfaction’ – Report
The White House has long sought to take counter-measures against the Turkish-Russian deal and now it is reportedly clinging to a new chance to put a spoke in the wheel. US President Trump has offered his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan a set of economic inducements for better US-Turkey relations, according to The Washington Post. [...]
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As PM Hariri resigns and Lebanon faces a power vacuum, maybe it is time to reassess relations with the US
The exit of Lebanon PM Saad Hariri brings more unrest in a turbulent region, a loss of an ally to the US, as troops withdraw from Syria, there’s conflict with Iran and issues with Saudi Arabia. Trump needs a new pal in the region. [...]
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