During Wednesday night’s final 2016 presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump repeatedly asserted that rival Hillary Clinton, in her capacity as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, “gave us ISIS.”
Bashar Assad’s wife Asma granted her first interview in eight years to the Rossiya 24 news channel of Russia, as transcribed by RT.com. In the interview, she blamed Western powers for prolonging the Syrian civil war, laid responsibility for the human carnage at their feet, and accused Western media of hyping tragedies that are politically harmful to her husband.
Contents: Egypt votes for two contradictory UN Security Council proposals on Syria; Saudis retaliate against Egypt, which may turn to Iran for oil
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made clear he wants Turkey to play a significant role in the liberation of Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State (ISIS). The Iraqi government has rejected Turkey’s advances, however, and while Erdogan waits for an opportunity to participate in that offensive, he has begun discussing similar military activity against ISIS “capital,” Raqqa, Syria.
Syria’s first lady Asma al-Assad said she rejected multiple offers to flee the war-ravaged country with her children, according to an interview with broadcaster Russia24 aired on Tuesday.
In a discussion with Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein in 2013, Hillary Clinton asserted that the 2011 uprising in Libya that led to the demise of dictator Muammar Qaddafi resulted in “very few civilian casualties,” comparing it favorably to the Syrian Civil War.
Iran has rejected remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry that its policies in Syria and Yemen are blocking efforts to encourage banks to do business with it.
Syrian rebels dealt a major symbolic blow to the Islamic State group on Sunday by capturing the town of Dabiq where the jihadists had promised an apocalyptic battle.
Top diplomats were to meet in Switzerland Saturday in a fresh push to revive a ceasefire in Syria, after pro-government forces intensified their bombardment of the battered city of Aleppo.
Syrian dictator Bashar Assad said in a Friday interview with a Russian newspaper that the brutal Syrian-Russian assault on Aleppo was necessary to push “terrorists” back to Turkey, accused Turkey of illegally invading his country with military forces, and said Syria was becoming the battleground for a new Cold War between Russia and the United States.
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that the Syrian army’s capture of Aleppo, which has come under renewed bombardment in an effort to seize its rebel-held sector, would be “a very important springboard” to pushing “terrorists” back to Turkey.
Contents: UN report on Burundi documents massive human rights violations; Burundi lawmakers vote to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC)
The Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah vowed to maintain its “jihad” in neighboring Syria at a huge rally in Beirut on Wednesday, a day after its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the war was in a phase of escalation.
In one of the lower moments from the 2012 presidential campaign, Barack Obama razzed Mitt Romney for describing Russia as a prime American strategic enemy. “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,” Obama sneered.
A Syrian opposition website has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to create a situation that is more beneficial to his own interests even as he takes advantage of the time he has left before the “lame duck” in Washington is replaced and that “it is clear to Putin that the next administration will take a much tougher stance against the Kremlin.”
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Tuesday the Middle East was in a phase of escalating tension and there appeared to be no prospect of a political solution to the war in Syria.
The latest WikiLeaks document dump on Hillary Clinton includes an August 18, 2014 email she sent to John Podesta, who is currently her campaign chairman, but was a counselor to the Obama White House at the time.
Moscow has reportedly accused the United States of “taking aggressive steps” that “pose a threat” to Russian “national security.”
Contents: Turkey’s Erdogan and Russia’s Putin sign TurkStream gas pipeline deal; Turkey-Russia TurkStream deal based on pragmatism rather than reconciliation
Russia will create a permanent naval base in Syria to expand its military footprint in its closest Middle East ally, a government official said on Monday, a week after Moscow said it was considering reopening Soviet-era bases in Vietnam and Cuba.
The armed forces of Iraq will directly attack their Turkish counterparts if the government of Turkey decides to deploy more troops to fight the Islamic State within that country, Iraqi officials have reportedly said, following blistering statements from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Contents: Russian Trolls; Popularity of Bashar al-Assad; Russian shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17; The future of the Mideast
The United States shows no sign of preparing to get involved in the fighting in Syria, an Arab intelligence official told Breitbart Jerusalem. Despite evidence that the Syrian civil war is tilting in the favor of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime
The risk of a military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah has become significantly greater over the past few weeks, an Arab intelligence official told Breitbart Jerusalem.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Iraqi Shiite militia fighters are “pouring into Syria to reinforce the Assad regime’s siege of Aleppo, further complicating the tangled web of alliances the U.S. relies on to fight Islamic State, which can turn an ally on one side of the border into an enemy on the other.”
Contents: UN envoy Staffan de Mistura ask al-Nusra fighters to leave Aleppo; Staffan de Mistura predicts total destruction of Aleppo by Christmas
The implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers is still fragile, the head of the UN agency that polices Iran’s side of the deal has said, warning that small mistakes could have grave consequences.
Contents: Russia continues large air defense military buildup in Syria; Concerns about possible US-Russia military conflict continue to grow
Moscow’s year-long bombing campaign in Syria has showcased the “reliability” of Russian weaponry, as the Kremlin has helped stabilise the war-ravaged country, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States has suspended negotiations with Russia over the war in Syria, accusing the Kremlin for the collapse of the most recent ceasefire and of joining forces loyal to Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad in targeting civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo rather than fighting the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Fox News posted an exclusive report on Tuesday, based on information from three U.S. officials, that Russia is deploying the advanced SA-23 Gladiator anti-missile and anti-aircraft system to Syria.
While Russian-Syrian forces focus their efforts on bombing Sunni civilians in Aleppo city, far from any Islamic State strongholds, the U.S.-rebel alliance is closing in on the village of Dabiq, Syria, controlled by ISIS and believed by jihadists to be the future home of the Apocalypse.
Contents: United States ends diplomatic talks with Russia over Syria; Russia accuses US of sabotaging ceasefire and ‘allying with terror’
Rebels said on Tuesday they repelled a Syrian army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian and Syrian warplanes continued to pound residential areas in besieged parts of the city where thousands of civilians are trapped.
TEHRAN (Reuters) – German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel urged the Iranian government during his two-day visit to the Islamic Republic to do what it can to push for a ceasefire in Syria.
Contents: Leaked John Kerry audio reveals bitter Obama administration disagreements; Concerns growing of a military showdown between US and Russia in Syria
The Obama Administration is reportedly considering military options for Syria, or at least trying to signal to Russia that military force is back on the table.
Turkey appears to be thawing its previously challenging relationship with Russia just as disagreements about the role of the Syrian Kurdish militias in the fight against the Islamic State have become a point of contention with the United States.
A Kremlin spokesman said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is finalizing plans to visit Turkey in October, a nation with whom relations have been tense following repeated violations of Turkish airspace that resulted in the downing of a Russian jet over Turkey.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah told followers that the ultra-conservative Sunni Wahhabism practiced in Saudi Arabia is more dangerous to Islam than Israel, according to Lebanon’s Al Akhbar newspaper.
