Israel trains to counter the S-300 and Russia expands towards Lebanon

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The Israeli Air Force is conducting intensive manoeuvres with its F-35 Adirs along with F-16s over Lebanese airspace to counter the threat posed by the three battalion sets of S-300PM missiles systems delivered by Moscow to Damascus so that Tel Aviv can resume its bombing of targets in Syria. Despite the […]

Iran and Hezbollah are ready to face any challenge: but are Israel and the US ready?

Beirut from Elijah J. Magnier – @ejmalrai Published by: Israel, through its Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, is waving the flag of war in the face of Iran and Hezbollah, showing what is claimed to be a “secret nuclear facility in Iran and Hezbollah’s strategic missile warehouse in the heart of the capital Beirut”. The “secret nuclear […]

Iraq will have a President and Prime Minister who takes account of both Iranian and US interests

By Elijah J. Magnier – @ejmalrai Iraqi politicians have agreed on a new prime minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, to replace Haidar al-Abadi, after over four months of difficult work. Adel Abdel Mahdi is an experienced politician who almost became prime minister in the 2000s when Moqtada al-Sadr suddenly turned against him and, overnight, promoted Nuri al-Maliki […]

Iran looks on as Israeli arrogance forces Putin’s hand

By Elijah J. Magnier – @ejmalrai Russia has decided to send to Syria its S-300 VM system and has started delivering the Krasukha 4 radar systems jammer and other related military equipment. These installations indicate the low level of relations between Moscow and Tel Aviv. Israel’s capacity to destroy the new Russian system in Syria is […]

Putin-Erdogan have concluded a good deal on Idlib

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Much scepticism surrounds the fate of the city of Idlib following the deal concluded between the two presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that led to the suspension of the long-awaited military operation against the jihadists and their allies. Only a few details of the deal have been revealed, enough […]

Russia, USA, Israel, Iran and Syria: a continuous struggle to trigger or avoid war

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The Syrian defence system shot down by mistake a Russian Ilyushin IL-20M 90924 surveillance plane in Syria with 15 servicemen on board on Monday evening, the day after an Israeli F-16 destroyed an Iranian military cargo plane on the Damascus airport runway killing the second pilot. Simultaneously with the downing of […]

The Liberation of Idlib: Turkey is in the way, with Russia slowing down

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Turkey is pushing further reinforcements of troops, commando units and tanks into the northern Syrian city of Idlib and around it, for a specific objective: to disrupt the attack against the city by the Syrian forces and their allies supported by Russia. Ankara is indeed taking advantage of the Russian slowing […]

Haidar Abadi has fallen with the burned walls of the Iranian consulate in Basra

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The US favourite candidate for the prime ministership Haidar Abadi lost his last chance to renew his mandate for a second term when riots caused arson around the southern city of Basra and burned down the walls of the Iranian consulate in the city. While the inhabitants demonstrated for their justified […]

A wake-up call to the US in Baghdad: will Haidar Abadi become the Mohammad Morsi of Iraq?

Baghdad, Basra by Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The US-Iran tug of war is falling heavily on Iraq, a country which is fragile and which has not been allowed to breathe since the occupation of Iraq in 2003, right up until today. First came US total control of Mesopotamia, and then al-Qaeda in Iraq metamorphosed into the […]

The USA oblivious to the rise of a resistance movement in response to its interference in Iraqi elections

Baghdad by Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai While domestic US politics are dominated by stories of foreign interference in US elections, the US government seems oblivious that its open efforts to control the politics of Iraq may be fostering a genuine resistance movement with dire consequences for the United States. A new wave of violent demonstrations is […]

The US horse fell at the first jump in Iraq

Baghdad by Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The battle between the US and Iran came to light overtly in the first session of the new Iraqi parliament. This contest will remain open until the federal court decides which of the two coalitions holds the largest number of deputies and is therefore eligible to form a government (the […]

Will the battle of Idlib start while Russian task force is in the Mediterranean?

For: By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Russia has amassed large naval and air forces in the Mediterranean opposite the Syrian coast under the command of the Russian Navy commander Admiral Vladimir Korolov. 25 warships and 30 aircraft are involved in these extensive manoeuvres: Tu-160 bombers, Tu-142s, II38 anti-submarine, Su-33s and Su-30SMs, and other aircraft. The drill […]

Faleh al-Fayyad is the official anti-US PM candidate in Iraq, while the US is trying to hit Iran below the belt

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Al-Da’wa party member Faleh al-Fayyad is the official candidate for the anti-US camp in Iraq. The Iraqi Prime Minister ad interim Haidar Abadi reacted immediately to the news and sacked Fayyad, a follow party senior member who held for many years the position of National Security Advisor and head of the “Popular Mobilisation […]

The US doesn’t care about Idlib but wants to get Iran to the negotiating table

By Elijah J. Magnier :@ejmalrai Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz didn’t wait for the ink to dry on the deal signed by the Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami and his Syrian counterpart Ali Ay’youb “to rebuild the Syrian Army” and warned that his country will attack Iranian forces inside Syria. Moreover, the US vowed to […]

After the failed attempt at Syrian regime change, the next target is Hezbollah

By Elijah J. Magnier – @ejmalrai After more than seven years of war with the goal of changing the Syrian regime, the target has now become Hezbollah. But the question remains: after the failure of the 2006 war, what can the enemies of this organisation do to achieve their goal? Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah […]

Which war for Mesopotamia? Iraq must choose between Iran and the US

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai In the coming month, following Eid al-Adha (August 21st), Iraq will be on the horns of a dilemma. The Federal Court has confirmed the results of the manual recount of the May parliamentary elections with insignificant changes to the previously announced results. After the holiday the Iraqi coalition that can assemble more […]

Is Israel preparing a war on Hezbollah in Lebanon? Would Russia expand its presence to south Lebanon?

By Elijah J. Magnier – @ejmalrai Tension is silently mounting between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border, where frenetic preparations are taking place, under the watchful eyes of both belligerents. There is an unusual state of alert, yet hardly visible to the naked eye: Israel is increasing its patrols on the borders, raising the deployment […]

Haidar Abadi chose the US camp, knowing he cannot win a second term. He has shot himself in the foot!

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai It was not difficult to foresee Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi’s decision to abide by the unilateral US decision to impose sanctions on Iran. Nevertheless, as long as it was not official, it was possible to pretend it would not happen. But now Abadi himself is saying it loud and clear: I […]

Saudi Arabia mocks the world with its wealth… and some help from Trump

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The leaders of Saudi Arabia mock western values with supreme confidence by virtue of their money power. Democracy, human rights, freedom of speech, freedom to protest, freedom of expression, and other freedoms are treated as norms imposed by the West. If you wish to violate these sacred principles, all you have […]

Russia is expanding its control over more Syrian territory and muscling in on Hezbollah on the borders.

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Russian military police forces have established eight static positions along the 1974 disengagement line and have registered a strong presence with UNDOF observer forces on the occupied Golan Heights line. Moreover, a Russian force headed by a Russian General arrived, for the second time this year, at the Lebanese Hezbollah post […]

Can Oman build a ladder for Trump to come down the Iranian tree he climbed?

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Published by: https://ahtribune.com/us/trump-at-war/2405-oman-iran.html … The US establishment wrongly believed that it could deal with Iran as with North Korea, using a carrot and stick. Threatening diplomacy has never worked with the “Islamic Republic” since 1979 when the Shah fell and Imam Khomeini seized power. It is true that US pressure on Iran over […]

Why will the US leave Syria soon? The Kurds are waking up.

Published here: https://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/syria-crisis/2399-us-leave-syria-kurds.html By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai: The Syrian army is conducting its southern campaign with the pacification of the last two percent of the Qunietra province that remains under the control of the “Islamic State” (ISIS) terrorist group. That will free tens of thousands of troops of the Syrian army and its allies from the […]

The ISIS Suweida attack is a message to its branch in Quneitra, and to Russia and Damascus

Damascus, Daraa, Suweida, by Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Reading time: 3 min 49 sec In one of the bloodiest massacres after Speicher (Iraq), more than 150 ISIS militants attacked the province and the city of Suweida killing over 220 farmers (men, women, children) and members of the Syrian army and the local National Defence Forces. However, the […]

Assad: Israel has exhausted our patience and Iran will stay in Syria as long as needed. But has Putin saved Netanyahu from his “unsuitable ideas” towards Syria and Iran?

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai The Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has communicated to the Russian leadership that “Israel has exhausted our patience” … “Israeli jets will be a legitimate target for our defence systems if Tel Aviv doesn’t cease its provocation and stop targeting our military positions and jets”. According to decision makers, “Assad has no […]

The last southern battle in Syria: finish off ISIS and then on, towards Idlib

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Southern Syria is surrendering to the forces of the Syrian army: deals have been concluded between the Syrian government and the militants, including jihadists belonging to Jabhat al-Nusra (aka Hayat Tahrir al-Sham). The main deal, supervised by the Russian forces, allows whoever is willing to go to the northern city of […]