War

The Syrian army continue to successfully defeat ISIS around the Turkish countryside, according to Iran’s news agency FARS.  As the battle against ISIS militants continues in the Middle East, the Syrian government have made huge gains against the terrorists in the suburbs of Damascus and surrounding areas. Sputniknews.com reports: “The militant groups’ fortified positions in Zamalka in the northeastern outskirts of Damascus came under a massive offensive of the Syrian army and its allies,” military sources told FARS.

Turkey’s genocide of its Kurdish population in the town of Cizre, combined with Erdogan’s plans to increase his executive power in Turkey, could push NATO into a war with Russia as the Syrian conflict’s scope broadens.  Erdogan is becoming a problem for Europe amid an ongoing migrant crisis, reports journalist Michael Goldfarb.

It’s no secret that relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated the post-Cold War lows. 

The annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Ukraine have pushed the two sides to the brink of a Baltic battle while Russia’s intervention in Syria changed the West’s calculus when it comes to pushing for regime change in the Mid-East. 

Earlier this year, in a hilariously accurate assessment of US foreign policy, Vladimir Putin’s Security Council issued a statement entitled "About The US National Security Strategy". Here are some notable excerpts (translated):

Shiite leaders have lashed out over Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr on terror charges. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who was a vocal critic of the Saudi authorities, was executed on Saturday along with 46 other people. Shia-lead Iran said Saudi Arabia would pay a “high price” for the execution. A senior Iranian Ayatollah called the execution a “crime,” and  Tehran’s Foreign Ministry accused Riyadh of supporting terrorists.

A senior Iranian Commander has accused US authorities of being responsible for an increase in drug production in Afghanistan.  “The problem of narcotics still persists in Afghanistan as a result of negligence of foreign states towards llicit drug trade in our neighboring country,” General Ali Moayyedi told Afghan police officers at a training workshop in Tehran. Farsnews.com reports: He voiced Iran’s readiness to send its anti-narcotics officers to Afghanistan to train that country’s officers.