News

Top Iranian General Says US Carried Out 9/11

By | 2015-04-27T18:52:48-04:00 April 27th, 2015|News|

One of Iran's most senior military commanders has claimed that the United States engineered the September 11 terrorist attacks in order to sow Sunni-Shia strife, in the latest variation of a conspiracy theory confined to the fringes in the west but commonly believed in the Muslim world.   In an interview with Iran's official Arabic-language

Mubarak: Egyptians Should Stand Behind Sisi

By | 2015-04-27T14:52:48-04:00 April 27th, 2015|News|

Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak said on Sunday that there are "fateful decisions" that need to be taken by current president Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, and that Egyptians should stand behind him.   Mubarak, who was ousted in February of 2011 following an 18-day uprising, spoke on the phone with the Sada El-Balad private television channel and

Iran Threatens Saudis After Aid Planes Blocked

By | 2015-04-27T14:06:48-04:00 April 27th, 2015|News|

Amid reports of a renewed Saudi offensive against Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen, Iran's news agency reported on Friday that Saudi Arabia had stopped Iranian aid planes from landing in Yemen.    Not unexpectedly, a top Iranian official responded with threats directed at Saudi Arabia. Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian

End of ‘Unity’? PA Unity Govt. Cuts Contact With Hamas

By | 2015-04-27T13:55:07-04:00 April 27th, 2015|News|

The unity government fraught with high tensions since being formed between Hamas and the leading Palestinian Authority (PA) faction Fatah last April appears to be closer then ever to a collapse, as the unity government cut contact with Hamas on Sunday.   PA unity government Labor Minister Mamoun Abu Shahla told the Palestinian Arab Ma'an

Erdogan: Armenian Claims of Genocide Are ‘Baseless’

By | 2015-04-26T03:23:42-04:00 April 26th, 2015|News|

Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, insisted on Thursday that the massacre of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks a century ago was not a “genocide”.   Speaking at an international peace summit, Erdogan dismissed Armenian claims of genocide in 1915 were baseless, adding that he was willing to open the Turkish military archives to

Erdogan: ISIS is a ‘Virus’ Working to Destroy Muslims

By | 2015-04-26T02:22:20-04:00 April 26th, 2015|News|

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday referred to the Islamic State (ISIS) group as a “virus” working to destroy the Muslim community, in one of his strongest attacks yet against the jihadist group.   Ankara has been repeatedly criticized in recent months for not doing enough to halt the advance of ISIS to its

Syria: 42 Dead in Clashes Between Rebels

By | 2015-04-26T00:55:35-04:00 April 26th, 2015|News|

At least 42 fighters were killed in 24 hours of fierce fighting between Islamist rebels and the Islamic State group in Syria's Damascus province, a monitoring group said Wednesday.   "At least 30 Islamist rebels and 12 fighters from ISIS were killed in fighting since Tuesday" in the hilly region of Qalamun, the Syrian Observatory

Islamic State Leader Al-Baghdadi Critically Wounded in Airstrike

By | 2015-04-26T00:05:05-04:00 April 26th, 2015|News|

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group and self-proclaimed "caliph" of the caliphate or Islamic state that it has established in large parts of Iraq and Syria, was critically wounded in a US-led coalition airstrike according to sources.   The sources told the British Guardian that the strike took place

Russia Wants to ‘Redesign’ the Middle East

By | 2015-04-25T23:49:41-04:00 April 25th, 2015|News|

Under the radar last week, Vladimir Putin met with Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow. The meeting was not considered remarkable as Abbas has started to visit the Kremlin on an annual basis. The timing, though, corresponded with Putin’s definitely remarkable announcement Russia would reinitiate its sale of S-300 missiles to Iran. According to Sarah Fainberg of

Morsi Sentenced to 20 Years

By | 2015-04-25T16:57:58-04:00 April 25th, 2015|News|

A Cairo court has sentenced former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and 12 other defendants to 20 years in prison.   Morsi was convicted of inciting the killing of protesters, in an incident that saw 10 people gunned down outside the presidential palace in December 2012.   The court had acquitted the former president of murder