The Daily Brief 2021-01-19

This is a summary of 18 AMN articles on the following subjects: Iran, Aleppo, Syria, Turkey, Algeria, Israel, Homs, Pompeo, Trump, Egypt, Iraq, Hama, Ottoman, Gulen, Russia, US, Hasakah, Tanf, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tigray, Biden, Zarif.

Categories covered in this brief: Iran, Syria, Turkey, Africa, North-Africa, Israel, Gulf, Iraq, Lebanon, Middleeast, World-News

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— The AMN Live Team

Iran carries out first ever airborne offensive maneuver
Turkish army continues relentless attack on northern Syria
Algerian army showcases large arsenal of Russian-made weapons: video
Israeli forces on high alert in the Red Sea over possible Iranian attack: media
Massive explosions rock the Homs countryside
Israel to participate in first foreign exercise with F-35 jets
Iran bids farewell to Trump and Pompeo by sanctioning them both
New 2021 rankings for the strongest military forces in the Middle East
Russian forces blow up militant cave in northwestern Syria: video
Iran threatens to dismantle surveillance cameras at nuclear facilities if sanctions are not lifted
Syrian Army’s T-90 tank strikes Turkish-backed forces at night: video
Last heir to Ottoman Empire passes away in Damascus
Turkish forces arrest 238 soldiers for alleged Gulen links
Syria denies secret negotiations with Israel
Russian envoy cites Martin Luther King Jr., calls on US to end arms race in Middle East
Syria accuses US of transferring 70 ISIS terrorists from Hasakah prison to Al-Tanf base
Sudan denies sending troops to Tigray region
Iran to adopt tit-for-tat policy against US under Biden

Iran carries out first ever airborne offensive maneuver

Published 2021-01-19 22:08:07 by News Desk in Iran

BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:50 P.M.) – The spokesperson for Al-Aqatdar 99 maneuvers said on Tuesday that for the first time, a joint offensive operation was carried out by the Airborne Brigade of the Iranian Armed Forces off the coast of Makran. The commander noted, as reported by Al-Mayadeen TV, that the 55th Airborne Brigade of the Army Land Force, in the first phase of the exercises, carried out airborne operations via parachute and BMP2 personnel carriers. “The Airborne Forces landed in the form of hundreds of paratroopers, carried by C-130 army aircraft, at the specified locations during a pre-planned operation,” he… Read on ->

Tags: Iran

Turkish army continues relentless attack on northern Syria

Published 2021-01-19 21:40:04 by News Desk in Syria, Turkey

BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:10 P.M.) – The Turkish Armed Forces continued their heavy assault on northern Syria, Tuesday, hitting several areas across the vast border region. According to a field source in the Aleppo Governorate, the Turkish Armed Forces, alongside their allied militants, launched several strikes on the positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the primary concentration being the area around the key town of Al-Bab. The source said the Turkish Armed Forces fired several artillery shells and rockets toward the positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces on Tuesday, but the latter did not respond to this latest ceasefire… Read on ->

Tags: Aleppo, Syria, Turkey

Algerian army showcases large arsenal of Russian-made weapons: video

Published 2021-01-19 21:11:33 by News Desk in Africa, North-Africa

BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:00 P.M.) – Algerian state television broadcast footage on Tuesday of the Algerian army’s maneuvers in the Tindouf state in the southern part of the country. During the maneuvers near the Moroccan border, the Algerian army showcased its military arsenal, including its large amount of Russian-made weapons. The maneuvers, titled “Al-Hazm 2021” , took place on Sunday and Monday, under the supervision of the Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army. For about a quarter of an hour, Algerian television broadcast scenes of the maneuvers in which live ammunition was used, and the latest version of the… Read on ->

Tags: Algeria

Israeli forces on high alert in the Red Sea over possible Iranian attack: media

Published 2021-01-19 20:27:00 by News Desk in Iran, Israel

Massive explosions rock the Homs countryside

Published 2021-01-19 20:14:24 by News Desk in Syria

BEIRUT, LEBANON (8:00 P.M.) – A powerful explosion was felt throughout the Homs countryside on Tuesday night, following a blast at one of the major pipelines inside the governorate. According to a field source in the Homs Governorate, the explosion occurred at the Syrian Gas Company site in the governorate’s countryside, causing a burst of flames that required immediate assistance from the civil defense teams. The source said the civil defense teams are at the scene of the explosion; however, they have been unable to put out the flames at the site. The cause of the explosion is still unknown… Read on ->

Tags: Homs, Syria

Israel to participate in first foreign exercise with F-35 jets

Published 2021-01-19 19:52:11 by News Desk in Israel

BEIRUT, LEBANON (7:20 P.M.) – The Israeli newspaper, Maariv, reported that the Israeli F-35 stealth fighters will participate for the first time in international military exercises in Italy. According to the publication, the Israeli army said that the aim of the exercises is to enhance cooperation and relations between the Israeli Air Force and the Italian Air Force, and other additional armies, and to conduct exercises in an unfamiliar field that examines the ability to deploy stealth aircraft and the required systems. They stated that despite the coronavirus crisis, the Israeli Air Force sees great importance in continuing international military… Read on ->

Tags: Israel

Iran bids farewell to Trump and Pompeo by sanctioning them both

Published 2021-01-19 19:11:19 by News Desk in Iran

Iran has imposed sanctions on incumbent US President Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting Secretary of Defence Christopher Miller, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, ex-Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, as well as a number of other former officials, including Gina Haspel, John Bolton, Brian Hook, and others, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said. The blacklisting of 10 senior US officials, including POTUS Trump, is because of their “role and involvement in terrorist and anti-human rights actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iranian citizens”, the ministry’s spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, as quoted by journalist Abas Aslani. The… Read on ->

Tags: Iran, Pompeo, Trump

New 2021 rankings for the strongest military forces in the Middle East

Published 2021-01-19 16:21:09 by News Desk in Gulf, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middleeast, North-Africa, Syria, Turkey, World-News

BEIRUT, LEBANON 4:10 P.M.) – The annual rankings of military strength of the countries of the world, issued by the Global Fire Power website, were released recently, along with the regional rankings. In the Middle East region, Turkey was considered the strongest military, followed by Egypt at number two and Iran at number three. Saudi Arabia ranked fourth in the military power in the Middle East, followed by Israel in fifth place, the Emirates sixth, Iraq in seventh place, Syria in eighth, Kuwait ranked ninth, while Oman ranked tenth, and then Jordan ranked eleventh. The bottom of the list consisted… Read on ->

Tags: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey

Russian forces blow up militant cave in northwestern Syria: video

Published 2021-01-19 15:49:49 by News Desk in Syria

Iran threatens to dismantle surveillance cameras at nuclear facilities if sanctions are not lifted

Published 2021-01-19 15:36:02 by News Desk in Iran

BEIRUT, LEBANON (3:10 P.M.) – Mojtaba Dhul-Nur, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in the Iranian parliament, threatened to dismantle the IAEA’s surveillance cameras in nuclear facilities if sanctions continued. The Iranian official pointed out that the additional protocol will also be suspended on February 21 in the event that sanctions against Iran are not lifted. Dhul-Nur stressed that Tehran’s cooperation with international inspectors will be limited to the NPT, only in the event that oil sanctions are not lifted and banking relations with Iran normalize by February 21. He said that the Iranian government is obligated… Read on ->

Tags: Iran

Syrian Army’s T-90 tank strikes Turkish-backed forces at night: video

Published 2021-01-19 14:05:53 by News Desk in Syria

BEIRUT, LEBANON (1:45 P.M.) – A video shared on YouTube this week showed the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) attacking a group of Turkish-backed fighters that were attempting to move across an area in northwestern Syria. In the video shared on YouTube this week, a Syrian Arab Army crew in a T-90 tank tracked the Turkish-backed militants at night using their thermal radiation. The Syrian Arab Army tank crew then zeroed-in on the Turkish-backed militants, scoring a direct hit on them from the T-90. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXUi8cRZnjA

Tags: Hama, Syria

Last heir to Ottoman Empire passes away in Damascus

Published 2021-01-19 13:49:50 by News Desk in Syria, Turkey

BEIRUT, LEBANON (1:40 P.M.) – The family of Dundar Abdul Karim Osmanoglu, the last heir to the throne of the dissolved Ottoman Empire, passed away on late Monday evening at the age of 90. In a statement on her official Twitter account, a family member, Orhan Osmanoglu, said: “The father of our family and the Ottoman dynasty, our uncle Prince Dundar Abdul Karim Osmanoglu died in Damascus, Syria..May God have mercy on him.” According to the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, Osmanoglu lived alone in the city of Damascus in which he was born in 1930 after his parents were removed… Read on ->

Tags: Ottoman, Syria, Turkey

Turkish forces arrest 238 soldiers for alleged Gulen links

Published 2021-01-19 13:01:20 by News Desk in Turkey

BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:45 P.M.) – The Turkish authorities have arrested 238 people in an operation targeting suspects in the army for alleged links to the dissident preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accused of being behind a failed coup attempt in 2016. According to Reuters, these arrests covered 60 provinces, and it is part of a campaign that has been going on for four years against the network of cleric Fethullah Gulen residing in the United States. Gulen denies involvement in the July 2016 coup attempt, in which more than 250 people were killed. The state-owned Anadolu Agency said that 160… Read on ->

Tags: Gulen, Turkey

Syria denies secret negotiations with Israel

Published 2021-01-19 12:44:32 by News Desk in Syria

The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Monday denied reports about alleged contacts with Israel, reiterating its “firm” stance on “Israeli occupiers.” Earlier, media reported about purported Russia-mediated meetings between Syrian and Israeli representatives. “The Syrian Arab Republic completely refutes the false reports that have emerged in some media about meetings between Syria and Israel … and states that the publication of such reports is an unsuccessful attempt by the sponsors of these media outlets to sow confusion in Syria’s firm positions on Israeli occupiers,” the ministry said. It further reaffirmed Damascus’ clear and unchanged policy toward Israel, saying that this line… Read on ->

Russian envoy cites Martin Luther King Jr., calls on US to end arms race in Middle East

Published 2021-01-19 12:19:49 by News Desk in Middleeast, World-News

BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:00 P.M.) – Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, called on the United States to stop the arms race in the Middle East, citing the words of the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968). Nebenzia said during the meeting of the UN Security Council devoted to cooperation with the Arab League: “In the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., I would like to recall the words that American colleagues apparently do not like to mention, which is that ‘a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense… Read on ->

Tags: Iran, Russia, US

Syria accuses US of transferring 70 ISIS terrorists from Hasakah prison to Al-Tanf base

Published 2021-01-19 12:03:22 by News Desk in Syria

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:45 A.M.) – The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Monday that the American forces had transferred dozens of Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) terrorists from the prisons controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Al-Hasakah, to their base in Al-Tanf on the Syrian-Jordanian border. The agency quoted its sources as saying that the US forces had transferred 70 ISIS terrorists detained in the Industrial Secondary Prison at the southern entrance to the city of Hasakah to their base in Al-Tanf. The SANA sources said that “the American forces in Al-Tanf provide a safe haven for terrorists in… Read on ->

Tags: Hasakah, Homs, Syria, Tanf

Sudan denies sending troops to Tigray region

Published 2021-01-19 11:41:03 by News Desk in Africa

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:30 A.M.) – Somalia denied on Tuesday that it had sent troops to the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia to fight on the side of Addis Ababa. Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Othman Abu Bakr Dubai said, “This news is untrue and politicized by some people,” according to the Somali News Agency (SUNA). The Somali minister added that Ethiopia did not ask the federal government in Mogadishu to send its soldiers to participate in the fighting in Tigray. The Somali media had reported a few days ago about the participation of Somali forces in the fighting alongside… Read on ->

Tags: Ethiopia, Sudan, Tigray

Iran to adopt tit-for-tat policy against US under Biden

Published 2021-01-19 11:03:46 by News Desk in Iran

Spokesman of the Iranian Majlis’ National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Abolfazl Amouei said that the Islamic republic’s foreign minister Javad Zarif stated during a meeting with the members of parliament that the country will apply an “action against action” policy against the new US administration of President-elect Joe Biden, MEHR news agency reported Monday. “According to FM Zarif, our policy toward the Biden administration would be ‘action against action'”, Amouei said. The Iranian lawmaker added that today’s meeting of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the parliament was attended by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and 12… Read on ->

Tags: Biden, Iran, Zarif

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