Eurasia

Iraq’s top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has extended condolences to Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on the martyrdom of top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in an American drone strike in Iraq.

A massive funeral procession is currently underway in Ahvaz, the provincial capital city of Southwestern province of Khuzestan.

Iraqi lawmakers have unanimously approved a bill, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country following the assassination of Iran’s top military commander, Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force says the American aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf are no more deemed to be threats against Iran, and have turned into easy targets for the Iranian missiles instead.

Deputy Secretary-General of Lebanese Hezbollah Sheikh Naeem Ghassem stressed on Sunday that the path of the resistance will continue with more strength.

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, says his country is ready to include two of its strategic weapons – the heavy Sarmat missile and the Avangard hypersonic missile – in a possible renewal of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with the United States.

Today the President signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and with it, directed the establishment of the U.S. Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will increase its military support to Libya’s internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) if necessary and will evaluate military options there.

The Department of Defence contemplates scaling down or completely withdrawing US troops from West Africa as the first phase of US reallocating its forces to address the great power competition with China and Russia, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The pilot of the Russian S-57 fighter jet safely ejected and was picked up by a Mi-8 helicopter, according to a law enforcement spokesperson.