The Saudi Arabian news outlet Al-Hayat reported that the Iranian-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi, blamed Washington for enabling ISIS to operate on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
The militia was reacting to the recent and mysterious missile strike which killed 22 militia soldiers and injured 12 near the border town of Abu Kamal, Syria, a stronghold of the militia.
Both the Syrian regime and the militia pointed the finger at American forces, which denied responsibility for the attack. The militia also claimed that they have been the continual victim of American attacks over all their years of “fighting terror.”
Ryhan News, an Egyptian outlet, reported that the latest political developments in Iraq show, once again, the strengthening of the Iranian agenda in Iraq and, at the same time, the weakening of American influence over Iraq’s ruling elite. The outlet claims that America was one of the first supporters of former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Now, his chances of reelection are slim.
The Saudi news outlet Asharq al-Awsat reported that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held a meeting of the Committee for Economic Coordination which decided to establish to a means to confront what Iran considers to be a psychological and propaganda war being waged against the regime by the U.S.
The committee will include the president, the head of the parliament and the chief justice. The outlet quoted the Iranian news agency ISNA, which reported that the committee will counter the pressure that comes from America’s incessant negative propaganda aimed at the Iranian people to turn them against the regime.
The Saudi outlet Al Arabiya reported that the U.S. administration strongly reiterated its demand that Moscow cut Iran out of Syria after the Syrian regime sent additional forces to the southern part of the country in violation of a previous agreement. A spokesperson for the State Department said that the U.S. warned the Russian government and the Assad regime regarding complications due to these violations.
The U.S. asked Russia to restrain Syrian regime forces and prevent them from taking additional steps in southwest Syria, an area where there is currently a truce.
The American-Russian agreement guarantees that Iranian forces and their supporting militias stay far from the southern border of Syria.
The Middle East Online reports that Tunisians are worried about the political implications behind the firings of dozens of security officials that resulted from the dismissal of the interior minister from his position.
An adviser to the U.S. Congress said that his observers in Tunisia are following the dismissals to see if they are due to pressure from the Islamist party Ennahda.
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