ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

FILE IMAGE Translated from Russian. Originally appeared at  colonelcassad blog Following the meeting of Russia, Iran, and Turkey in Sochi, where the end of the war was announced and the beginning of the post-war regulation process meant to decide Syria’s future took place, the US media began reporting on the fact that the US plans to stay in Syria despite the collapse of ISIS, and also will use the Kurds to pressure al-Assad’s government. This has been mentioned repeatedly: despite officially supporting Syria’s territorial integrity, unofficially they try to strike back for their strategic failure at toppling al-Assad’s government, which was unsuccessful mainly thanks to Russia and Iran. Washington repeatedly voiced its dissatisfaction with the way war in Syria went, along with anxieties regarding the consequences for the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia concerning the growing role of Russia and Iran in the region. The White House does not state this officially, as the US und...

Russian warships are seen during a rehearsal for the Navy Day parade in Sevastopol, Crimea, July 24, 2015. REUTERS/Pavel Rebrov Russian military counterintelligence has detained a civilian employee of the Black Sea Fleet,  RIA  reports, citing an anonymous source. According to the source, the former fleet officer is suspected of “spying for another country”. The country he was sending information to was not specified. The man is detained, and the matter is being investigated according to the source. Local sources say that the detained person is likely an Ukrainian spy. Back in September two people from Crimea  were arrested  on suspicion of being spies for Ukraine. Allegedly they sent classified information about the Black Sea Fleet to Ukrainian special services. One of the arrested was a serviceman stationed in Crimea. Back in April the authorities  detained  a supposed Ukrainian spy in Samara. During interrogations, the man admitted collecti...

FILE – In this March 27, 2015 file photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, right, greets Supreme Leader Ay Undredited/AP The US Treasury Department  designated  on November 20 an Iranian network that has procured “advanced equipment and materials to print counterfeit Yemeni banknotes potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars” for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Qods Force in order to supply them with counterfeit currency. One of the four branches of the IRGC, the Qods Force is in charge of external operations. “This scheme exposes the deep levels of deception the IRGC-Qods Force is willing to employ against companies in Europe, governments in the Gulf, and the rest of the world to support its destabilizing activities.  Counterfeiting strikes at the heart of the international financial system, and the fact that elements of the government of Iran are ...