ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

A Russian Su-30 fighter jet performs at an airshow at the Zhukovsky airfield outside Moscow, Aug. 26, 2007. Ivan Sekretarev/AP A Russian Su-30 fighter jet made an “unsafe” intercept of a US P-8A Poseidon aircraft on November 25 while it was flying over the Black Sea,  CNN  reported. “The US aircraft was operating in international airspace and did nothing to provoke this Russian behavior,” Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon said. The Russian jet’s actions were deemed unsafe because the aircraft crossed in front of the US plane from right to left while engaging its afterburners. The Russian fighter jet came as close as 50 feet from the US aircraft. Moscow has not commented on the event. Russian aviation forces regularly intercept and see the NATO jets off, with Ministry of Defense publishing reports about the foreign aircraft located near Russia’s borders. Previously a US spy plane was  intercepted  by a Russian jet in June of 2017...

FILE PHOTO © KCNA / Reuters On November 28, North Korea fired a ballistic missile, which landed in Japan’s economic zone. This was the first North Korean missile test since mid-September. The Pentagon said its initial assessment was that it was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The ICBM was launched from Sain Ni in North Korea and traveled about 1,000 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. The Japanese prime minister’s office said that the ICBM apparently landed in waters off Japan within the country’s exclusive economic zone. In response to the missile test, South Korea has staged a “precision strike” missile exercise.

Illustrative image According to former US Secretary of State John Kerry Israel and Egypt were pushing the US to “bomb Iran” before the nuclear deal was struck in 2015. He added that a number of kings and presidents told the US that a military action was the only language Iran would understand. Kerry emphasized the role of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that was “genuinely agitating toward action.” Kerry made the statement during a forum in Washington. He defended the deal and said that the military action suggestions were a “trap”. According to the former US secretary of state, te same countries would have publicly criticized the U.S. if it did carry out a bombing of Iran as they were secretly supporting. The administration of US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the Iran nuclear deal made during the Obama presidency. Trump vowed to reconsider the terms and conditions of the deal and to put an additional pressure on Iran. These statements faced a ve...

FILE IMAGE: middleeastmonitor.com Turkey seeks to expand its military mission in Syria to two other areas: western Aleppo and Afrin, bringing its forces in a potential military confronation with the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Ankara believes that this move would provide “a real environment of peace and safety” in the area. Turkey says that Kurdish militias, which are a core of the US-backed SDF, are linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) operating in Turkey and northern Iraq. Ankara designates the PKK a terrorist group. “It’s been considered that the observation mission of the Turkish armed forces in the Idlib de-escalation zone is continuing successfully, and such a mission being performed near Western Aleppo and Afrin would provide a real environment of peace and safety,” the Turkish National Security Council said in a statement. The Turkish military is involved in an “observation mission” in the militant-held part of the Syrian prov...