ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Click to see the full-size map On May 12, the Libyan National Army (LNA) reinforced its positions around the city of Derna in northeastern Libya deploying an infantry battalion near the western entrance of the city and in the valley of Kirissah west of it, according to Africa Gate News. The news agency also reported that heavy clashes had erupted between the LNA and members of the Shura Council of Mujahedeen in Derna (SCMD) in the al-Helah area, south of Derna. Following these clashes, the LNA artillery targeted several positions of the SCMD inside Derna. The LNA, led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, launched  a military operation to capture Derna  from the SCMD on May 7. Since then, the LNA has captured several positions from the radical group east and southeast of the city. According to observers, the deployment of more troops around Derna indicates that the LNA is preparing to launch its main ground attack on the SCMD positions inside the city soon.

Written by  Peter Korzun ; Originally appeared on  strategic-culture.org In January, Russia hosted the Congress of Syrian National Dialog in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. It has been the most representative forum thus far to discuss the conflict in Syria. Moscow invited Beijing to take part in the event as an observer. The Russian government believes that China is too important to be denied a role in the process of bringing peace to that war-torn country. Post-war Syria is a scene of devastation. The creation of de-escalation zones has worked well to establish a cease-fire and a pause to catch one’s breath before the work of reconstruction begins. The Western powers are very unlikely to help rebuild Syria as long as Assad’s government, which is backed by Russia and Iran, remains in power. Legislation that has been dubbed the “No Assistance for Assad Act”  has passed  the US House of Representatives and has been read twice in the Senate. The bill seeks to channel US aid exclusivel

SOURCE: facebook.com/Encyclopedia.of.Syrian.military/ More details have appeared about  the Syrian Air Defense Forces’ Pantsir-S short to medium range air defense system , which was destroyed by Israel during  the May 10 encounter . The picture from the site where the air defense system was destroyed allowed to get a more precise picture of the May 10 incident. It appears that the Pantsir-S was not in a combat position, including radar, after it had fired all of its missiles at some targets. The position of hydrostructs allows to suggest that the system was preparing to move for reloading. It should be noted that initially multiple pro-opposition sources used the Israeli video of the Pantsir-S destruction to mock the Syrian Air Defense Forces as unprofessional. Now, when more details have appeared, such statements look much more questionable.

Written by  Mike Whitney ; Originally appeared at  The Unz Review Did Donald Trump scrap the Iran nuke’s deal to pay back his pro-Israel campaign donors? Political analyst Eli Clifton seems to think so, and he argues the point pretty persuasively too. Here’s an except from his article at the Lobe Log: “President Donald Trump has just fulfilled a campaign pledge to tear up the Obama administration’s signature foreign policy achievement…the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. (The Iran Nukes deal)….. ….today’s unpopular announcement may have been exactly what two of Trump’s biggest donors, Sheldon Adelson and Bernard Marcus, and what one of his biggest inaugural supporters, Paul Singer, paid for when they threw their financial weight behind Trump. Marcus and Adelson, who are also board members of the Likudist Republican Jewish Coalition, have already received substantial returns on their investment: total alignment by the U.S. behind Israel… Adelson… contributed $35

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has mocked President Donald Trump over a leaked email to Persian Gulf states by saying that Washington “wants to own humiliated slaves”. According to Khamenei, Trump wrote to in he email: “I spent $7 trillion and you must do something in return.” The New York Times citing own source confirmed that Trump had sent two the US allies two emails saying that the US has spent too much money to help allies in the Middle East and calling on the allies to contribute more efforts to counter Iran. Additionally, Trump allegedly called on the allies to act more actively in regards of the Syrian conflict. Khamenei.ir @khamenei_ir A few days ago Trump wrote a letter to leaders of # PersianGulf states, which was revealed to us. He wrote: "I spent $7 trillion and you must do something in return." The U.S. wants to own humiliated slaves. 13:06 - 9 May 2018 850 439 people are talking about this Twitter Ads infor

Newly elected Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinian. SOURCE: THANASSIS STAVRAKIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS Written by  J.Hawk  exclusively for  SouthFront On the face of it, one should not be overly concerned with the events in Armenia on the grounds that “immutable structural factors” prevent Armenia from breaking off its relations with Russia and embracing the EU and even NATO. For starters, Armenia lacks its own equivalent of Galician nationalism. There were no Armenian Waffen-SS divisions, there is no Armenian Stepan Bandera. The memory of the Armenian Genocide, whose existence Turkey still denies, is a major barrier to moving toward the West because in practical terms it would mean moving toward Turkey, and into its neo-Ottoman, pan-Turkic sphere of influence where there is plainly no room for it. The conflict with Azerbaijan is still unresolved, as is the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, with periodic exchanges of fire between Armenian and Azeri troops making this the hottest post

On May 11, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) released a series of photos showing alleged Iranian facilities, which were targeted by the May 10 Israeli strikes on Syria.  MORE ABOUT THE STRIKE