How Victims of the US’ “Maximum Pressure” Campaign Are Coping with Coronavirus

Despite crippling sanctions, years of war, military intervention and a “maximum pressure “campaign that has only increased since the coronavirus began, victims of America’s heavy-handed foreign policy are rising to the challenge.

Vanessa Beeley
By Vanessa Beeley
US Sanctions Coronavirus Feature photo

As Western nations descend into a panic over the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are getting a taste of what it’s like for the millions who have been living under U.S. sanctions and warfare. Iran has been hit hard by the pandemic with 850 confirmed deaths to date. It’s Rial lost 80 percent of its value and food costs have nearly doubled. With

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Podcast: Vanessa Beeley Unpacks the Idlib Crisis and the Fight for Syria’s Oil, Gas and Water

Vanessa Beeley weighs in on the crisis in Idlib, Syria, the geopolitical agendas at play and how civilians are scrambling for survival amid a fight for Syria’s major oil, gas and water reserves.

Whitney Webb
Mnar Adley
By Whitney Webb
And Mnar Adley
Vanessa Beeley Idlib Podcast

Welcome to MintCast, the official weekly MintPress News podcast hosted by Mnar Muhawesh and Whitney Webb. MintCast is an interview podcast featuring dissenting voices, independent researchers and journalists who the establishment would rather silence. In this episode, we are joined by journalist Vanessa Beeley, who is covering the conflict in

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The Battle for Idlib: Did Erdogan Capitulate to Putin in Moscow?

Did Russia grant Turkey a quasi-permanent occupation zone inside of Syria in exchange for a broader troop withdrawal from Idlib?

Phil Barbelé
By Phil Barbelé
Turkey Syria Feature photo

There was a celebration in Syria when Russia announced a ceasefire agreement with Turkey on March 3 following a six-hour meeting between Presidents Erdogan and Putin in Moscow. Under the agreement, Erdogan agreed to pull back Turkish forces and not to contest territory that Syria had recently reclaimed from terrorist groups in eastern Aleppo and

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The New Idlib Ceasefire Forces Turkey-Backed Extremists to Fall Back

Putin and Erdoğan met in Moscow in a last-ditch effort to strike a deal over the escalating violence in Idlib, Syria. Steven Sahiounie weighs in on who prevailed and what likely comes next.

Steven Sahiounie
By Steven Sahiounie
Idlib Syria Feature photo

Mideast Discourse — Turkey increased its military invasion of Syria last month to prevent the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) from liberating Idlib province from the occupation of terrorists, who are supported by Turkey and had been supported by the US before 2017 when President Trump cut off their funding through the CIA. The invasion of thousands of

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France’s Fingerprints Are All Over Terrorist Groups in Idlib Syria

France’s support for extremist groups in Syria, particularly near Idlib, dates back to the earliest days of the 2011 CIA-backed anti-government rebellion.

Steven Sahiounie
By Steven Sahiounie
Syria Idlib Feature photo

Mideast Discourse -- FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr, a specialist in jihadist networks, recently spoke via Skype with French recruiter Omar Omsen, the head of the jihadist group Furkat-al-Ghuraba, an Al Qaeda affiliate in Idlib. There are numerous French terrorists in Idlib today, fighting to establish an Islamic state out of a small piece of secular

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Scuffle Between Syrian Civilians and US Soldiers Reflects Increasing Hostility to US Troops

Though today’s incident in Qamishli is a rare occurrence, it is likely a harbinger of the region-wide push that has seen countries like Syria and Iraq take a firmer posture towards the presence of US troops in their countries.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Syria US troops Feature photo

As resistance to U.S. troop presence in both Iraq and Syria gains steam, a rare scuffle between Syrian civilians and U.S. forces broke out on Wednesday resulting in the death of one Syrian, believed to be a civilian, and the wounding of another. A U.S. soldier was also reportedly injured in the scuffle. The event is likely to escalate tensions,

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