The US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

1 Syria

The Syrian Foreign Ministry announced that the report of the OPCW is a falsification of facts. The report claims that in February of 2018, the Syrian Air Force dropped a chlorine bomb on the terrorist-held city of Seraqib. «The OPCW report was built on the report of the so-called ’investigation and identification group’, which is not recognized by Syria, and a large number of the OPCW member-countries» — the ’SANA’ news agency quoted the statement. «The report includes false conclusions, which represent an another scandalous attack. The conclusions were based on materials, provided by the terrorists, and the intelligence agencies of countries, hostile to Syria. The OPCW experts didn’t personally visit the site of the alleged incident, and they didn’t take samples, which violates the accepted norms and procedures» — the statement reported and added that «Syria categorically denies the use of poisonous substances in Seraqib, or in any other Syrian city or village».

2 The USA — Afghanistan

The CNN reported that Joe Biden made the decision to pull the US troops from Afghanistan by 11th of September. It was noted that this decision was made despite the fact that a number of the administration officials expressed their concerns about how the complete withdrawal of the US troops would affect the US counter-terrorism mission. They also expressed a concern for the security of the US diplomats in the country. The ’TOLO News’ TV reported that the Taliban viewed the Washington’s decision to pull the troops from Afghanistan by 11th of September, rather than 1st of May, as a violation of an agreement, reached with the USA. The Taliban officials stated that the violation «paves the way for all necessary counter-measures, and the USA will be held accountable for all the future consequences».

3 Iraq

The ’Reuters’ reported that the Erbil airport in the Iraqi Kurdistan, in which a US military base is located, was attacked. It was reported that a UAV dropped the explosive near the airport. Presumably the target of the attack could be the US servicemen. According to the Reuters — no-one was hurt. The ’Sky News Arabia’ reported that the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mustafa al-Kazimi, has ordered an investigation of the attack. He stated that «maintaining the security in Iraq is the responsibility of the Iraqi government and the security forces.»

4 Iraq

An explosion occurred in the east of Baghdad. 1 person was killed, 12 were injured — the Iraqi Government Security Information Service reported. The explosion took place in one of the markets of the Habibiya district, in the east of Baghdad. The ’Al Arabiya’ TV reported that it was a car-bomb.

5 Iran

The Iranian deputy foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, stated that Tehran will continue the negotiations on the nuclear deal «if the negotiations take a constructive direction». Otherwise, the Iranian delegation is ready to end the negotiations. «Iran doesn’t seek to conduct negotiations that are only a waste of time» — the press service of the Iranian government quoted Aragchi. He made such statement before the start of the yet another round of the meeting of the Joint Commission on the nuclear deal, which is taking place in Vienna.

6 Russia — The USA

Joe Biden signed a decree imposing sanctions against Russia. The US Treasury has imposed sanctions against 16 organizations and 16 individuals, which, according to Washington, are associated with the Russian interference in the US elections. The USA expels 10 employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in Washington. The USA prohibit the US companies from directly purchasing the Russian debt securities issued by the Central Bank and the Russian Ministry of Finances. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the USA will face counter-actions by Russia. «Washington must realize that the degradation of the relations will be costly. All the responsibility for what is happening lays entirely on the USA» — Zakharova stated. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ’ANNA NEWS’.