The Latest - Iran
Obama’s Way of War
Is Barack Obama a warrior president? Not in the British tradition, of course, which gave us Winston Churchill, with his crazy cavalry charge against Sudanese spears, or the more cerebral Harold Macmillan, shot to pieces in World War I. more...
Criticizing Netanyahu, Barak on Iran is a Luxury Israel Can’t Afford
While the Israeli political scene is no stranger to strident criticisms directed at senior government officials and their policies, the recent attacks on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak... more...
Clumsy Assassins
When, last October, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the FBI and DEA had thwarted a plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States by planting a bomb in a Washington, DC restaurant... more...
Israel’s Unity Deal and Lebanon
The surprise unity deal struck between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz has spurred a flurry of speculation, including in the Arab media, about its ultimate significance. more...
Nukes and a Fatwa
In the same week that Iranian nuclear negotiators in Istanbul mentioned an alleged fatwa issued by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banning nuclear weapons to offer reassurances about Iran’s peaceful nuclear intentions. more...
Analysis: Spinning Iran and al Qaeda, Part 2
In a recently released report on Osama bin Laden's files ("Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Ladin Sidelined?"), the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point begins its discussion of the relationship between al Qaeda and Iran... more...
What’s Going On in Azerbaijan?
On April 18, just days after a U.S.-led coalition wrapped up the first round of renewed nuclear negotiations with Iran, the Republic of Azerbaijan made an announcement. more...
Terrorists or Fall Guys?
The Treasury Department has issued subpoenas to the speakers’ agencies of 11 prominent former U.S. officials, including a governor of Pennsylvania, a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. more...
Analysis: Spinning Iran and al Qaeda, Part 1
Do Osama bin Laden's files disprove the idea that al Qaeda and Iran collude against their common enemies? The answer to that question would be affirmative, according to a report published by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point on May 3. more...
Negotiations That Matter
Since we don’t know what Saeed Jalili, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, said at the recent confab in Istanbul, we can’t be sure that Israeli prime minister Bibi Netanyahu was right to dismiss the powwow as a “freebie” for Tehran. more...
Iran’s Missing Nuclear Fatwa
Hillary Clinton’s State Department policy relies in part on Ayatollah Khamenei’s supposed anti-nuclear fatwa. But the edict may not even exist. more...
Gary Sick, Discredited but Honored
The so-called "October Surprise" plot that briefly enthralled the American public twenty years ago is one of the most influential political conspiracy theories in U.S. history. more...
The Islamist Road to Democracy
For many on the American left and right, the "Arab Spring" has become the "Arab Winter" of triumphant fundamentalists. In Egypt, where Arab liberalism was once strong, religious parties overwhelmed secularists in recent parliamentary elections. more...
Iran and Hamas’ Swiss Enablers
I remember roughly two years ago in September of 2010 when Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and I uncovered the Swiss heavy earth-moving equipment company Ceresola TLS agreement with Rahab Engineering Establishment in Tehran. more...
Liberate ‘Zones of Electronic Repression’!
Islamists shouldn’t be allowed to use Western technology to crush dissent. more...
Iranian Doublespeak
A key feature of the negotiations with the Iranians over their nuclear program is doublespeak. To be more precise, you’ll notice that Iranian officials offer different accounts of what they are--and are not--willing to consider. more...
The Magician Behind Iran’s Vanishing Oil Tankers
With sanctions bearing down on Iran, the Iranian shipping industry has been putting on a carnival of flim-flam to hide its doings. In the latest twist on this sanctions-dodging performance, Iran’s oil tankers have begun vanishing from the public radar. more...
The Khamenei Fatwa Is a Ruse
Speaking to reporters about Iran’s nuclear program before the weekend talks in Istanbul, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We’re looking for concrete results,” and continued, “They assert that their program is purely peaceful. more...
Iran Says No
The Obama administration set forth its demands of Iran in advance of this past weekend’s negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program. The New York Times reported on April 7 (emphasis added): more...
Iran’s Armenian Connection
On March 20, Armenian defense minister Seyran Ohanyan visited Washington, D.C. Talks focused on U.S. defense assistance to the small republic, and regional issues were also discussed. more...
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