U.S. Conducting 'Serious Review' of Alleged Iran Missile Test By LOUIS CHARBONNEAU and MICHELLE NICHOLS, Reuters 8 December 2015   File photo of Iranian-made missiles at Holy Defence Museum in Tehran September 23, 2015. Copyright 2015 REUTERS/RAHEB HOMAVANDI/TIMA   The United States is reviewing and seeking to confirm reports that Iran launched a ballistic missile last month in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, U.S. Ambassador

Americans Released as Iran Nuclear Deal Implemented, Missile Sanctions Announced By J. Dana Stuster, Foreign Policy 18 January 2016   The United Nations and individual nations lifted their nuclear-related sanctions on Iran this weekend after the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran had met its obligations under the agreement reached with the P5+1 in July 2015. Under the terms of the deal, Iran has shipped much of its stockpile

American Blackmail By Sarah Stern, Israel Hayom 10 January 2016   Yossi Melman, noted Israeli author and security analyst, who is certainly no right-winger, wrote a piece in a recent edition of The Jerusalem Report which opens with: "The U.S administration is concerned about the possibility of a new confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the International Atomic Energy Agency's latest nuclear shenanigans. 'We hope

A Final Hurdle in Iran Talks Deals With Conventional, Not Nuclear, Arms Michael R. Gordon, David E. Sanger, New York Times 10 July 2015   VIENNA — One of the last major obstacles to concluding a historic nuclear deal with Iran is a dispute over a set of United Nations sanctions that appeared to be resolved months ago and only peripherally has to do with nuclear weapons. The sanctions, passed in a series of resolutions by the United Nations

Iran Opens Campaign to Lay Blame on U.S. if Nuclear Talks Fail Thomas Erdbrink, New York Times 10 July 2015   Image: Secretary of State John Kerry with Jonathan Finer, left, the State Department’s chief of staff, and other members of the American delegation in Vienna for negotiations on Friday. Credit Pool photo by Carlos Barria TEHRAN — As nuclear negotiations in Vienna grind on through deadline after deadline, Iranian officials have

  The Middle East Daily: a news brief from the Middle East ChannelForeign Policy 08 June 2015   Erdogan Loses Majority in Turkish Election Turkey’s dominant Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its parliamentary majority in elections yesterday. Though it retains a plurality of seats after receiving 41 percent of the vote, the election marked its worst showing since 2002. Analysts say it may struggle to form a coalition government -- already,

The Ghosts That Haunt an Iran Accord Kai Bird, The New York Times 28 April 2015   The Iran deal is probably going to happen — and this is a good thing. The Islamic Republic ostensibly gives up its surreptitious race for the bomb in exchange for an end to economic sanctions. Absolutely, there are grave uncertainties, but the alternative may well be a military conflagration that is in no one’s interest. For the first time in 36 years, the deal

Putin Lifts Ban on Russian Missile Sales to Iran Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times 13 April 2015   MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin on Monday approved the delivery of a sophisticated air defense missile system to Iran, potentially complicating negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program and further straining ties with Washington. The sale could also undermine the Obama administration’s efforts to sell Congress and foreign allies on the

Iran Backs Away From Key Detail in Nuclear Deal David E. Sanger and Michael R. Gordon, New York Times 29 March 2015 LAUSANNE, Switzerland — With a negotiating deadline just two days away, Iranian officials on Sunday backed away from a critical element of a proposed nuclear agreement, saying they are no longer willing to ship their atomic fuel out of the country. For months, Iran tentatively agreed that it would send a large portion of its stockpile

Iran Matters Most Roger Cohen, New York Times 30 March 2015 Do the Iran deal. Defeat the barbaric marauders of Islamic State. In the fragmenting mayhem of the Middle East, these must be the American and Western priorities. They are objectives rooted in the strict Western interest. An Iranian nuclear accord lasting at least a decade that ring-fences a fiercely monitored and strictly limited enrichment program compatible only with civilian use is not