The DNC Jerusalem Back Story
The Democratic National Committee has added an amendment to its 2012 platform, saying that Jerusalem is and will remain the undivided capital of Israel. The language, similar to that in the DNC 2008...
View ArticleEU-3 Call for Intensifying Sanctions on Iran Amid Stalemate
The British, French and German foreign ministers called for toughening European Union sanctions on Iran, as Western powers sought to counter Iran's nuclear defiance and deter possible Israeli military...
View ArticleNetanyahu Lashes Out at Allies, Demands Deadlines for Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unleashed a tirade against the United States and European allies Tuesday, September 11, for not publicly setting deadlines on Iran, while urging Israeli...
View ArticleObama Condemns Killing Of Ambassador Stevens
President Obama expressed heartbreak and outrage over the killing of US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other US personnel at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, reports Laura Rozen for...
View ArticleClinton Calls on Mideast Leaders To Reject Violence of Mobs
Hillary Clinton called for a rejection of mob violence in the Mideast. "The people of Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Tunisia did not trade the tyranny of a dictator for the tyranny of a mob," the US...
View ArticleNuclear Issue Tired, Sighs Ahmadinejad
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the nuclear issue “is a very tiresome subject” on his eighth visit to New York as Iran’s leader, reports Laura Rozen for Al-Monitor. Ahmadinejad did not...
View ArticleForeign Minister: Nuclear Bomb Would Decrease Iran’s Security
Iran's foreign minister has said nuclear weapons wouldn't increase regional stability, reports Laura Rozen. Ali Akbar Salehi said that Iran acquiring nuclear bombs would increase the threats it faces,...
View ArticleAs Iranian Rial Plunges, Protests Erupt in Tehran
Protests erupted in the center of Tehran Wednesday as riot police closed black-market currency-exchange shops. Laura Rozen reports that the protests, calling for the resignation of Iran’s President...
View ArticleLawyer for Grimm Ex-Fundraiser Taking Case to Trial
Ofer Biton, a former fundraiser to Rep. Michael Grimm and former aide to Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, was arrested by the FBI on an immigration-fraud charge and released to house arrest last week...
View ArticleRabbi Questioned in Israel as Ex-Aide Due in Court
Mystic rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto has been questioned in Israel on allegations that he tried to bribe a senior Israeli police investigator for information on a money-laundering case. The questioning...
View ArticleTexas Man Pleads Guilty in Plot To Assassinate Saudi Envoy
A former Texas used-car salesman pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring with Iran in a plot to assassinate the Saudi envoy to the United States, US law-enforcement officials announced. Tehran denies...
View ArticleExxon to Pull Out of Southern Iraq
ExxonMobil will pull out of southern Iraq to move forward with its Kurdish oil-exploration contracts, an energy-expert source told Laura Rozen on condition of anonymity. The oil giant’s contracts with...
View ArticleAnnan Faults West for Collapse Of Syria Mediation Efforts
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has faulted western countries’ insistence on a UN Security Council resolution in part for the breakdown of the Syria mediation efforts he pursued as joint...
View ArticleBuzz Grows Around Veteran Iranian Insider
A veteran adviser to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is playing an increasingly public role in Iranian foreign policy and politics, after years of operating more behind the scenes in the...
View ArticleIsrael and Iran Attend Arms Talks in Brussels
Israel and Iran attended a European nonproliferation conference in Brussels this week. Laura Rozen reports that Israeli and European diplomats downplayed the significance of the meeting and said that...
View ArticleObservers fear Gaza conflict could escalate
Israel has announced that 15 Palestinians had been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza. Western defense sources expressed concern about the potential for the conflict to rapidly...
View ArticleCairo Hosts Gaza Talks as Parties Seek to Avert Israeli Invasion
Cairo is hosting four-way talks on the Gaza crisis, as regional parties seek to move Hamas and Israel to a cease-fire and avert an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
View ArticleUS, Israel Headed for Defeat as UN Votes on Palestine Status
The United States and Israel appear to be heading for a crushing defeat, writes Laura Rozen. A vast majority of the world’s countries have indicated they will support Palestine's bid for non-member...
View ArticleIran’s Mixed Signals on Enrichment
The Obama administration is trying to read Iran’s mixed signals on Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, writes Laura Rozen.
View ArticleSyrian Defense Minister, Assad Brother-in-Law Killed in Blast
Syria's defense minister and Bashar al-Assad's powerful brother-in-law were killed in the suicide bombing of a cabinet meeting in Damascus Wednesday, and several other ministers were critically...
View ArticleHezbollah and Iran May Need Plan B After Syria Bombing
Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah and Iran seemed stunned a day after several members of Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle were assassinated at a cabinet meeting in Damascus, writes Laura Rozen. Neither...
View ArticleUS Authorizes Financial Support For the Free Syrian Army
The US government granted the Syrian Support Group, an organization that supports the Free Syrian Army, authority to provide financial and logistical support to the armed Syrian resistance....
View ArticleConcerns Mount That Israel Is Losing Patience on Iran Plan
As the Obama administration doubles down on sanctions, some in Washington worry that Israel is running out of patience with the US, writes Laura Rozen. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other...
View ArticleUS Courts Emerging Leaders in Syria to Avoid Iraq Pitfalls
As the US scrambles to establish ties with the Syrian opposition, it's also trying hard to avoid an exile-centric strategy that risks repeating the debacle of Iraq, write Al-Monitor's Barbara Slavin...
View ArticleUS Iraq Envoy Sees 'Great Deal of Continuity' From Bush to Obama
In an exit interview, departing US Iraq envoy James Jeffrey tells Al-Monitor's Laura Rozen how negotiations for a US follow-on force in Iraq ran aground, about prospects for diplomacy with Iran and how...
View ArticleEx-Obama Official Warns: Take Israel Iran Threat 'Very Seriously'
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl told Al-Monitor's Laura Rozen that he takes the signs that Israeli leaders are contemplating a fall strike on Iran “very seriously.” He said...
View ArticleDennis Ross: Israel's Iran Threats Aimed at Spurring Global Action
Part of Israel's motivation for being so public about a possible attack on Iran is to prepare Israelis and the rest of the world for an actual attack, said Mideast troubleshooter Dennis Ross in an...
View ArticleUS Scholars: Designate Israeli Extremists as Terrorists
Two prominent US Middle East scholars are urging the US to officially designate as terrorists Israeli extremists who perpetrate violence against Palestinian and Israeli citizens — even moderate...
View ArticleEric Cantor Tied to Rabbi Whose Aide Is at Center of Probe
An influential rabbi whose former aide is embroiled in a campaign finance investigation has ties to one of the most powerful members of Congress, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, according to...
View ArticleThe Filmmaker Who Wasn't
Many media accounts have named "Sam Bacile" as the "filmmaker" behind an anti-Islamic video that has sparked outrage in the Mideast. But the name appears to be phony, and Laura Rozen reveals details...
View ArticleIran Group MEK's Delisting Doesn't Signal US Approval
The US removed a controversial Iranian opposition group from its list of terrorist organizations, Barbara Slavin and Laura Rozen report for Al-Monitor, after most of its members decamped from their...
View ArticleIsrael's Netanyahu Warns of Iran Threat, Eases Up on US
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toned down his ultimatums to President Barack Obama Thursday and focused on Iran, displaying a crude drawing of a bomb to dramatize his concerns about Iran’s...
View ArticleSyrian Minister Says US Ignores 'Lessons of Afghanistan'
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, who rarely speaks to the Western press, cast violence in Syria as a war against Salafi terrorists backed by...
View ArticleFormer Israeli Spymaster: We Need To Talk to Iran
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, former Israeli spy chief Efraim Halevy said Israel and the US must engage in a dialogue with Iran to understand how their adversaries think, a position rarely...
View ArticleObama Wins 70% of Jewish Vote
Al-Monitor's Laura Rozen reports on how President Obama overwhelmingly won the Jewish vote despite Mitt Romney’s campaign claim that he was a better friend to Israel.
View ArticleUS Considers Offering 'More for More' to Iran
Al-Monitor's Barbara Slavin and Laura Rozen have confirmed that the Obama administration is looking for a solid bilateral channel with Iran that will augment multilateral talks and enable the two sides...
View ArticleE1 Zone No-Build Policy 'No Longer Relevant'
Israel reacts to the Palestinian Authority's winning of observer non-member state status at the United Nations with real-world crackdowns: withholding payment of tax revenues to the Authority and...
View ArticleObama Urged to Sep Up Diplomacy on Iran
National-security experts from across the political spectrum are urging US President Obama to pursue bolder diplomacy with Iran, including offering a nuclear deal that would include sanctions relief,...
View ArticleObama Urged to Step Up Iran Diplomacy: Laura Rozen Reports
National-security experts from across the political spectrum are urging US President Obama to pursue bolder diplomacy with Iran, including offering a nuclear deal that would include sanctions relief,...
View ArticleUS Diplomat: 'Clear Path' Coming for Iran Sanctions Relief
Western diplomats have announced they will put sanctions relief on the table when they meet with Iranian negotiators in Kazakhstan, offering the Iranians a “clear pathway” to further relief and a...
View ArticleIran, P5+1 Agree to New Nuclear Talks in Istanbul, Almaty
Negotiators from Iran and six world powers have announced they will further discuss a new international proposal to curb Iran’s 20% enrichment and nuclear-breakout capacity in exchange for some...
View ArticleUS, Iran Teams Head to Istanbul For Nuclear-Experts Talks
Arms-control officials from Iran and six world powers are heading to Istanbul to discuss a new nuclear proposal as Iranian leaders intensify debate about possible direct US talks, reports Laura Rozen.
View Article'Most Substantive' Iran Talks Find Narrow Area of Agreement
Iranian nuclear experts have said they are considering suspending 20% enrichment for six months in what American officials described as “the most substantive conversation they ever had” with the...
View ArticleWho is Saeed Jalili?
Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili has Khamenei's trust and may get the backing of Iran’s state machine for his presidential run.
View ArticleTom Donilon to Step Down, Susan Rice to Succeed as NCA
Susan Rice will succeed a resigning Tom Donilon to become President Obama's National Security Advisor.
View ArticleRouhani Proposes to Increase Nuclear Transparency
Iran’s president-elect Hassan Rouhani, in his first press conference stressed he would take a pragmatic and moderate approach to improve Iran’s relations in the world and reduce tensions with the...
View ArticleLet's Not 'Dig Any Deeper,' Advise Former US Envoys to Egypt
Daniel Kurtzer and Frank Wisner, two former US envoys to Egypt, advise that given the uncertainty and violence there, Washington should avoid commenting on the situation for now.
View ArticleEncouraged by Rouhani Election, US Urges Iran to EngageEncouraged by Rouhani...
With the election of Hassan Rouhani, the United States is cautiously optimistic about serious negotiations with Iran when nuclear talks resume in the fall, says a senior US administration...
View ArticleKerry May Tap Indyk as Peace Envoy
Former US ambassador to Israel and Near East envoy Martin Indyk may help US Secretary of State John Kerry conduct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
View ArticleFormer US Envoy to Egypt: 'Nobody Wins' in Latest Violence
Frank Wisner, former US Ambassador to Egypt, says that the US should recognize the limits of its influence in the present crisis.
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