In testimony (.pdf) yesterday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Michael Doran, a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, recommended new sanctions against Iran to ensure that the United States has sufficient leverage ahead of the June deadline to conclude negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Such leverage has been diminished, Doran argued,...

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Tuesday called for additional sanctions on Iran in the event that efforts for Iran and the P5+1 to reach a framework agreement by March 2015 are unsuccessful. Menendez’s comments, delivered at the Wall Street Journal’s annual CEO council meeting, come just after...

President Barack Obama has selected former Pentagon official Ashton Carter to serve as his next Secretary of Defense, according to reports. Carter, who served as Deputy Secretary of Defense—the Pentagon’s second-highest position—from 2011-2013 and as Assistant Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton, is perceived to be particularly strong on nuclear non-proliferation issues, which may have implications...

The symbolic vote today in France’s National Assembly supporting Palestinian statehood is “a grave error” according to French-Jewish lawmaker Meyer Habib. Habib, who represents French citizen in eight Mediterranean countries including Israel, also said that the vote “will remove France from any position in which it can participate in any...

Israel appears to be heading for elections after talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid Monday night failed to conclude with an agreement. The talks were meant to address the crisis threatening the fragile coalition, Ynet news reported. Talks broke down late Monday after Lapid, chairman of the Yesh...

The P5+1 powers on Monday failed to reach an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program following a year of negotiations, and announced instead that talks would be extended through June 2015. Buzzfeed Politics noted that the parties had “not even produced a framework agreement,” which Iranian officials had floated as likely...