The sanctions relief accompanying a potential nuclear deal with Iran will result in significant financial benefits to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to research published Wednesday in The National Interest. The study is by Emanuele Ottolenghi and Saeed Ghasseminejad, respectively a senior fellow and an...

The United States Department of Defense approved a massive $1.9 billion arms deal with Israel, The Times of Israel reported Wednesday. The deal would add “thousands of bombs, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles” to Israel’s arsenal for self-defense needs. The deal still requires Congressional approval. The details of the possible sale were...

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that Iran is demanding 24 days notice before international inspections of suspected nuclear sites, Reuters reported Wednesday. When asked whether there had been some progress since April, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who has been perceived as the most demanding in the talks, said the negotiations...

The United States has a strategic interest in ending the ban on exporting crude oil, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and former National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley wrote in an op-ed (Google link) in The Wall Street Journal Wednesday. Panetta and Hadley explained that the law banning the export of American...

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly ruled out international inspections of military sites or interviews with nuclear scientists, two measures that would be necessary for a deal to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Reuters reported today: The comments, broadcast live on state TV, were the latest in a...

Israel informed American authorities of an Iranian airline’s efforts to buy Airbus jets, in violation of American sanctions, but the U.S. didn’t prevent the purchase, Reuters reported today. “Israel learned from intelligence sources about this very significant breach of the sanctions in advance of it occurring,” the Israeli official, speaking on condition...