Top officials from Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned Iranian diplomats over the weekend that they were courting danger by diplomatically engaging the United States. A statement issued by the IRGC was not very subtly directed toward “those who favor interaction”: “Historical experiences make it necessary for the diplomatic...

Reports are slowly beginning to leak about the speech that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will give next week at the United Nations. In addition to reviewing how the North Koreans strung along the West while developing nuclear weapons, Netanyahu will make specific arguments about Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Both Iran’s...

Last month Iranian diplomats who spoke to Al-Monitor floated rumors that Hamas was seeking to reestablish close ties with Tehran, after a period that saw the Palestinian terror group drift toward Sunni extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood’s decline in Egypt had, according to both those diplomats...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is blaming Israel for – per Iran’s Fars news agency – being the “main cause of regional insecurity” across the Middle East. The recently inaugurated revolutionary-era cleric made the comments in an interview aired Thursday with NBC’s Ann Curry, blasting the Jewish state for bringing “instability...

Deepening ties between Iran and Pakistan are triggering expressions of concerns – and, in the case of sanctions-busting energy deals, explicit warnings – from U.S. officials. Iranian media reported this week on overtures by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, which involved emphasizing – according to state-controlled Press TV – “the cultural,...

Newly inaugurated Iranian president Hassan Rouhani last night refused to answer a direct question from NBC journalist Ann Curry regarding his stance – agree or disagree – on statements made by his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioning the historical reality of the Holocaust. Rouhani answered “I’m not a historian, I’m a politician.” The...