World-renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for blasphemy, following a retrial over social media posts he made criticizing Islam: Say was prosecuted for a series of tweets criticizing Muslims, one of which said: “I am not sure if you have also realized it, but...

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...

CNN disclosed last night that Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime was moving its chemical weapons stockpile around the country, less than a day before Damascus provided inspectors with an “initial declaration” describing the unconventional weapons program. One Obama administration officials who spoke to CNN found the news cause for either comfort...

Foreign policy watchers are increasingly fearful that U.S. policy in the Middle East is pushing long-time U.S. allies to pivot to American geopolitical rivals such as Russia and China. Tom Nichols and John R. Schindler, foreign policy scholars who make it clear that they agree on almost nothing, co-published an article this...

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...

Video footage appearing to show members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operating on the ground in Syria – training and coordinating with Syrian government troops – have renewed questions regarding the extent to which the Islamic republic is directly involved in fighting the Syrian conflict. Tehran has admitted to training Shiite...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told NBC yesterday that Tehran has “never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb” and declared that that he has been given “complete authority” by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to negotiate a nuclear deal with the West. Some analysts expressed skepticism regarding these claims. The Washington Post‘s Max Fisher, who described a...

Amid a series of grim milestones associated with the Syrian-driven refugee crisis – including the displacement of over one million children – Jordan is now reporting a surge in refugees crossing its border this past week. The numbers, per the Associated Press, have crossed 900 a day: Ali Bibi, a...

Analysts are increasingly drawing attention to tics and quirks in the behavior of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, above and beyond the dictator’s alleged willingness to order Syrian troops to gas to death thousands of his country’s civilians. Evaluating a recent Fox News interview with the Syrian strongman, Richard Grenell –...