In an op-ed published the call in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, top U.S. lawmakers Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) called for “immediate steps” to increase pressure on Iran, urging the Senate to enact new sanctions as “the only way to persuade the Iranian leadership to change course.”  . The...

An Egyptian military source told journalists over the weekend that a mysterious blast in the northern Sinai Peninsula last week – which had been ascribed to an Israeli drone strike – was in fact the result of an unannounced security operation to crack down on “terrorists and jihadists.” Confusion has swirled around...

Concerns that began to emerge early this week regarding extremists inside the proposed cabinet of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani deepened this week. Rouhani has promised to moderate Iran’s foreign policy, but observers have raised concerns that his new foreign policy team is committed to bolstering Hezbollah, and that he himself is...

The Iranian parliament began debate yesterday on the proposed cabinet of newly inaugurated president Hassan Rouhani. A formal vote of confidence is expected to follow. Western analysts had already described the cabinet as stacked with regime insiders drawn from Iran’s security services. Particular concerns are now being raised, however, over Rouhani’s proposed foreign policy...

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday lashed out against renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, calling on the Muslim world to support the Palestinian cause and condemn Israel: “The Muslim world must not back down from its support for Palestine, and it should condemn the oppressive action of fierce Zionist wolves and...

Foreign Sunni fighters continue to pour into Syria, and are carving out areas that are being used as havens by jihadists: As foreign fighters pour into Syria at an increasing clip, extremist groups are carving out pockets of territory that are becoming havens for Islamist militants, posing what United States and...

Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiators had long declared that they would not return to U.S.-backed peace negotiations unless Israel committed to releasing prisoners linked to violence and terrorism. Israel committed to releasing 104 such prisoners, emphasizing that the move was a good will gesture aimed at restarting talks. The list of...

Syrian Christians are experiencing their own version of what the Associated Press describes – in the context of Egypt – as a “stepped-up hate campaign” by Islamists. In Egypt the pretexts used by Islamists are political. Supporters of former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi have leveled conspiracy theories linking the country’s...

The United States has dispatched a series of its most senior military officers to Israel, where they have been meeting with counterparts and discussing a range of regional issues. High on all of the agendas is Iran. Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffis, is due to...

Iran’s parliament has begun formally debating the proposed cabinet of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, with a vote of confidence expected to come later this week. For their part, Western analysts are scrutinizing Rouhani’s cabinet picks for signals as to what policies a Rouhani administration is likely to pursue. A policy...