Washington is seeking to downplay tensions with Riyadh over the West’s recent diplomacy with Iran, after Saudi Arabian Prince Turki al-Faisal was quoted by the Wall Street Journal this weekend highlighting deep skepticism inside Kingdom and within other Gulf countries regarding a deal announced last month between the P5+1 global...

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National Journal last night reported that progress is being made on advancing bipartisan Senate legislation that would impose sanctions on Iran if the Islamic republic fails to dismantle its nuclear program during an upcoming negotiation period. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, the lead Republican working on a bipartisan Iran sanctions bill, told reporters...

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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told CBS News this weekend that Iran is willing to restart implementation talks revolving around  the recently announced Geneva interim agreement. “We are committed to the plan of action and the implementation of Geneva – but we believe it takes two to tango,” Zarif said. “The process...

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Statements from a top Saudi Arabian official published over the weekend have the potential to deepen concerns that the US’s traditional Arab allies are preparing to pivot away from Washington – and potentially towards American rivals – as actors throughout the region continue sorting themselves into three solidifying and opposing camps. The Wall Street...

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Turkey is preparing to exploit the reduction in Iran’s financial and diplomatic isolation, threatening to undermine Obama administration assertions that the relief granted to the Islamic republic under the recently announced Joint Plan of Action is “limited, temporary, targeted, and reversible.” Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense...

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There is ‘no end in sight’ for talks aimed at implementing the Geneva interim agreement announced last month between the global P5+1 powers and Iran, according to an Agence France-Presse article that was published last week. “There are definite differences of opinion on the interpretation (of the Geneva text). Not that I...

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Iran last Friday halted negotiations aimed at implementing the recently announced Joint Plan of Action (JPA) between the P5+1 global powers and Tehran, with reports indicating that the Iranians had walked out in protest of new Department of Treasury measures targeting companies and individuals in violation of U.S. restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear...

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The Washington Free Beacon late on Thursday published details of measures emerging from the House of Representatives seeking to – per the outlet – “reset the terms of a controversial nuclear accord reached between Iran and Western nations several weeks ago in Geneva.” The new bipartisan Iran measure, which was filed Thursday evening...

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Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham earlier this week brushed aside statements from U.S. officials insisting that Washington can easily reverse the erosion in sanctions entailed by the recent Geneva interim agreement. “We think that based on the negotiations (held between Iran and the world powers) and the Joint Plan...

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Reversing assurances given last week to the Pulitzer Prize winning site PolitiFact by a National Security Council (NSC) source, the White House yesterday admitted to the Washington Free Beacon that an Iranian ballistic missile test would not put Tehran in violation of the recently signed Geneva agreement. “That statement on ballistic missiles is incorrect,”...

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