Journalists today continued to report on the aftermath of Senate briefings conducted yesterday by top Obama administration officials including Secretary of State John Kerry, in which the White House pressured senators to hold off imposing new sanctions on Iran in the lead-up to talks scheduled for next week. The stance...

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Analysts continue to debate the details of the failed deal proposed last weekend between the international community and Iran, discussing both the substantive concerns of skeptics and the political consequences of what was very early on described by critics as over-eagerness by the Obama administration to cut a deal at...

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Senators walked out of a Banking Committee briefing given by Secretary of State John Kerry this afternoon expressing renewed dissatisfaction with the administration’s approach to negotiations with Iran, and blasting administration officials for attacking the credibility and concerns of both of U.S. allies and of other U.S. lawmakers. Speaking on...

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Secretary of State John Kerry traveled today to the Hill to pressure Senators to delay placing additional financial restrictions on Ira, after weekend’s failed negotiations in Geneva had triggered analysis suggesting that Tehran was not yet prepared to make meaningful concessions on its nuclear program. Calls quickly grew for Congress to pass...

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Various theories on why last weekend’s negotiations with Iran failed to bridge differences between Tehran and the international community continue to swirl. Some new reports are pointing to Iranian demands that the West acknowledge that it has a right to enrich uranium (it doesn’t). Others continue to emphasize early leaks that had France objecting...

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Secretary of State John Kerry will brief Senators tomorrow on the administration’s efforts to secure an interim agreement with Iran regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, which this weekend floundered after Iran reportedly refused to yield on demands that global powers recognize its “right” to enrich uranium. Senators have indicated that they will...

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The Syrian Opposition Coalition – the main opposition group backed by the West in the now almost three year old conflict – agreed yesterday to join troubled and oft-delayed peace talks to be held in Geneva. They just have a couple of conditions: Although the Syrian Opposition Coalition’s announcement was...

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The Christian Science Monitor reports on efforts being made across the Middle East in general – and Egypt in particular – to push back against Islamist violence targeting them and their communities. A recent massacre during a Coptic wedding refocused attention on the subject, but southern Egypt had in fact...

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The BBC yesterday posted quotes from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif describing sectarian strife between Sunnis and Shiites as – per the outlet – “probably the most serious threat to world security.” Zarif’s assessments come a week after the BBC posted footage captured from an Iranian cameraman who had...

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The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom had already last May identified Iran a as “tier 1 country of particular concern,” citing among other things the case of American pastor Saeed Abedini, a Christian leader who had already been imprisoned over 200 days. News began to emerge over the...

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