Analysts are focusing on deepening concerns that Turkey may be moving away from the West and pivoting both toward geopolitical rivals such as China and regional antagonists such as Iran. Newsweek describes Ankara’s moves as a shift toward an Islamist model: But recent dramatic shifts in policy may also be part of...

• Kindle

The U.S.’s Israeli and Arab allies are said to be furious over a deal, which the West is widely reported to be close to finalizing with Iran, which would see Iran make limited concessions on its nuclear program in exchange for financial relief that Mark Dubowitz, executive director at the...

• Kindle

Details continued to emerge throughout the day regarding the likely terms of an interim agreement between the international community and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program, amid increasing skepticism from U.S. policymakers that the deal being worked out would substantially check the Islamic republic’s ability to sneak across the nuclear...

• Kindle

Analysts and diplomats are increasingly concerned that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, responding to what they perceive as Western willingness to leave Iran’s nuclear program largely intact, may turn to Pakistan in order to purchase nuclear weapons off the shelf. Top global figures including President Barack Obama have been unequivocal that...

• Kindle

Reuters today evaluated the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry to dampen an increasingly public spat between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia over a range of issues. The wire noted that strain has emerged “particularly on Syria’s civil war and the nuclear dispute with Iran.” It also assessed that,...

• Kindle

Skepticism of Iranian intentions – a crucial variable in evaluating the degree to which the U.S. should be willing to offer concessions to the Islamic republic during upcoming talks over Tehran’s nuclear program – has been aired with various intensity in recent days by American, Arab, and Israeli leaders. Media...

• Kindle

The recent revelation that Turkey’s intelligence chief Hakan Fidan burned ten Iranians working with Israel’s Mossad inside Iran had quickly generated predictions that Western intelligence agencies would begin limiting their cooperation with Ankara. The ten had been working with Jerusalem to discover details of Iran’s nuclear program – widely considered...

• Kindle

Tens of thousands of anti-American Iranian protesters marched today on the former U.S. embassy in Iran, part of what the Associated Press described as “Tehran’s largest anti-U.S. rally in years.” Reports noted pervasive chants of “death to America,” and called attention to a speech by Saeed Jalili, a senior adviser...

• Kindle

The logic behind White House efforts to delay a Senate push for new sanctions on Iran – that heightened pressure on the Islamic republic would cause Iranian negotiators to walk away from the table – had already drawn criticism in recent days from lawmakers, analysts, and journalists. Inasmuch as the...

• Kindle

Top Republicans and Democrats from the House of Representatives are calling on their Senate colleagues to move forward with legislation to increase sanctions on Iran, brushing aside concerns being expressed by administration figures that new pressure will damage efforts to negotiate with the Islamic republic over its nuclear weapons program....

• Kindle