The head of the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog declared today that it was “essential and urgent” for Iran to address international concerns regarding its nuclear program, emphasizing that Tehran must cease stonewalling inspections of its enrichment activities and what is widely suspected to be weaponization work. Yukiya Amano was explicit that the...

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A controversy over a tweet sent out in the name of Iran’s newly inaugurated president Hassan Rouhani – which would have seen the revolutionary cleric wishing Jews a “blessed Rosh Hashanah” – was evaluated this morning with a blistering postmortem in the Wall Street Journal. The greeting was quickly denied...

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A report published this morning by the Washington Institute (WINEP) seeks to provide some context for next week’s meeting in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) board of governors. The board will meet to discuss the IAEA’s recent report on Iran’s nuclear program. The co-authors of the WINEP...

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has evaluated the evidence for and against claims that Moscow’s Syrian client used chemical weapons against civilians in rebel-controlled districts of Damascus, and – per an interview with the Associated Press – has expressed himself skeptical. The Russian strongman sought to cast doubt on the claims...

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Amid spiking tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean – The Israel Project’s illustrated situation analysis as of Monday is here – Iran has announced the development and deployment of a new warship. The declaration, conveyed by Iranian state media, is unlikely to calm matters: A senior Iranian commander announced on Tuesday...

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U.S. officials have been pushing their Hungarian counterparts to robustly condemn the use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad regime. Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a statement condemning the use of chemical weapons in general, and welcoming an investigation to find out “who was responsible for this...

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Hezbollah maintains an extensive terror network in the United States. It has sought to facilitate [PDF] attacks on U.S. airports. Its agents have targetted American embassies in Asia. A recent article by Matthew Levitt described how “the Hezbollah-Qods Force threat has sometimes eclipsed that of al-Qaeda.” In the context of...

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Amid multiple and consistent threats of attack from Iran and its Syrian and Hezbollah clients, the Israeli Defense Force overnight deployed an Iron Dome battery near Tel Aviv, the latest in a series of moves by the military to boost security: “We have a clear responsibility to prepare the army for all possibilities. We took a...

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Nine months ago the New York Times reported that Hamas was gaining popularity. Some of that popularity was the result of Hamas boasting that it had emerged victorious from Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense, which Jerusalem launched after several weeks in which Hamas had steadily escalated the amount and sophistication...

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Iranian officials today escalated their threats against Israel, with multiple military figures declaring that Israel would be attacked in the event of Western air strikes against the Iranian-allied Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria: “Any military measure against Syria will draw the Zionists deep in the fire [as well],” said Major...

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