Gulf states are again slamming Hezbollah over the Iran-backed terror group’s role in bolstering the regime of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad: In a meeting held in Manama over the weekend, ministers said Hezbollah’s continued involvement in Syria hindered holding another conference to restore peace. The attendees called for putting an...

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Iran has arrested nine people, eight of them Slovaks, on charges of espionage. The charges, announced earlier this week, include accusations that members of hte group flew over restricted areas on handgliders and photographed them. It is unlikely that Western powers – which for decades have subjected Iran to intense...

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Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday called on President Barack Obama to increase pressure on Iran, with all but one member of the committee signing on to a bipartisan letter emphasizing that the election of Hassan Rouhani to be Iran’s next president will do nothing to moderate Iran’s...

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A few weeks ago, in a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that the U.S. would be providing its Israeli allies with an “unprecedented” military package to cope with instability in the region and with the deepening threat posed by Iranian conventional and...

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U.S. Cabinet officials are emphasizing the need for sanctions against Iran, in between assuring policy-makers that the American and global economies are able to absorb the effects of new economic measures against the Islamic republic.  Treasury Secretary Jack Lew spoke at a conference in Aspen, Colo. on the choice between sanctions and…...

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The head of Iran’s atomic energy agency said Friday that Tehran will push ahead with its atomic program and continue enriching uranium in the aftermath of the election of Hassan Rouhani, a revolutionary cleric linked to Iran’s conservative pragmatist camp, as Iran’s next president. Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani told reporters at a...

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Iranian state media, displeased with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Asset Control (OFAC), has taken to the airwaves to blast the office. At issue are measures taken by OFAC against Iranian regime media outlets, including specifically Press TV: “Let’s face the facts here, the Office of Asset Control (OFAC) of the US...

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An Arabic-language story published this week in a pan-Arab newspaper blasted the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood for financially supporting the group despite the fragile Egyptian economy. Hamas officials responded, again lashing out against what the Iran-backed terror group describes as a smear campaign being conducted against it by Egyptian media outlets: Hamas movement strongly condemned...

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There had been suggestions made by some foreign policy analysts suggesting that President-elect Hassan Rouhani’s election could “provide an opportunity” to productively engage Iran regarding the critical role being played by Tehran and its Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah in bolstering the regime. Iranian parliament member Ahmad Bakhshayesh made declarations this week that seem...

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Evaluating several scenarios explaining the election of Iranian cleric Hassan Rouhani to be Iran’s next president, veteran U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross outlined in the pages of The New York Times that Rouhani’s election still doesn’t guarantee a nuclear deal: He believes that Mr. Rowhani’s election could provide a safety valve for...

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