By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Tuesday with regard to the Russian Federation’s decision to go ahead with the sale to Iran of S-300 anti-aircraft batteries. Iran bought the batteries several years ago, but delivery was delayed by Moscow because of […]
Water Delivery, Hospitals endangered as Yemen is plunged into Darkness
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Yemen generates 800 megawatts of electricity under ordinary circumstances, which powers its hospitals, including emergency care units, and helps deliver water to households. Nearly half is generated by a power plant in Maarib in the south. On Tuesday, that plant went dark for reasons that are not entirely […]
President Hillary Clinton’s Middle East Policy: Interventions, Wars, More of Same
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Hillary Clinton announced her bid for the presidency Sunday, prompting another of these attempts at IC to do a quick overview of what we can expect from the candidates with regard to Middle East policy. Clinton supported Israel’s attack on defenseless Gaza last summer, which left about 2000 […]
US history of coup-making Overshadows Obama’s outreach to Iran, Latin American Left
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – President Obama met with Cuban President Raoul Castro for an hour on Saturday, and the two made progress on plans to restore diplomatic relations. Before the meeting, Obama said, “I think that after 50 years of policy that had not changed on the part of the United States, […]
Spain at 70% non-Carbon Electricity: Will it be 1st Net Carbon Zero G-20 State?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – CleanTechnica reports that Spain got nearly 70% of its electricity from plants that did not generate carbon dioxide in March. The two biggest non-carbon energy sources were nuclear and wind. In recent years, the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy cut some government subsidies and other help to the […]
Iran: What did Khamenei really say about the Lausanne Agreement, and Why?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s paramount leader, spoke out on Thursday about the framework agreement for Iran’s negotiations over its nuclear enrichment program with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5 + 1). The speech is all over the place and seems to me to […]
Top Ten Ways Islamic Law forbids Terrorism
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, has been convicted on all counts in the Boston Marathon bombings. Dzhokhar and his brother Tamerlan were from a mixed Chechen and Avar family. Dzhokhar was born in Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian republic that had been part of the Communist Soviet Union. Being from a […]
President Rand Paul’s Middle East Policy
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) declared his candidacy today to be the Republican standard bearer in the 2016 election. So what would a Rand Paul presidency look like with regard to Middle East policy? Although Paul has a reputation as a Libertarian non-interventionist, he isn’t actually either one. As […]
Netanyahu slips, Reveals reason for Opposition to Iran Deal
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – US television news isn’t very good and it has clearly gotten worse over the past 20 years. In the aftermath of the Kerry-Zarif initial framework deal on nuclear energy in Iran, it seems obvious that an interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would be newsworthy. But […]
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