The rocket attack on the Shrine of Sayyida Zaynab in the suburbs of Damascus on Friday has intensified the sectarian overtones of the Syrian civil war and exacerbated Sunni-Shiite tension in Iraq and elsewhere. Shrapnel killed the venerated caretaker of the shrine. ( Sayyida Zaynab [d. 682 AD] was the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad). […]
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Iran
Top 10 Reasons Americans should Dismiss Israel’s Netanyahu on Attacking Iran
The Iranian electorate did about the most cruel thing possible to uber-hawk Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. It replaced former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with an eminently reasonable and personable successor, Hasan Rouhani. The Israeli and American politicians who desperately want to fall on Iran the way a hungry lion does on a lamb had […]
Middle East Regional Contention over Egypt’s New Government
The change of government in Egypt produced starkly different reactions in various Middle Eastern countries, which tells us something about the situation there. With the exception of maverick member Qatar, the Gulf Cooperation Council, grouping six conservative Gulf oil monarchies, cheered loudest for the military coup made by Brig. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi against elected […]
Top Ten Ways the Beltway Press will treat Gen. Cartwright differently from Snowden
NBC reports that Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright is under investigation as the source for David Sanger’s 2012 New York Times article revealing that the United States is behind the Stuxnet computer virus, which was used to infect computers at Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facilities and at the Bushehr nuclear energy plants and delay their going […]
Iran’s New President is on a Collision Course with the Supreme Leader (Kadivar)
Mohsen Kadivar writes at IslamiCommentary A key was the symbol of Hassan Rowhani’s presidential campaign, but what, if any, doors to real power will it unlock? Mohsen Kadivar “This is the victory of wisdom, a victory of moderation and a victory of commitment over extremism,” Iranian president-elect Hassan Rowhani declared on TV shortly after election […]
Iran’s Pres. Rouhani News Conference: Transparency on Nukes and Talks with US
CNN profiles Iran’s new president Hassan Rouhani and interviews Hillary Mann Leverett: The USG Open Source Center translated the first news conference held by newly elected President Hassan Rouhani of Iran. Some excerpts are presented below, ordered in pyramid form with the most important first (out of the sequence of hte original). Iranian President-Elect Addresses […]
Russia: Iran is ready to Cease Enriching Uranium to 20%
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated in an interview with the Kuwaiti press on Tuesday an assertion he has made before, i.e. that Iran stands ready to cease enriching uranium to 19.75% for the purpose of fueling its medical reactor. This level of enrichment was forced on Iran when it ran out of enriched uranium […]
An Outbreak of Reasonableness in Tehran: Top Ten Conclusions from Iran’s Early Election Returns
Update: Centrist Hassan Rouhani is Iran’s new president, having won a massive victory in a field of 6 candidates. 13:19 ET, 6/15/13 Early election returns in Iran suggest that former National Security adviser and nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani may have won over 50% of the vote, in which case he will have won without needing […]
Qatar Press Condemns Hizbullah Intervention in Syria (Without Irony)
The USG Open Source Center translates or paraphrases reactions in the Qatari Arabic press to the Lebanese Shiite organization, Hizbullah, having successfully intervened in Syria to help the Baath regime retake the town of Qusair. Qatar has been a major backer of the largely Sunni Arab rebels. Qatari Newspapers Condemn Hizballah’s Involvement in Syrian Crisis […]