United Nations

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL) For Iranian President Hassan Rohani, a nuclear deal with global powers would be a double-edged sword. An agreement to restrict Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief would bolster Rohani’s reputation among Iranians who want better ties with the world and allow him to claim credit for the […]

Authoritarianism

Democracy in retreat in Half the 193 UN Member States

contributors

By Thalif Deen | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Democracy is on the retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise in more than 96 of the U.N.’s 193 member states, according to a new report released here. The two regions of “highest concern” for defenders of civic space are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle […]

Iran

If Iran Nuclear talks fail, Sanctions on Tehran Could Unravel

contributors

By Jasmin Ramsey | (Inter Press Service) | — WASHINGTON (IPS) – Internationally supported sanctions against Iran could begin to crumble if talks over Iran’s nuclear programme fail to produce a final deal, according to Germany’s envoy to the United States. “The alternatives to the diplomatic approach are not very attractive,” said Ambassador Peter Wittig […]

Displaced and Refugees

Blood Money? After Bombing Yemen, Saudis offer $274 mn. in Humanitarian Aid

contributors

By Thalif Deen | – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Saudi Arabia’s right hand does not know what its left foot is up to, belittles an Asian diplomat, mixing his metaphors to describe the political paradox in the ongoing military conflict in Yemen. The Saudis, who are leading a coalition of Arab states, have been accused […]

Featured

Iran: What did Khamenei really say about the Lausanne Agreement, and Why?

Juan Cole

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 […]

Featured

What if US & UN Sanctioned Israel over its Nukes as they did Iran over Enrichment?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – There is a lot of talk about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and the ways in which an Iranian bomb would provoke Saudi Arabia and others to acquire nuclear warheads of their own. But for decades, the primary impetus to a nuclear arms race in the region […]

Iran

What’s at Stake in Nuclear Talks for Ordinary Iranians

contributors

By Saideh Jamshidi Iran’s new round of nuclear negotiations with the United Nations is expected to be completed by March 31, today. But one thing is clear: Leader Ali Khamenei wants to gain as much as he can from this political dilemma. He might be the only one who can end to this political comedy […]

International Criminal Court

Will Palestine now take Israel’s Netanyahu to Int’l Criminal Court for War Crimes?

contributors

By Kate Shuttleworth and Joe Dyke | JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (IRIN) – Shortly before Israel’s elections on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that as long as he remained in power there would be no independent Palestinian state. “Whoever moves to establish a Palestinian state or intends to withdraw from territory is simply yielding territory for radical […]

Displaced and Refugees

Palestine to take Israel to Int’l Criminal Court for War Crimes

contributors

RT | – A Palestinian man stands at his makeshift shelter near the ruins of his house that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, on a rainy day east of Gaza City February 19, 2015. (Reuters/Suhaib Salem) Palestine’s first complaint against Israel’s alleged war crimes will be filed […]