US Foreign Policy

By Paul Rogers | (The Conversation) – So it has begun – the US is bombing Tikrit, once a stronghold of Saddam Hussein’s regime and now held by Islamic State militants. Strategically and symbolically important, Tikrit has been a fierce battleground for weeks, as Iraqi government troops and Shia militias have fought fierce street battles […]

Economy

How GOP threats against Iran have Guaranteed end of European Sanctions

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The US sanction regime on Iran has a unilateral dimension. That is, there are sanctions only the US applies. Then there is a European dimension, which involves using the clout of the Department of Treasury as well as the persuasiveness of the Department of State’s diplomats to get […]

GCC

Would a US-Iran Deal end US Military Interventions in ME?

contributors

RT | – “Nuclear talks have resumed in Switzerland with the US and Iran struggling to clinch a crucial deal ahead of the March deadline. The western nations want Iran to halt its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions. Former State Department official and Middle East expert Professor Hillary Mann Leverett joins RT to […]

Barack Obama

Obama-Netanyahu Tiff worsens: US won’t rule out using UN to create Palestine

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – President Obama put some further hints out there on Tuesday about how he might proceed on Israeli-Paletinian relations in his final two years. Asked if he’d be willing to go through the United Nations to achieve Palestinian statehood, he replied, “We’re going to do that evaluation . . […]

Israel

Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories ‘must end’ – White House chief of staff

contributors

RT | – US officials continue to maintain that American policy towards Israel will undergo changes in the wake of pre-election comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he stated that no Palestinian state would be established on his watch. Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories has lasted for nearly five decades and “must […]

Economy

What exactly have the US & EU been doing to Iran’s Economy?

contributors

By Luke Johnson | (RFE/RL) Iran has been targeted by a steady dose of economic and military sanctions over the past 35 years, resulting in a maze of red tape intended to compel Tehran to end its support for international terrorism, improve its human rights record, and to assuage concerns that it is seeking to […]

Barack Obama

Obama might stop vetoing UNSC Resolutions re: Israel after Netanyahu rejected Palestinian state

contributors

RT | – The US is “evaluating” its policy towards Israel in the wake of Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election and campaign statements. This could involve passing a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements. President Obama called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to congratulate him on winning the March 17 election, and used the opportunity to […]

Barack Obama

Why is no one asking? Did GOP & Israel Lobbies write Iran Letter for the good of America?

contributors

By Hamid Zangeneh | (Informed Comment) People who worry about American national interests and security fall in one of the two categories: they either trust the President to advance national interests and security or not. The Republican authors and signatories of the letter to the Iranian leadership fall in the second category; they are the […]

Barack Obama

Contrary to Israeli PM, alternative to realistic Iran Nuclear Deal is no Deal

contributors

By Thomas Graham, Jr. | (Informed Comment) A possible agreement on the nuclear issue with Iran has been much in the news these days. The United States has been trying to restrain the Iranian nuclear program for more than 20 years with little to show for it until a so-called interim agreement between the Permanent […]