Cairo reported tense but quiet as parliament ordered to dissolve
Al-Ahram reports that Egypt’s parliament has received official orders from Egypt’s military rulers to dissolve: The secretariat of Egypt’s People’s Assembly on Thursday received an official...
View ArticleMuslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi declared Egypt’s new president
My colleague Barbara Slavin reports: Mohammed Morsi of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is the new president of Egypt, although his powers and term in office are likely to be limited. Results of a June 16-17...
View ArticleKey advisor to Supreme Leader may seek Iran presidency
Ali Akbar Velayati, the longtime foreign policy advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is likely to run for Iran’s presidency next year, and if elected would take a more pragmatic...
View ArticleIsrael criticizes Clinton no Iran ‘deadlines’ remark
Unnamed Israeli officials on Monday complained about US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent statement that the United States is “not setting deadlines” for negotiations with Iran. “We’re not...
View ArticleNo Bibi-Obama meeting in New York; White House says scheduling, not snub
The White House has cited a scheduling conflict for declining an Israeli request for a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Obama when both leaders travel to New...
View ArticleIran Pulse: Rafsanjani reacts to son’s arrest
Al-Monitor‘s Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi has posted the Baztab video of former Iran president Hashemi Rafsanjani embracing his son, before he is taken to Evin Prison. Mehdi Hashemi returned to Iran...
View ArticleBibi’s red line raises more questions than it answers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toned down his ultimatums to President Barack Obama and focused on Iran, displaying a crude drawing of a bomb to dramatize his concerns about Iran’s growing...
View ArticleObama calls Bibi
President Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone Friday, a day after the Israeli leader called for a “clear red line” to be drawn on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. “The...
View ArticleNetanyahu calls Israel elections
As widely anticipated, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced early elections. Citing the Knesset’s stalemate over passing a budget, Netanyahu said elections should be held as...
View ArticleDiplomats mull refreshing Iran nuclear proposal ahead of new talks
Washington and five world powers are considering offering Iran a refreshed proposal that could include limited sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, Iran analysts and western...
View ArticleObama golfs with Bill Clinton, spurring interest from Mideast watchers
Middle East watchers were seized with the news that President Barack Obama was playing golf on Sunday with former President Bill Clinton. “Pleeeeze offer him role of Mideast Envoy? Pleeeeeze?,” Israeli...
View ArticleP5+1 to propose new meeting dates to Iran
Diplomats from six world powers, following further unpublicized consultations in recent days, have decided to propose to Iran dates for holding a new round of nuclear talks as early as this month,...
View ArticleIsrael FM Lieberman resigns
Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced his intent to resign a day after he was indicted for fraud and breach of trust, though he’s still expected to stand in Israeli Knesset elections...
View ArticleDaniel Levy: What Israeli elections results mean on global front
Former Israeli peace process advisor Daniel Levy analyzes the global implications of Israel’s election results in a private memo for the European Council on Foreign Relations. The upshot: while the...
View ArticleWho Is Saeed Jalili?
Four days after entering Iran’s presidential race, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili met with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Istanbul on Wednesday. ‘We had a useful...
View ArticleJalili thrusts Iran nuclear stance to center of presidential race
The presidential campaign of Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili has thrust Iran’s nuclear policies to the center of Iran’s tumultuous presidential race. Jalili, in a series of media interviews,...
View ArticleJalili seen as front runner as Iran bars Rafsanjani, Meshaei from June polls
Iran has disqualified former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad ally Esfandiar Rahim Meshaei from running in next month’s presidential elections, Iran’s state news television...
View ArticleWhen Iran’s Saeed Jalili met one-on-one with US diplomat Bill Burns
Even as Iran presidential candidate and presumed frontrunner Saeed Jalili has flaunted his anti-US hardliner credentials on the campaign trail, it’s worth noting a less remarked-upon aspect of his...
View ArticleWhite House: US not ‘urging’ Morsi to hold early elections
The White House on Tuesday pushed back on a report that American officials are urging Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi to call early elections, in response to the largest anti-government...
View Article
