No sanctions easing at front end of Iran talks -U.S.

"We are not contemplating anything that removes those sanctions at the front end of any negotiation or agreement, because it's going to be important to test Iranian intentions," Rhodes said... Read On 

Report: Iran may be month from a bomb

Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to build a nuclear bomb in as little as a month, according to a new estimate by one of the USA's top nuclear experts... Read On 

White House presses Senate to delay new Iran sanctions

A Middle East analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations said now is not the time to delay fresh sanctions. "I don't understand why you would weaken the sanctions now, or you would not strengthen the sanctions," Elliot Abrams, an aide on the Middle East to former President George W. Bush, "The sanctions are what brought the Iranians to the table."... Read On 

Fouad Ajami: A Lawyer Lost in a Region of Thugs

Lamentations about what has become of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East miss the point. The remarkable thing about President Obama's diplomacy in the region is that it has come full circle-to the very beginning of his presidency. 

The promised "opening" to Iran, the pass given to Bashar Assad's tyranny in Syria, the abdication of the American gains in Iraq and a reflexive unease with Israel-these were hallmarks of the new president's approach to foreign policy... Read On 

Iran gives Christians 80 lashes for communion wine as UN blasts human rights record

"The sentences handed down to these members of the Church of Iran effectively criminalize the Christian sacrament of sharing in the Lord's Supper and constitute an unacceptable infringement on the right to practice faith freely and peaceably," Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said... Read On 

150 Euro MPs sign for release of 7 Camp Ashraf hostages abducted by Iraqi forces

Press Release: MEPs from all political groups in the European Parliament urged the leadership of the EU and the member states to force the Iraqi government to release the 7 hostages, including 6 women, who were abducted by Iraqi government forces on 1 September during the massacre in camp Ashraf.... Read On 

Iran extends reach into Nigeria, working with militants to undermine West

Iran is working with Muslim militants to undermine the interests of the U.S. and its allies comes even as the Obama administration has sought a thawing in relations with Tehran. 

"Iran's Quds Force and Lebanese Hizb Allah have coordinated intelligence gathering on U.S. and Israeli targets in Nigeria and engaged in weapons and drug trafficking in West Africa with operatives drawn from Nigeria's Shi`a community."  Jacob Zenn wrote in a report... Read On