Tag: Middle East

The Iranian regime has a long-standing history of putting its survival and hegemonic ambitions before the interests of the welfare of its people. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Beltway Confidential

Iran increases its military budget in response to nationwide protests

Washington Examiner · January 30, 2018 8:50 pm

Turkey has made military moves into the predominantly Kurdish region of Syria known as Afrin not to fight terrorism — because Afrin isn't a center of terrorism — but rather as part of its obsessive and unhinged campaign against Kurds. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Beltway Confidential

In Afrin, Turkey seeks ethnic cleansing, not terror eradication

Michael Rubin · January 27, 2018 12:00 am

President Trump's meeting with the U.N. Security Council comes in the middle of a two-track effort in Congress and with European allies to address flaws that the Trump administration perceives in the nuclear deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama's team. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

National Security

Trump, UN Security Council to meet Monday on Iran

Joel Gehrke · January 26, 2018 6:28 pm

I am not honoring Qatar—just listening to their side of the story and subjecting their claims to rigorous testing. If they are indeed trying to change, we should encourage their doing tshuva. (Gabriela Maj/Bloomberg)

Beltway Confidential

Alan Dershowitz: Why is there opposition to a Qatar investigation?

Alan Dershowitz · January 26, 2018 5:17 pm

Tehran conducted 23 total missile tests since signing the U.S.-broker nuclear deal in 2015. The most tested variant had been the medium-range missiles that are considered most threatening because they can carry a nuclear warhead and reach U.S. bases in the region, the study found. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

National Security

Iran likely curbed missile tests after Michael Flynn threat: Study

Travis J. Tritten · January 25, 2018 9:25 pm

"Jerusalem is not off the negotiations table, rather the U.S. is outside the international consensus," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

National Security

Palestinian official contradicts Trump: Jerusalem not ‘off the table’

Gabby Morrongiello · January 25, 2018 5:33 pm

On Tuesday, Russia hinted it might be planning to use its most advanced air defense system, the S-400, to push U.S. forces out of Syria. This would allow the country to defend its military bases on Syria's Mediterranean coast and to create an air defense bubble around any advancing forces elsewhere in the country. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Beltway Confidential

Is Putin about to use Russian S-400 missiles to push the US out of Syria?

Tom Rogan · January 24, 2018 11:00 am

President Trump will be the first president since 2000 to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda faces tough reception at Davos forum

Gabby Morrongiello · January 24, 2018 5:01 am

Neither President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner nor his Middle East envoy have met or spoken with Palestinian leaders since Dec. 6, the day before the president officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to a senior White House official. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

White House: ‘Disconnect’ with Palestinians affecting peace talks

Gabby Morrongiello · January 23, 2018 4:56 pm

Turkish army tanks enter Afrin, an enclave in northern Syria controlled by U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters, in Hassa, Hatay, Turkey, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country will "not take a step back" from its military operation on Afrin. S(AP Photo)

Beltway Confidential

Could the Kurds beat Turkey in Syria?

Michael Rubin · January 22, 2018 9:46 pm

TSA issued an emergency amendment requiring six airlines that fly to the U.S. from seven airports to undergo enhanced screening under the Air Cargo Advance Screening protocols. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

TSA tightens screening requirements for cargo from seven Middle Eastern airports

Melissa Quinn · January 22, 2018 8:38 pm

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, is welcomed by Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in London, Monday Jan. 22, 2018. (Toby Melville/Pool via AP)

National Security

UK: Trump should make ‘symmetrical’ gesture to Palestinians after Jerusalem decision

Joel Gehrke · January 22, 2018 6:40 pm