Analysts continued late last week to gauge the degree to which nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 global powers might be affected by the crisis in Crimea, with Washington-based energy expert Nicholas Cunningham rounding up analysis that broadly converged on the conclusion that “Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the retaliatory steps...

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In a move certain to deepen concerns about the Palestinian leadership’s commitment to reaching a peace agreement with Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly told American negotiators during his visit to Washington last week that he would not accept an “end of conflict” clause in any deal. The report,...

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Israeli officials are urging the United States to release ten Apache helicopters for sale to the Egyptian army. A high-ranking official in Jerusalem said Israel clarified that supplying the helicopters is crucial to Egypt’s fight Against jihadist organizations in the Sinai, and will improve regional security. Collaboration on security between...

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The U.S. and EU’s response to the crisis in Ukraine may induce Russia to “raise the stakes” by revising its stance on nuclear talks with Iran, per statements by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov conveyed on Wednesday by Reuters. “We wouldn’t like to use these talks as an element of the game...

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The Associated Press yesterday quoted a European Union official describing renewed talks between Iran and the P5+1 global powers as getting into the “nitty-gritty,” after weeks in which top Iranian officials had repeatedly underscored their red lines against dismantling their uranium infrastructure, downgrading their plutonium-producing Arak reactor, or limiting their ballistic missile program. Obama administration...

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Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon stunned both domestic and international observers yesterday when he signaled that he now leans in favor of a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to multiple reports. This comes in the wake of months of failed Western efforts, through the P5+1 states, to...

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Various outlets have focused in recent days on specific sectors being eyed by investors as Iranian markets are reopened to the world under the terms of the interim Joint Plan of Action (JPA), even as President Barack Obama on Wednesday extended some sanctions after informing Congress that the Islamic Republic “continue[d] to pose an...

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A top Iranian official reiterated yesterday that Tehran will refuse to discuss its ballistic missile program in the context of comprehensive negotiations over its nuclear program with the international community, the latest in a long line of statements underlining that the Islamic republic views the issue as a red line. “Issues related to our...

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Middle East Institute Scholar Mohamed Elmenshawy on Tuesday published an extensive analysis of the psychological and geopolitical role played by the Egyptian army in the Arab world, amid increasing coverage and analysis in the Arab world regarding President Barack Obama’s potentially pivotal upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia. Obama will soon go to...

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Reuters yesterday conveyed statements from U.S. Brigadier-General John Shapland, the chief American defense attache in Israel, suggesting that Israel could expand its anti-missile umbrella to protect Jordan and Egypt. “If we were able to build a regional defense capability in, say, Jordan, that capability could easily defend Israel, Jordan and even Egypt,...

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