archives

Speaking at a news conference today, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta aimed at dramatic understatement when he declared that a US military attack on Iran might conceivably have some unintended consequences. ››read more

Flynt Leverett, former Senior Director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council, discusses how the most crucial part of the IAEA report on Iran – that declared nuclear material isn’t being diverted to weapons manufacturing – has been buried under a heap of unsubstantiated rumors and accusations; the evidence that new IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano is much more cozy with the US than his predecessor Mohamed ElBaradei; why those who defend Iran’s rights under the NPT aren’t necessarily minions of the Ayatollah; the equally-wacky end-times theology of the major Abrahamic religions; and why Israel’s real “existential threat” is from losing the support of Jews worldwide, not from an incredibly improbable Iran attack. ››read more

With wheels of diplomacy spinning at top speed, Iran and Russia have on Friday signed a wide-ranging security pact. The agreement signed by the Deputy Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Baqeri and his Russian counterpart Yevgeny Lukyanov, “incorporates various aspects of collaboration between the national security councils of Iran and Russia in different security, economic, political and intelligence sectors,” Mr. Baqeri told IRNA. ››read more