Iran is courting the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, seeking to maintain a crucial alliance in the event that Assad falls. So far, Iranian officials have met at least twice with members of the National Coordinating Committee (NCC). The Damascus-based...
Scenes from Tehran Tuesday of bearded Iranian youth swarming over the walls of the British embassy evoked memories of the 1979-81 hostage crisis that created the image of Iran as a pariah state. But the incidents vary in ways that are more worrisome for international...
In a development that could help resolve an 8-year-old diplomatic and humanitarian standoff, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition group that has several thousand adherents at a military camp in Iraq, has agreed to allow residents to apply for refugee...
When Bahraini ambassador Houda Ezra Nonoo arrived in Washington three years ago, she was greeted as the representative of a close U.S. ally with a reputation for more openness and tolerance than most Gulf nations. Nonoo was also a novelty as a woman representing an...
The likelihood of a U.S. or Israeli military attack on Iran's nuclear installations seems miniscule during the remaining months of the Barack Obama administration's first term. The U.S. is focused on domestic economic problems, winding down wars in Iraq, Afghanistan...
Reports that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is considering some form of membership for two non-Gulf states—Jordan and Morocco—confirm that the conservative Sunni monarchies of the Middle East are closing ranks against Iran, Shi'ite-led Iraq, and the democratic...
Saudi Arabia's incursion into neighboring Bahrain is a risky move that could further inflame domestic unrest in both countries and give a propaganda boost to Tehran's campaign to cultivate the Arab street. Saudi authorities and officials from the United Arab...
For years now, supporters of the Iranian opposition group the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) have lobbied in vain to have the organization taken off the U.S. State Department's terrorism list. That day may now be approaching. A growing number of high-profile defense and...
Egypt's revolution appears to have stiffened the spine of the Barack Obama administration when it comes to Iran. In the wake of the mass protests that ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Washington has begun to "tweet" in Farsi as well as Arabic....
Judging from official propaganda in both Iran and much of the Arab world, the uprisings that toppled Tunisia's dictatorship and threaten Egypt's authoritarian regime are the direct descendent of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. For the Iranians, that analysis is a boast;...
