President Barack Obama meets Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the White House today amid an upswing in bilateral relations caused by a mutual interest in containing Iran, defusing Israeli-Palestinian tensions, and reducing the destabilizing threat posed by Islamist extremist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda. Relations between Cairo and …
A large crowd of opposition supporters today transformed an official prayer ceremony in Tehran into a show of strength, chanted “azadi, azadi” (“freedom”), and voiced continued support for Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who defiantly continues to criticize the ruling regime. Mousavi made his first official public appearance since the …
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, often described as the U.N.’s “nuclear watchdog,” criticized NATO earlier this week for encouraging nuclear proliferation. He urged NATO to drop any reference to nuclear deterrence in its new strategic statement, saying it encouraged proliferation: “You are sending a message to …
Yesterday Iraqis celebrated a new national holiday, National Sovereignty Day, which marked the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities. This partial pullback, which is a vindication of the Bush Administration’s surge strategy, has gone relatively unnoticed in Washington, perhaps because many members of the Obama Administration opposed the …
What are Iranians protesting? Many Iranians were outraged by the alleged landslide re-election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad’s prime challenger, charged that the regime had tampered with the ballot count and had stolen the June 12 election from him and the Iranian people. …
Demonstrations and violent police actions on the streets of Tehran continued late into Saturday night and state television reported at least 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when police clashed with “terrorists.” Witnesses reported that the police used live ammunition, batons, tear gas and water cannons to …
Iran’s clerical dictatorship cracked down on opposition protests today and is sure to mount an even more forceful response to the reported bombing of the mausoleum of the founder of Iran’s Islamist revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini. A suicide bomber apparently blew himself up inside the shrine, wounding two people. It is …
Tens of thousands of Iranians are demonstrating for the sixth day in protest over the disputed outcome of last week’s presidential elections. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi requested that the demonstrators dress in black as a sign of mourning over at least seven protesters who have been killed by the …
Despite President Ahmadinejad’s dismissive and arrogant attitude toward the “weeds” that have sprung up to reject his alleged election victory, massive crowds of Iranians continued their protests against his regime for a fifth straight day. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has backpedaled away from his initial blessing of the election …
Three days of massive protests following Iran’s sham elections have destroyed the illusion, carefully nurtured by the radical Islamist regime in Tehran, that Iran’s government is a democracy. In reality, it is a theocratic dictatorship masked by a façade of representative government. Mounting political violence has shattered that façade and …
