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The White House appeared to double down on its policy of engagement with Iran following Wednesday's dramatic pre-dawn high seas capture of an Iranian missile cache destined for Hamas by Israeli naval commandos. Senior administration officials worked quickly to prevent the raid from undermining public confidence in President Obama's continued belief that Iran is a trustworthy and reliable negotiating partner, even going so far as to claim credit for the raid themselves. Several dozen advanced medium range missiles were found hidden under false bottoms of phony shipping containers on board the Panamanian flagged "Klos-C" frigate seized in a dramatic pre...

The IDF Spokesman said Sunday that operation “Full Exposure,” for intercepting Iranian arms ship Klos C, has ended. The containers aboard the ship, which was intercepted by IDF naval commandos off the coast of Sudan, have all been offloaded and their contents thoroughly examined. Forces from the Navy, the Combat Engineering Corps and the Munitions Corps took part in offloading and inspecting the containers, following the ship's arrival in Eilat yesterday. The list of weapons that the ship carried is as follows: Forty M-302 rockets, with a range of 90 to 160 km. 181 mortar shells, 122 mm caliber. About...

The grainy footage shows the Klos C, labeled as Panamanian but carrying Syrian missiles and warheads on a Tehran-built ship, being surrounded by Israeli forces as it floats along the Red Sea. Earlier Wednesday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon revealed that the ship had embarked from Bandar Abbas, Iran and was en route to Port Sudan.

BREAKING: Israeli Navy Captures Iranian Boat Loaded With Syrian Missiles Destined for Gaza (VIDEO) MARCH 5, 2014 8:53 AM 9 COMMENTS Benny Gantz Ram Rothberg Israeli Navy KLOSCIran Gaza KLOSC Shayetet 13Israeli navy commandos KLOSC arms shipM-302 missile Iran Gaza StripM-302 missile Second Lebanon WarMoti Almoz Israeli Navy KLOSC Iran Israeli Naval commandos on Wednesday intercepted an Iranian ship in the Red Sea weighed down with missiles that was en route to the Gaza Strip, the IDF said in a statement. The boat, named KLOSC, was stopped by the elite naval commando unit Shayetet 13 as it was heading to...

The United States intelligence services and military worked with Israel to track the Iranian ship carrying missiles to Gaza, which was apprehended Wednesday, according to AFP. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington started to work with Israel through intelligence and military channels and at the national security advisor level as soon as it knew the shipment was on the move. President Barack Obama also directed the US military to work out contingencies in case it became necessary to intercept the vessel, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One. "Throughout this time our intelligence and military...

WASHINGTON -- As Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flies to Washington - due to arrive on Sunday (March 2), to prepare for talks with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday - it's clear that there are several points of friction between Israel and the United States. The two countries are allies, but their leaders often differ on the details of key issues: Israel's peace talks with the Palestinians, America's nuclear talks with Iran, how to approach political turmoil in Egypt, what might be done to limit Syria's horrible civil war, and a broader issue of whether the...

In a greeting to the Iranian people on the occasion of the traditional New Year (Nowruz) holiday last week, Secretary of State John Kerry exposed a secret that journalists and academics have been agonizing over for the past six weeks: the fact that his daughter has married an Iranian-American who has extensive family ties to Iran. “I am proud of the Iranian-Americans in my own family, and grateful for how they have enriched my life,” Kerry said in the official statement.

Iranian Nuclear Program Grows by 74% Since Obama Took Office Iran added over 14,000 nuclear centrifuges since Barack Obama took office.They always like to blame Bush, but here’s the truth… The Iranian nuclear program grew by 74% since Barack Obama took office.

A U.S. district court has awarded millions in Iranian government funds to five American families who were victims of an Iranian-backed suicide bombing, despite objections from Tehran and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Nov. 27 ruling, which allows the American victims of a 1997 terrorist attack in Jerusalem to recover more than $9 million from a U.S.-based defense contractor that worked with Iran, was hailed as a precedent-setting case by the victims’ legal counsel. “After more than ten years of litigation in the federal court in San Diego, these victims and their families were awarded a Hanukah victory against...

The ink isn’t even dry on the temporary Iran nuclear deal and it already has that distinct “passed it to find out what’s in it” scent.

Hasan Faraji, 31, was arrested by Azerbaijani police after displaying “suspicious behavior” while wandering around the Israeli embassy in Baku on October 31. Faraji, who resisted arrest, was sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention, according to the APA news agency. According to Channel 10, Faraji is a part of the Iranian Quds Forces, a special unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that, among other oles, is tasked with planning and executing terrorist attacks against Israeli targets overseas. On Thursday an Iranian diplomat said Faraji denies he was planning any attack... Iranian embassy officials met Faraji in custody... Azerbaijani police raided...

"..................Jarrett’s official job description is “somewhat vague,” Becker writes, noting that at least part of her role is to serve as “chief liaison to the business community, state and local governments, and the professional left,” but her influence is undeniable. She commands a staff of nearly three dozen and has a hand in decisions ranging from the invitation list to state dinners and what gifts to give foreign leaders, to who should be nominated to the Supreme Court, appointed to a vacant ambassadorship, or awarded the President Medal of Freedom. When Warren Buffett visits to the White House for lunch,...

A Toronto-bound flight was stopped shortly before departure from Caracas when four Iranians and an Afghan were found aboard with fake tickets and no visas, Venezuelan officials said Saturday. The captain of Air Canada Flight 075 discovered there were five extra passengers aboard his flight as it was scheduled to depart late Friday, said Luis Graterol, the head of the Simon Bolivar Maiquetia International Airport. All those on board were forced to disembark and military officials identified the suspicious passengers, Graterol told the state-run Venezuelan News Agency. The Iranians and the Afghan "did not have a visa to enter Canada,...

An innocent man was viciously beaten and then burned to death by vigilante neighbours who wrongly believed rumours that he was a paedophile. Bijan Ebrahimi, a keen gardener, had taken photographs of youths vandalising his hanging baskets and intended to hand them to police as evidence. ...

Iran’s supreme leader promises in a newly released audiotape the destruction of Israel and Palestinians’ return to that land. Fars News Agency, an outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards, last week posted an audiotape of excerpts of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s speeches to Palestinian officials and others with a title “Palestine will surely become free.” In the audiotape, which is partly in Arabic, Khamenei gives blessings to those who fight against Israel and says, “Peace be upon the children of our nation, peace be upon the brave jihadists in Palestinian and Lebanese resistance. Today the Islamic world and the whole world...

CNN said it did not mistranslate Iranian President Hassan Rowhani’s comments about the Holocaust to make him sound more moderate during a Tuesday interview with Christiane Amanpour, contradicting a report that ran in Iran’s state-run news agency. According to the government-run Fars News service, CNN mistranslated Rowhani’s statements and downplayed his suggestion that the Holocaust was not an historical fact. CNN told the Washington Free Beacon that the translator who worked on the interview was actually hired by the Iranian government. According to the Fars News translation of Rowhani’s CNN interview, the Iranian president did not use the term “Holocaust,”...

President Obama acknowledged in an ABC interview Sunday that he has been exchanging letters with Iranian President Hassan Rowhani. Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he has communicated with Iran’s leaders in “indirect ways.” “Have you reached out personally to the new president?” Stephanopoulos asked. “I have,” Obama replied, “and– and he’s reached out to me. We haven’t spoken– directly. But–” 1 inShare 3 President Obama acknowledged in an ABC interview Sunday that he has been exchanging letters with Iranian President Hassan Rowhani. Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he has communicated with Iran’s leaders in “indirect ways.” “Have you...

On Saturday, CBS News reported on the elections in Iran – by comparing the mullahs to the Tea Party. Reporter Elizabeth Palmer said, discussing the new president, Hassan Rahjani, “Well, he was seen as the most reform-minded of all the candidates who ran this time, that being said, they were all very conservative. In US terms it was as if all the candidates for the presidency came from the Tea Party.”

In a statement, press secretary Jay Carney says the U.S. respects the Iranian election and congratulates the Iranian people. "We have seen the announcement by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran that Hojjatoleslam Doctor Hassan Rouhani has been declared the winner of Iran’s presidential election. We respect the vote of the Iranian people and congratulate them for their participation in the political process, and their courage in making their voices heard. Yesterday’s election took place against the backdrop of a lack of transparency, censorship of the media, Internet, and text messages, and an intimidating security environment that limited...

SNIPPET - quote: www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl1955.aspx Treasury Announces New Sanctions Against Iran Actions Target Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Proliferation Activities 5/23/2013     WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury is taking action today against 20 individuals and entities for their involvement in Iran’s nuclear and missile proliferation networks and Iran’s continued attempts to circumvent sanctions. These networks are responsible for moving supplies and providing essential services to Iran’s clandestine nuclear and weapons programs. These actions are designed to increase pressure on the Iranian regime by tightening sanctions against Iran’s energy sector and exposing key proliferation related networks that span the...