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Iran Nuclear Agreement Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the details of the recently signed nuclear agreement with Iran and its enforcement.

The Obama administration is preparing to release convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, according to U.S. officials, some of whom hope the move will smooth relations with Israel in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal. Such a move would end a decadeslong fight over Mr. Pollard, who was arrested on charges of spying for Israel in 1985 and later sentenced to life in prison. The case has long been a source of tension between the U.S. and Israel, which has argued that a life sentence for spying on behalf of a close U.S. partner is too harsh. For decades, Israel...

There are 18 Jewish legislators acting on behalf of the Democratic Party in the US Congress, and they are perhaps the key to victory on both sides—for both opponents of the agreement with Iran and its supporters. “Everyone is looking for us,” Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D–California), who is Jewish, told Arutz Sheva. “Last week I met with a J Street lobby that tried to explain how good the agreement is at this point in time, and next week AIPAC officials will be here—I guess to push exactly the opposite position.” Lowenthal faces a difficult dilemma. “You have to make a...

The Soviet-era Tu-22M3 bomber entered service in 1989 but has been modernised since then Russian defence ministry sources say a squadron of Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bombers will be based in Crimea - but experts question the strategic value of such a move for Russia. Russia's Interfax news agency reported the plan, quoting an unnamed ministry source, though it has not been officially confirmed. Other Russian media also reported it. Russia has previously pledged to beef up its military forces in Crimea, which has been internationally isolated since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in March 2014. Western nations imposed sanctions on...

Less than a day after indicating in a Senate hearing that the Iran nuclear deal would have the US defend Iran from Israel, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Israel on Friday that a unilateral strike on Iran’s covert nuclear program would be a “huge mistake.” Appearing on the NBC “Today” TV show, Kerry was asked if the Iran nuclear deal sealed last Tuesday would make it more likely that Israel will either physically strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, or else launch a cyber attack against them. “That’d be an enormous mistake, a huge mistake with grave consequences for Israel...

US President Barack Obama admitted Friday that the Iranian nuclear deal gives Iran—the leading state sponsor of terror—ample funding to extend its terror network, in a revealing interview with BBC. “Does the IRGC [Revolutionary Guard] or the Quds Force have more resources?“ he asked. “Probably, as the economy in Iran improves.”Obama denied, however, that the funding would lead directly to more terror attacks on Israel and other US allies. […] The President instead maintained that preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb is far higher priority for the West than preventing the spread of its large terror network on the...

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e1243662-2c67-11e5-acfb-cbd2e1c81cca.html#ixzz3gmnryuF4 The recruiter in central Syria did not hide the grim facts behind his job offer: Around half of those who joined his new militia to support President Bashar al-Assad’s forces would be likely to die. But the pay was about $200 a month — a windfall in the war-torn country. “It sounded like a suicide mission, but about 100 of us...

US Secretary of State John Kerry indirectly conceded that the US would defend Iran's nuclear program from Israeli sabotage on Thursday, in a hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in which he was grilled over the deal reached last Tuesday. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) put Kerry on the spot when he asked him and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz whether the controversial articles in Annex III on page 142 of the 159-page deal would stipulate that the US block Israeli attempts to scupper the Iranian nuclear threat. The articles in question state that the US, world powers and the...

Israel has delivered 16 Cobra helicopter gunships to Jordan to help the Hashemite kingdom deal with the threat of Islamic State (ISIS) which currently control large areas along its borders with Syria and Iraq. The transfer provided at no cost was kept in secret since last year but was recently leaked by an unnamed U.S. official and published by Reuters. Jordanian and Israeli officials declined comment, as did the Pentagon. The handover of helicopters was approved by Washington, after blocking an earlier Israeli plan to sell the surplus helicopters to Nigeria, which is also battling Islamic insurgents in Central Africa....

Never again? In the 70 years since the Holocaust, the phrase “never again” was never followed by a question mark. It had always been a declarative statement. Never again would the world sit by while systematic mass murder was carried out. And yet, given the deal the Obama administration has struck with the Islamic Republic of Iran to clear its path to nuclear weapons, it seems we have forgotten what it means to say — and live — “never again.” Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/22/monica-crowley-iran-deal-could-reprise-holocost/#ixzz3gkAQ36oX Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

The horrific Iran nuclear deal is, these days, overshadowing the miracle of the Israeli economy, particularly in the area of high technology. With the exception of the U.S., Israel–a country of a mere 8 million people–leads the world in high tech, an astonishing feat. In this interview Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks about the big, exciting things that are happening in the high-tech powerhouse center emerging in Beersheba–and much else, including why Israeli milk cows are the world’s most productive and how this desert nation solved its water crisis (California, take note). ______________________________________ Steve Forbes: Thank you very much, Prime...

In defiance of the international arms embargo, Iran last week placed an order with Moscow for a huge fleet of 100 Russian IL78 MKI tanker aircraft (NATO: Midas) for refueling its air force in mid-flight, thereby extending its range to 7,300 km. This is reported exclusively by debkafile from its military and intelligence sources. The transaction runs contrary to the terms of the nuclear accord the six world powers and Iran signed in Vienna earlier this month. These tanker planes can simultaneously refuel six to eight warplanes. Their acquisition brings Israel, 1.200km away – as well the rest of the...

President Barack Obama said at a Democratic fundraiser in New York on Tuesday evening that he had “ended two wars” during his presidency. In its recently released human rights report on Iraq, however, the State Department said that the Iraqi government had “lost effective control” over a large part of Iraqi territory to the Islamic State terrorist group. Also, according to the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2014, the group that the administration now calls ISIL was founded in the 1990s by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and fought against U.S. forces in Iraq before Obama removed U.S. troops from that...

In defiance of the international arms embargo, Iran last week placed an order with Moscow for a huge fleet of 100 Russian IL78 MKI tanker aircraft (NATO: Midas) for refueling its air force in mid-flight, thereby extending its range to 7,300 km. This is reported exclusively by DEBKAfile from its military and intelligence sources. The transaction runs contrary to the terms of the nuclear accord the six world powers and Iran signed in Vienna earlier this month. These tanker planes can simultaneously refuel six to eight warplanes. Their acquisition brings Israel, 1.200km away – as well the rest of the...

House Speaker John Boehner vows to do 'everything possible' to stop President Obama's newly struck Iran nuclear deal, as Congress formally begins consideration of the hard-fought pact.

Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and Congressmen Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) issued a press release today on a startling discovery they made during a July 17 meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency officials in Vienna: There are two secret side deals to the nuclear agreement with Iran that will not be shared with other nations, with Congress, or with the U.S. public. One of these side deals concerns inspection of the Parchin military base, where Iran reportedly has conducted explosive testing related to nuclear-warhead development. The Iranian government has refused to allow the IAEA to visit this site. Over the...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — A dozen Palestinian Muslim men gathered after midnight at an isolated farm house this week to indulge in a new delight. They were going to watch a soap opera about Jews. “Hush, hush. It’s starting!” someone said. The group settled down, sipped fresh lemonade, nibbled sweets, sucked on water pipes and then cranked up the volume for the opening credits of “Haret al-Yahud,” or “The Jewish Quarter.” The steamy Egyptian soap tells a Romeo and Juliet tale of a beautiful daughter of a well-to-do Jewish merchant and a dashing Muslim army commander falling in and out...

How the senator from New York could change the game in Congress if he has the guts. In April 2010, following a series of deliberate slights and insults by the Obama administration directed at Israel and its prime minister, including a threat by the State Department that the depth of the US-Israel alliance would depend on the progress of peace talks, Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s ranking Democrat and Obama ally placed a call to the White House. The senator had had just about enough. He informed White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in no uncertain terms that the...

US President Barack Obama hailed the recently concluded nuclear agreement in Vienna between the P5+1 world powers and Iran as a step towards a “more hopeful world.” On July 14 CNN cited President Obama’s claim that, “This deal is not built on trust. It's built on verification.” This nuclear agreement, however, seems to be predicated more on this administration’s proclivity towards building on hope. The Obama administration is hoping that an inspection regime by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will accomplish under this agreement what the UN has failed to do for decades under the Non-Proliferation of...

So Secretary of State John Kerry finds Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s plans to defy U.S. Middle East policy “very disturbing.” (H/T Allahpundit at Hot Air). So now Kerry is disturbed by Iran? Apparently, Kerry wasn’t all that disturbed negotiating with a regime that is currently holding four Americans in captivity. Of course, when Major Garrett of CBS News dared to question President Obama about it, he admonished Garrett and told him he “should know better.” If Kerry genuinely finds Khamenei’s statements disturbing, President Obama surely doesn’t. After all, when Khamenei uttered “Of course, yes, Death to America,” back...