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Lurch, a.k.a. Hanoi Kerry, demonstrated his historic ability to negotiate a clever deal with "our" "moderate" Iranian "friends." One of Iran's principal demands was that her "right to enrichment" be recognized. Only minor constraints have been imposed. Here is a relevant portion of the English language text of the "deal. The balance of the text is also available at the link. I would be quite interested in a well nuanced translation of the text in other languages, but haven't found one. There are sometimes substantive differences among different translations. PreambleThe goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term...

If you think ObamaCare is bad, just wait till you hear the new "peace" agreement that is due to be imposed on the Middle East over the coming weeks. Even if it works, a giant if, it will make the world much more dangerous: Iran will have nuclear weapons, or it will be balanced right on the edge -- within one month or less to make nukes. Saudi Arabia and Egypt will go nuclear, to balance Iran. America's role as a guarantor of peace will be blown, crushed by Obama's betrayal of Israel and the Arabs. America's nuclear umbrella, which...

Pope Francis expressed new concern Thursday for the situation faced by “Christians who suffer in a particularly severe way the consequences of tensions and conflicts in many parts of the Middle East.” “Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other areas of the Holy Land sometimes overflow with tears,” he told a gathering at the Vatican of leaders from Eastern rite churches that have links with the Roman Catholic Church. “We won’t resign ourselves to a Middle East without Christians who for two thousand years confess the name of Jesus, as full citizens in social, cultural and religious life of the nations to...

Hopes are high, ahead of the meeting of the Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East with the Pope. Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, which is in full communion with Rome, spoke to the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), remarking that he expects much from the meeting. “We are hoping for greater closeness towards our Churches in these difficult times. We need more support from the Holy See, more encouragement and more solidarity.”Patriarch Louis Raphael expressly thanked Pope Francis and his predecessors for being on the side of...

What happened in Geneva last week was the most significant international event since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The collapse of the Soviet Union signaled the rise of the United States as the sole global superpower. The developments in the six-party nuclear talks with Iran in Geneva last week signaled the end of American world leadership. Global leadership is based on two things — power and credibility. The United States remains the most powerful actor in the world. But last week, American credibility was shattered. Secretary of State John Kerry spent the first part of last week...

Arab textbooks are not the only ones erasing Israel from their maps. Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher of children’s books, has also eliminated the Jewish state in a book. “Thea Stilton and the Blue Scarab Hunt,” part of the popular Geronimo Stilton children’s series translated from Italian and published by Scholastic in 2012, tells the story of a group of investigative journalists involved in a treasure hunt in Egypt. Writers Elhanan Miller Elhanan Miller Elhanan Miller is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel Follow or contact: Facebook Twitter Email RSS Newsroom Email Facebook Twitter Related Topics children...

A group of 50,000 Syrian Christians has petitioned for citizenship in Russia, and the government of President Vladimir Putin may grant their request. In a message to the Russian foreign-affairs ministry, the Christians of the Qualamun region report that they are “threatened with expulsion from our land.” Noting that Islamic extremists have made them special targets, the Christians praise Moscow’s role in working for peace and stability, and for protection of the Christian minority, in Syria.

On Sunday, two pieces of news emerged in the media a couple of hours apart. First, there was information about a telephone conversation between the Russian President and the King of Saudi Arabia. Then information emerged that the Syrian opposition agreed to participate in Geneva-2. This is another success of the Russian Federation that is becoming a major player in the Middle East. Historically, the Russian nation united all nations and peoples in what at different times was called the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation, without assimilating them, but preserving and developing their characteristics and respecting...

Imagine a world in which the Middle East is not descending into carnage and chaos but is on the brink of monumental breakthroughs. In this world in spring 2014, Iran's nuclear program has been secured and Egypt has become a liberal democracy. Syrian dictator Bashar Assad has stepped aside. And Israelis and Palestinians have settled on the terms for a Palestinian state. This is the world that John Kerry inhabited as he shuttled across the world last week: a fantastical realm created by his billowing vision of what he can accomplish as secretary of State. Meanwhile, on this planet, aid...

The U.S. ambassador to Israel on Monday sought to reassure Jewish leaders unnerved by the Obama administration's negotiations with Iran on that country's nuclear program. Ambassador Dan Shapiro insisted the U.S. would not let Iran develop a nuclear weapon even as it sought to reach a deal that could remove some sanctions on Iran. "Obama has made it crystal clear that he will not permit Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon period, and is prepared to use all elements of our national power to ensure that we are successful," Shapiro told the Jewish Federation of North America’s General Assembly in...

Iranian TV condemned France saying they were 'Israel's representatives'Talks on Iran's nuclear programme collapse at the eleventh hour after France says it will not be forced into a 'sucker's deal' Foreign minister Laurent Fabius objected to points in the agreement Complained it did not go far enough to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions Talks will resume on November 20 in an attempt to reach a compromise Iranian TV condemned France saying they were 'Israel's representatives' Marathon talks on a deal to temporarily curb Iran's nuclear program have broken down after a negotiations between foreign ministers ran into trouble late last...

Under Barack Obama, American influence in the Middle East has sunk to levels not seen since before World War II. From Israel to Saudi Arabia, from Egypt to the United Arab Emirates, our friends are shaking their heads, wondering why we have seemingly taken leave of our senses. Across this vital region, Obama is effectively empowering our opponents and turning his back on U.S. supporters and allies. He has openly courted implacable adversaries like Tehran's ayatollahs and the Muslim Brotherhood, allowed Chinese penetration to reach unprecedented levels and restored Russian clout to pre-1979 proportions. And Obama is far from finished....

Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday defended the Obama administration's approach to nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying that it would not rush into a half-measure interim deal. "No deal is better than a bad deal, and we are certainly adhering to that concept," Kerry said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Kerry and foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany left Geneva without securing a deal to freeze Iran's nuclear program, efforts which drew criticism from some GOP lawmakers. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Obama administration...

Not a campus crusade, but a true crusade, in which the saints carry their cross to fight with the forces of darkness. Christians in the Middle East have for a long time been accustomed to staying away from the fray with Muslims. This has come as a result of both comfort and suppression, but the persecution against the saints has reached an intensity almost unheard of in our times, and the apex of this oppression is at hand. With this diabolical torment and violence becoming more fierce and cruel, Christians are now being confronted with the choice to fight or...

Pakistan-Pakistani Taliban: The Pakistani Taliban rejected peace talks with the government on Thursday after electing hardline militant Mullah Fazlullah as their new leader. Earlier this month militant sources said that the consultative Shura council of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chose Khan Said Mehsud known as Sajna as the new leader. But the election of Sajna, who leads the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan, reportedly was opposed by Taliban's other groups. Fazlullah was reported to have strongly objected to the choice of Sajna. Shahidullah Shahid, the main spokesman for the TTP said talks with the government were a "waste of time"...

A very unusual statement from the Israel prime minister on the eve of a possible nuclear detail between the U.S. and Iran:"I met Secretary Kerry right before he leaves to Geneva," said Netanyhau. "I reminded him that he said that no deal is better than a bad deal. That the deal that is being discussed in Geneva right now is a bad deal. It’s a very bad deal. Iran is not required to take apart even one centrifuge. But the international community is relieving sanctions on Iran for the first time after many years. Iran gets everything that it wanted...

It's confirmed: The "F" in John. F. Kerry stands for "Feckless." Women around the world no longer need to wonder whether America's secretary of state will stand boldly with them in defense of their basic rights. He won't. On Monday, Kerry was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Anyone with a phone or an Internet connection inside and outside the country knows what's been going on there. The kingdom has been rocked by women of all ages protesting the Muslim nation's retrograde ban on female drivers. Over the past two weeks, the protesters and their supporters have taken to social media to...

The World Council of Churches (WCC), the inter-Christian organization of mainstream Protestant churches, is at it again in its continuing campaign against Israel. In 2013, one of its units, the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF), invited WCC member churches, faith-based communities, and civil society organizations working for justice, to join together for a week in a proclaimed World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel (WWPPI). The purpose was advocacy and action in support of an "end to the illegal occupation of Palestine and a just peace for all in Palestine and in Israel." Everyone with stakes in the Middle East,...

CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, in an apparent warning to Iran, tried to reassure America’s Arab friends on Sunday that the United States will not allow them to be attacked “from outside.” He specifically mentioned Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt as nations, alongside unspecified “others,” that the U.S. will defend. Those others likely would include Israel, the strongest U.S. ally in the region. “The United States will be there for the defense of our friends and our allies,” Mr. Kerry told reporters in Cairo. “We will not allow those countries...

Are things so bad in Iraq that the government in Baghdad would like U.S. troops to return? Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appealed to President Obama for the U.S. military’s assistance on Friday, after his country suffered its most violent month in over five years. Just under 1,000 people — overwhelmingly civilians — were killed in sectarian violence across Iraq in the last 31 days, making October the deadliest month since the height of the Iraq War in April 2008. The majority died via that hallmark of the Iraqi insurgency, the car bomb. It’s the high-water mark for a rising...