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As part of a final nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 world powers (U.S., UK, Germany, France, Russia, China), Tehran has demanded at least twenty-four days notice before inspectors are allowed to review their nuclear enrichment sites, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has reportedly disclosed. ABC News reports that Fabius said Iran has demanded the 24-days prior notification from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear inspectors before they can visit any of the sites. For years, the IAEA has claimed that Iran continues to forgo transparency in its drive towards nuclear weapons development, refusing access to inspectors who wish...

On the subject of those notorious talking points, Zarif said: I do not believe that the practice of producing fact sheets is a very useful one. The world has gone through a significant change. You cannot pick and choose your audience anymore. In the past, you could present your version of reality, your narrative to your audience, and the other side could have presented their narrative to their audience. But today in the age of the Internet and social media, narratives become global – and that’s where the problem comes. So you need to be able to present the final,...

Billionaire investor George Soros said flatly that he’s concerned about the possibility of another world war “If there is conflict between China and a military ally of the United States, like Japan, then it is not an exaggeration to say that we are on the threshold of a third world war,” Soros said. Military spending is on the rise in Russia and China, he said. To avoid this scenario, Soros called on the U.S. to make a “major concession” and allow China’s currency to join the International Monetary Fund’s basket of currencies. This would make the yuan a potential rival...

It's Memorial Day week. You can tell as you flip through the local paper; Memorial Day notices appear as sales headlines and attention grabbers. "Memorial Day Sale" and "Pre-Memorial Day Sale." Pretty soon, we'll see post-Memorial Day sale advertisements. Sales and barbecue are the two things that many people think about when Memorial Day is mentioned. What else? Well, for many Americans, it's the weekend that the pool opens and summer begins. But it means more than that. Memorial Day began soon after the Civil War as Decoration Day. It was the day the graves of the fallen members of...

Once I observed the map depicting “hostile,” “permissive” and “uncertain” states and locations, I was rather appalled that the hostile areas amazingly have a Republican majority and believe in the sanctity of the United States Constitution. When the federal government begins, even in practice, games or exercises, to consider any U.S. city or state in “hostile” control and trying to retake it, the message becomes extremely calloused and suspicious. Such labeling tends to make people who have grown leery of federal government overreach become suspicious of whether their big brother government anticipates certain states may start another civil war or...

Back in 2003, I was strongly in favor of the invasion of Iraq. I thought George Bush made an excellent case for the war; he gave Saddam every chance to avert the fight; he bent over backwards to bring in more allies and he took his case to Congress and got approval to go to war. Knowing what we know now, itÂ’s very unfortunate that the linchpin of his case was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. At the time we went in, that wasnÂ’t very controversial. Saddam was trying to make everyone think he had WMDs, Intelligence agencies...

Gov. Sarah Palin: "Jihad Is On The March"It's unfortunate and potentially frightening knowing that everywhere you look today jihad is on the march – even on American soil. Warnings for potential terrorist attacks on our homeland are now stepped up, and with the arrest of dozens of Americans on terrorism related charges, the message is clear that no place seems safe from jihad. Our military personnel and law enforcement agencies have to be right every time, but the terrorists only have to get “lucky” once to do horrible damage to our country. The threat of radical Islam is real, and...

There is an illusion that the promised agreement with Iran regarding its nuclear program will push it toward moderation, as well as economic and political openness. What will probably happen is the complete opposite. The agreement will empower Tehran’s hawks, who are currently being marketed in Iran and who are bragging that most of the nuclear program has been accomplished and that the West has finally submitted and abandoned sanctions. During the past few months of international negotiations, Iran’s security fist tightened against state rivals, voicing the regime’s self-confidence. The Kurdish rebellion a week ago in the city of Mahabad,...

One hundred and fifty members of Congress – all Democrats and, among them, most of the small group of bitterly anti-Israel lawmakers – signed a letter supporting President Obama’s diplomatic efforts vis-à-vis the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Authored by Reps. Jan Schakowsky (Illinois), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), and David Price (North Carolina), the letter exemplifies the hyper-partisanship that has driven the left wing of the Democrat party on this issue even as that wing has cried “partisan extremism” at the responses from Republicans. As if trying to prove Churchill right, this Iran Surrender Caucus, whenever presented with a choice between dishonor...

Iran is optimistic that it can reach a final nuclear deal with world powers, its foreign minister said in an excerpt of an interview with Germany's Spiegel magazine published on Friday. "An agreement is very likely - provided that our negotiation partners mean it seriously," Mohammad Javad Zarif told Der Spiegel. Zarif criticized Saudi Arabia, which has voiced concern that a nuclear deal could embolden Iran and harm its security. "Some people in the region are evidently panicking," he said, adding there was no reason to do so. "We don't want to dominate the region. We are happy with our...

President Barack Obama's foreign policy failures have the world looking a lot like it did at the close of the Carter administration, says House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. "This is like 1979 all over again," the California Republican said Thursday on Fox News Channel. The last time Americans were being held hostage was in 1979 in Iran; today, they are being held by the Islamic State (ISIS), McCarthy said. Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1979, and now have invaded Ukraine, he added. Before Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in the Benghazi attacks in 2012, the last American ambassador to die in...

Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, snapped his fingers to signify how quickly the Jewish state could go from being strong to vulnerable in the face of a nuclear Iran. “We don’t believe the choice is war or to accept this deal,” Dermer said. “We believe the way to peacefully resolve this issue is to combine a credible, military threat of force with crippling sanctions.” “That combination has not been deployed for 10 years,” he noted. “We had sanctions on Iran for a long time, but crippling sanctions only began in 2012. And within 18 months, Iran...

It was announced over the weekend that on June 7 John Dickerson will replace Bob Schieffer as the host of CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” CBS News president David Rhodes — whose brother Ben is a top Obama official most famous for editing the truth out of the infamous Benghazi talking points — said of Dickerson, “John is first and foremost a reporter — and that’s what he’ll be as anchor of ‘Face the Nation.’ “His work in the studio will always be informed by what he’s learned in Iowa, in New Hampshire, on Capitol Hill — anywhere there’s news.”...

Iran bill passes, Hezbollah sanctions bill that passed the House last July but was blocked in the Senate also passes.

On Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. First votes expected: 2:30-3:30 p.m. Last votes expected: 6:00-7:00 p.m. One Minute Speeches Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules: 1) H.R. 1191 – Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (Sponsored by Rep. Lou Barletta / Foreign Affairs Committee) 2) H.R. 2297 – Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 (Sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce / Foreign Affairs Committee) Continue Consideration of H.R. 1735 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, Rules Committee Print (Structured Rule) (Sponsored by Rep....

Marco Rubio proved he can hang with the big hawks in his first foreign policy speech since he declared his run for president. The student has now become the teacher. Sen. Marco Rubio, once viewed as a protege of presidential competitor Jeb Bush, schooled the former Florida governor Wednesday evening in the first national security address of his national campaign. As compared to Jeb Bush, who fumbled and stumbled through his first major national security address, Marco Rubio delivered a master class on foreign policy that spoke to the soul of the right’s hawkish neoconservatives. In New York City, before...

Freedom Caucus members angry they can't offer amendments to key national security measures. A House bill to scale back National Security Agency data-collection is re-agitating the fractured relationship between Republican leadership and their rank-and-file conservatives, some of whom feel their voices are being silenced in the debate over the bill. The complaint that conservative amendments are not being given a hearing is also extending to a Senate-approved Iran nuclear bill that will see a House vote later this week. Though leadership aides insist the team has not yet decided whether to allow amendments on the Iran bill, members spoke up...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday that Israel would defend itself against Iran, calling an emerging nuclear pact “a mistake that will cost dearly.” Speaking at the Knesset during a discussion devoted to the victory of the Allied forces in World War II 70 years ago, Netanyahu said world powers should learn a lesson from the rise of Nazi Germany and not go ahead with an agreement that would allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium and lift sanctions. “The lesson of history is never to make concessions to a radical regime which waves the banner of genocide and expansionism,” he...

House Republican leaders are unlikely to allow amendments to the Senate-passed Iran bill, bucking a clutch of conservatives who wanted to change the language, according to multiple sources familiar with internal planning. The move all but assures passage of the legislation when it comes up for a House vote, probably on Thursday. It was approved by the Senate last week, 98-1. GOP leadership expects to discuss its plans at a closed-door party meeting Wednesday. Members of the House Freedom Caucus, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), are pushing for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Majority...

A group of House conservatives is pressuring GOP leadership to allow the chance to “strengthen” a Senate-passed bill imposing congressional review over a proposed nuclear deal with Iran. Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are proposing a series of amendments because some believe the Senate bill does not give Congress enough power to actually stop—or even influence—an Iran nuclear deal lawmakers don’t like. The amendments will put pressure on House Speaker John Boehner, who must decide to either block attempts to change the legislation—as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did in his chamber—or allow debate that could derail...