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Kerry admits that, despite the deal, Iran will continue to back terrorist groups across the globe and promises to boost military support and funding to Israel and Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The letter comes in response to concerns among lawmakers, Israel, and other Gulf region allies that the nuclear accord will boost the Islamic Republic’s support for terrorism, while leaving traditional U.S. allies on the defense. “Important questions have been raised concerning the need to increase security assistance to our allies and partners in the...

Two more Democrats announced support Tuesday for President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, putting the White House a single senator away from assuring it can prevent Congress from scuttling the agreement and leaving GOP leaders hoping to avoid an even bigger embarrassment of losing to a filibuster. With about 10 Democrats still to decide, it’s a lock that at least one of them will back Mr. Obama, giving him the 34 votes needed to uphold his expected veto of a bill to halt the deal.

Over the weekend, the undecideds in Congress got another confidence-builder from Iran on the nuclear deal that Barack Obama and John Kerry insist they support. If Congress approves the deal, it carries legal weight in the US, at least for the next 16 months or so until the next President takes office. The Iranian parliament must be rushing to provide the same level of legal commitment, right? Right? Er … no, not really: President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday he opposes a parliamentary vote on the landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers because terms of the agreement would turn...

"I do not understand why, after every perverted [act of] execution carried out by ISIS, most Muslims insist that these actions have nothing to do with Islam. After all, Muslim history is rife with terrifying forms of execution, similar or even identical to those used by ISIS. I am not talking of executions motivated by revenge, such as the crucifixion of Al-Khallaj,[2] the killing of Suhrawardi,[3] or the slaughter of Ibn Al-Muqaffa.[4] [Nor am I speaking of] the mutilation of dead bodies, such as the practice of displaying the heads of decapitated [victims], which was invented by the Umayyad [caliphs]....

The new "supergiant" offshore field revealed a day earlier by Italy's Eni SpA and billed as the "largest-ever" found in the Mediterranean Sea could alleviate the Arab world's most populous nation's need for gas imports, they said. The latest discovery represents about half of Egypt's current gas needs, and will cut its trade deficit and help bring in tax revenue when it comes online in some five years, said Angus Blair of investment advisory firm Signet. "It's a very useful positive economic factor in Egypt," he said. "Obviously it will help President (Abdel-Fattah) el-Sissi and the government, but to look...

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz are blasting the nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers, likening it to the Munich agreement signed in and which paved the way to World War II. The harsh criticism of the deal came in a joint op-ed the two wrote for The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The two write that “despite the explosive spread of terrorist ideology and organizations, the establishment of an Islamic State caliphate in the heart of the Middle East, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and increasing threats from Iran, China, North Korea...

Saudi forces have reportedly crossed the border into northern Yemen near a site where Houthi rebels have launched shelling attacks toward the kingdom.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Wednesday called for a coalition to combat terrorism in the Middle East. Opening a meeting with Putin in Moscow, el-Sissi said "the Egyptian people" are hoping for broader ties with Russia in all areas, particularly in fighting terrorism in the Middle East. El-Sissi's Russian visit, his second in the past three months, highlights Moscow's attempts to expand its influence in Egypt at a time when Egyptian-U.S. relations have soured in the aftermath of the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

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The Iran nuclear deal has dramatically shifted Middle Eastern geopolitical tectonic plates, and has heralded a new reality in which Sunni Arabs need Israel more than ever. One of many misleading lines in President Obama’s address earlier this month heralding the Iran nuclear deal came when the statecraft salesman declared that “because this is such a strong deal, every nation in the world that has commented publicly, with the exception of the Israeli government, has expressed support.” The clear implication is that Israel stands alone and isolated in the international community in opposing détente and rapprochement with Iran. The American...

The Islamic State claimed Thursday it carried out a massive car bombing that targeted Egyptian security forces in Cairo, calling the operation revenge for the deaths of some of its members earlier this year. The powerful blast — which could be heard across several Cairo districts — has raised fears of stepped up insurgent attacks in the Egyptian capital. Islamists and other militants have waged an increasingly deadly campaign against Egyptian security forces since a military coup ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Among the factions is a group, based in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, that has pledged loyalty to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is quietly reviewing the future of America’s three-decade deployment to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, fearful the lightly equipped peacekeepers could be targets of escalating Islamic State-inspired violence. Options range from beefing up their protection or even pulling them out altogether, officials told The Associated Press. The American forces have helped marshal peace in the peninsula since Egypt’s 1979 historic peace treaty with Israel. Some 700 members of an Army battalion and logistics support unit are currently there. They mainly monitor and verify compliance, and have little offensive capability. Several other countries also provide personnel. Egypt...

Intelligence officials are comparing a newly discovered secret Islamic State document to Hitler's "Mein Kampf," as it blames Israel for the rise of the Islamic State and crowns U.S. President Barack Obama as the "Mule of the Jews." Found in Pakistan's remote tribal region by American Media Institute (AMI), the 32-page Urdu language document promotes an "end of the world" battle as a final solution. It argues that the Islamic leader should be recognized as the sole ruler of the world's 1 billion Muslims, under a religious empire called a "caliphate." ...Retired U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Michael Flynn...

Russia has ‘gifted' Egypt with a new missile corvette that was part of the inauguration of a new Suez Canal expansion project earlier this month, Egypt's army said. The move by the Russian government to "gift" Egypt the Molniya missile boat is "part of military cooperation between the Egyptian and Russian armed forces" as well as indicative of "Russia's support for Egypt and the matching visions of both countries on the war against terrorism," Egyptian military spokesman Mohamed Samir said in a statement Saturday. He added that the highly advanced missile ship will be a new addition to Egypt's "development...

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) used mustard agent in its fight against a Kurdish militia in Syria, testing has confirmed. Unnamed US government officials involved in investigating alleged chemical weapon use by Isil in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh confirmed mustard gas had been used, according to the Washington Post and CNN. Mustard gas, used during World War One, can cause blisters, blindness and respiratory damage and is an internationally-banned chemical weapon. Last month, members of a Syrian Kurdish militia, the People's Defence Units or YPG, reported that projectiles fired by Isil's jihadists had released...

The West’s frequent use of military threats and citing of their ability to attack Iran at will has become a joke among Iranian commanders in the military, according to a high ranking military official in the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday. Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Asoudi alluded to the West’s hesitancy to use military force and mocked its resolve while speaking to troops in the North. “We should thank Obama for refreshing us by referring to his ‘options on the table’, including the military one; we just relax and laugh at such...

A car bomb attack at a police station has killed four people and injured up to 10 people, while the city's U.S. consulate has also come under fire, news agencies have reported. Reuters, quoting Turkey's Dogan news agency, reported that at a police station in the Istanbul neighborhood had been rocked by a blast early on Monday morning. The agency, quoting the Istanbul's governor's office, added that three attackers and a police officer had been killed in an exchange of gunfire following the explosion. Istanbul police headquarters confirmed to Dogan that three police officers and seven civilians were wounded in...

Palestinian news agency Ma'an reports that Egypt police raided several secret weapons depots in Sinai, discovered 190 fully assembled anti-aircraft missiles. Egyptian police on Saturday raided several arms depots in Sinai, believed to hold weapons meant for smuggling into Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported. According to the report, the Egyptian police uncovered secret caches of explosives in a desert in the center of the Sinai peninsula. The caches held 190 fully assembled anti-aircraft missiles and rockets in addition to explosives and ammunition.

Russian and Saudi officials to meet over Middle East issues -- just after news surfaces of a secret meeting between Russia, Iran. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir will visit Moscow on Tuesday to discuss Syria conflict and the Islamic State group with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign ministry said Saturday. The two ministers last met in Qatar on August 3 when Lavrov, Jubeir and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a three-way meeting, with the situation in Syria topping the agenda. The ministers will continue "a discussion on ways to resolve the crisis in Syria," the...

Iranian officials confirmed Friday that General Qassem Soleimani, the heavily sanctioned Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander, traveled to Russia last month and was conducting weapons deals, including discussion of the S-300 missile system, according to Reuters. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said Friday the U.S. is very concerned about the development. “Qassem Soleimani is subject to a UN travel ban and this travel ban requires all states to prohibit Qassem Soleimani from traveling to their nation and the only exception to that is if the Iran sanctions committee grants an exemption,” she said at UN headquarters...