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This afternoon, Donald Trump made an announcement regarding the future of the Iran nuclear deal. Ahead of a self-imposed May 12th deadline, the President announced that he will not be waiving the sanctions. This decision places the United States in violation of the deal. But while it may not kill the JCPOA completely – European states and Iran could decide whether to keep some version of the deal going without the United States – it will start a period of profound uncertainty about the future of U.S-Iranian relations. In some ways, this uncertainty is the most concerning thing about the...

Chinese President Xi Jinping will open late Saturday a two-day regional security summit attended by Russia, Iran and other allies confronting rising tensions with the US over trade and Washington’s withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal. Armored vans lined the streets of the coastal city of Qingdao as world leaders arrived Friday for the 18th annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security bloc led by China and Russia. Its member states also include four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, Pakistan and India. Iran is an observer member. Authorities emptied an entire oceanside swathe of the city —...

As many as 60 Turkish imams and their families face expulsion from Austria and seven mosques are due to be closed under a clampdown on what the government has called “political Islam”. Austria’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said the country could no longer put up with “parallel societies, political Islam and radicalisation,” which he said had “no place in our country”.

Turkey’s defense minister says Turkish and U.S. soldiers will patrol the key northern Syrian town of Manbij as part of a deal reached this week for the withdrawal of a Syrian Kurdish militia. Speaking in Brussels after a NATO summit late Friday, Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said he met his American counterpart James Mattis. “We had a very detailed, constructive and positive meeting on the Manbij roadmap,” he said. Turkey has repeatedly called on the U.S. to stop backing the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, which it considers terrorists and an extension of a Kurdish insurgency within its...

Syria’s embattled government inaugurated a park in Damascus to honour North Korea’s founding father Kim Il-Sung. The 9,000-square-metre park (about 2.2 acres) lies in the southwestern Damascus district of Kafr Sousa, atop the ruins of recently bulldozed homes. The opening ceremony, which came as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group militants battled rebels in a district in southern Damascus, was attended by deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Moqdad. He called Kim, described by rights organisations as a brutal dictator, “a historic ruler and leader, famous for his struggle to liberate and build his country” . “For this reason, he deserves...

Earlier on Friday, Israeli forces along the border with Gaza began preparations for mass riots by tens of thousands of Palestinians. Four thousand Palestinians gathered and burned tires in five locations along the Israel-Gaza border fence Friday afternoon, according to the IDF spokesperson's unit.

The Iran Deal was “so corrupt” we’re still learning about it, noted Mark Levin on his nationally syndicated radio program on Wednesday. ... “Members of congress don’t know all the facts, and we the people don’t know all the facts. And that’s one of the reasons you run this sort of thing through the treaty provision of the Constitution, so members of the Senate can get all the facts, so there aren’t all these side deals and secret side deals, and illegalities.” Mark Levin’s comments stem from an ABC News report written by Connor Finnegan, June 6, 2018, regarding the...

Families of Gaza Arabs killed during border riots received $500 each from Iran, Israel's Reshet Bet reported. According to the report, the money was distributed by Hamas at a Ramadan "break fast" meal held Thursday night in honor of the "martyrs'" families. Approximately 112 rioters have been killed since the riots began on March 30. Of those, over sixty were killed while protesting the US Embassy's move to Jerusalem on May 14, at least 50 of whom were Hamas terrorists. Last week, a 22-year-old female medic was killed during the riots. Initial reports claimed she was innocent and unfairly targeted...

Warplanes attacked a rebel-held northwestern village in Syria, killing at least 35 people and wounding dozens more, including children, in one of the deadliest incidents in this part of the country this year, a Syrian war monitor and paramedics said Friday. Russia denied allegations from a U.K.-based war monitoring group that it had carried out the strikes. The opposition's Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets, said the airstrike Thursday night killed 35 and wounded 80 in the village of Zardana. It added that the dead included three of its members, who were killed as they evacuated the dead...

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has posted numerous videos of this latest method of attacking Israel. Many acres of land has been burned and lives placed in danger. I have not seen or heard about this anywhere else.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Tayyip Erdogan is seen falling short of a first-round victory in Turkey’s presidential election and his ruling AK Party is forecast to lose its parliamentary majority in the June 24 vote, a survey by pollster Gezici showed on Thursday. Erdogan called the snap elections in April, more than a year early, saying Turkey needs to switch to a powerful executive presidency to tackle economic and security challenges. The new presidential powers were narrowly approved last year. Gezici’s survey of 6,811 respondents, conducted between May 25-26, showed Erdogan receiving 48.7 percent of votes in the first round of...

After sixteen years in power, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) is facing a serious challenge from an allied opposition in the run-up to June 24 national election. Turkish voters will head to the polls that Sunday to vote on candidates for parliament and the presidency. The election is the first up-or-down vote for the AKP’s leader and current Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following a national referendum last April. In the referendum, voters narrowly passed a series of changes to the constitution to transform the Turkish political system from a parliamentary model to a highly centralized presidential system of...

Demirtaş stated that the people are sick of the AKP and will tell Erdoğan they have had enough in these elections. He said: “We don’t have the slightest expectation from the AKP. At this point, AKP is the representative of a racist, fascist mindset." HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) Presidential Candidate Selahattin Demirtaş responded to German news magazine Der Spiegel’s questions in writing through his lawyers. “THERE IS FASCISTIC PRESSURE, BUT OUR BASE IS COURAGEOUS” To Der Spiegel’s question “You had left your post at the party in February, you wanted to leave politics to its own rhythm. But now, you...

The European Union on Tuesday reacted to Iran’s announcement that it will boost uranium enrichment capacity, saying a “first assessment” indicated the plan does not breach its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal. “Following a first assessment, the announced steps per se are not a violation of the JCPOA,” Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, told AFP, using the official name for the agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). “However, at this particularly critical juncture, they will not contribute to build confidence in the nature of the Iranian nuclear program,” she added. Earlier on...

Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, said Tuesday that in recent weeks it thwarted a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The United States is committed to ensuring the exit of Kurdish forces from the area of northern Syria west of the Euphrates river, and will work with Turkey to do so as soon as possible, senior officials from the U.S. State Department have said. The officials’ statements to press officials seemed rather vague compared to the precisely described plans announced by Turkish officials, however, particularly on the time frame for the withdrawal. The two unnamed U.S. State Department officials held the press briefing via teleconference on Tuesday, covering in depth the U.S.-Turkish Working Group on Syria and the agreement announced...

Special BriefingSenior State Department Officials Via Teleconference June 5, 2018 MODERATOR: Good morning, and thanks so much for joining us for today’s background call on the U.S.-Turkish working group on Syria. Joining us today we have [Senior State Department Official One]. He’ll be referred to as Senior State Department Official One. Also joining us is [Senior State Department Official Two]. He’ll be referred to as Senior State Department Official Number Two. As a reminder, the call is on background and the contents of the call are embargoed until the call ends. With that, I’ll hand it over to our Senior...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Investment Bank has balked at an EU proposal to do business in Iran to help offset U.S. sanctions and save the 2015 nuclear deal, EU sources told Reuters, under pressure from the United States - where the bank raises much of its funds.The resistance from the European Union’s lending arm underscores the limits of the bloc’s ability to shield trade with Iran from the reimposition of U.S. sanctions after President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear accord last month. European Commissioners are expected on Wednesday to endorse the EU executive’s plan to encourage the EIB to...

The perception of a severe decline in rights and freedoms has been a constant factor among international observers of Turkey in recent years, as seen in a steady stream of reports by reporters, rights groups and lawyers on the country now known as the world’s largest jailer of journalists. For Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, though, such criticism may as well have come from a parallel universe. Speaking to Judy Woodruff in a filmed interview for the U.S. channel PBS, Çavuşoğlu said that far from restricting citizens’ rights, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has in fact brought them...

“My way or no way.” That is perceived to be the brand of politics pursued by Turkish President Erdogan. Or so many of Turkey’s Western allies believe. It’s true that Erdogan has seen international relations as an area in which he could test his will and has resorted to extreme measures when his assertive approach didn’t work. A report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington think-tank, is relevant in this regard. Titled “Erdogan’s Hostage Diplomacy: Western Nationals in Turkish Prisons,” the report is written by senior analyst Aykan Erdemir and a former US Ambassador to Turkey...