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Egypt and Saudi Arabia are interested in buying two French Mistral warships that had been sold to Russia before Paris scrapped the deal, French media reported Friday, citing an official French source. "Egypt and Saudi Arabia are desperate to buy two Mistrals," an unnamed official French source told France’s leading daily, Le Monde. “King Salman of Saudi Arabia wants to build a fleet in Egypt which could project regional power in the Red Sea and Mediterranean," said the source. "Some countries in the region have displayed a marked interest in the Mistrals with the aim of establishing a [regional] maritime...

A US-led raid on the compound housing the Islamic State's "chief financial officer" produced evidence that Turkish officials directly dealt with ranking ISIS members, Martin Chulov of the Guardian reported recently. The officer killed in the raid, Islamic State official Abu Sayyaf, was responsible for directing the terror army's oil and gas operations in Syria. The Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) earns up to $10 million a month selling oil on black markets.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia say they aim to boost military, economic, and social ties and pursue their common interests. In a statement released after a meeting between President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday, el-Sissi’s office says the two leaders also will work to create a joint Arab military force. …

(LEAD) Scud missiles fired into Saudi Arabia from Yemen traced to N. Korea: official 2015/07/29 18:16 (ATTN: UPDATES with comment by South Korean official; ADDS background) SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- Scud missiles fired into Saudi Arabia by Yemeni rebels in recent months came from North Korea, a South Korean intelligence official said Wednesday, in the latest case that illustrated North Korea's support for the weapons programs of some countries in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has shot down about 40 percent of some 20 Scud missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels, said the official, who is familiar with the...

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...

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...

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...

There has always been a rule – an overriding rule in the common law, in the criminal justice system and in the insurance industry – that society must not allow you to profit from a crime you committed. For example, if you file an insurance claim on your house, and it’s proven that you burned it down yourself, you get imprisoned for arson and the insurance company gets all the money back. Or if you file for the life insurance on your parent or spouse, and it’s proven that you murdered him or her for the insurance money, you get...

Just a bit of historical trivia, and a thought, in the wake of the Obama/Kerry HISTORIC. NUCLEAR. DEAL. with Iran. Obama has come under criticism that he left four American hostages in Iran; and his excuse was that "if we pressed for the release of the hostages, the Iranians would have demanded more concessions." Oh, really? Does anyone remember the last time a dimwit Democrat tried to deal with an Iranian hostage crisis? Yes, it's the return of Dhimmi...err, Jimmy Carter. Except I'm no longer so sure that Obama is merely a Dhimmi. Remember this little gem before Obama's first...

Ted Cruz’s worst fear about the nuclear deal with Iran? That “millions of Americans will be murdered by radical theocratic zealots.” President Obama [argues] that under the deal Iran’s ability to quickly make a bomb will be hamstrung, and that doing nothing would actually accelerate Iran’s nuclear capabilities. But Cruz said if Iran were to acquire a bomb, he fears the detonation of a nuclear weapon over Tel Aviv,... that would “murder vast numbers of Palestinians” and Israeli Jews. “The odds are unacceptably high that they would view the murder of those Palestinians is perfectly acceptable collateral damage to annihilating...

A senior Iranian cleric delivered Friday prayers in Tehran while standing behind a podium that declared, “We Will Trample Upon America,” according to photos released by Iran’s state-controlled media. Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, who was handpicked by the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader to deliver the prayers, delivered a message of hostility toward the United States in the first official remarks since a final nuclear deal was signed between Iran and world powers in Vienna last week. Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser and expert on rogue regimes, said that the official remarks by Iranian officials and clerics...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said a speech by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday vowing to defy American policies in the region despite a deal with world powers over Tehran's nuclear program was "very disturbing".

Secretary of State John Kerry admitted to Al-Arabiya that it’s “very disturbing” how Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continues talking about destroying the U.S. and Israel after signing the P5+1 nuclear agreement.Kerry said he would be pitching Gulf partners on “all of the ways in which this agreement, in fact, makes the Gulf states and the region safer.” “I will also discuss with them at great length the things that the United States of America is going to do, working with them, in order to push back against the terror and counterterrorism efforts and other activities in the region that are very...

DUBAI, (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was very disturbed by anti-U.S. hostility voiced by Iran's top leader after a nuclear deal, as both countries' top diplomats sought to calm opposition to the accord from political hardliners at home. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said a speech by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday vowing to defy American policies in the region despite a deal with world powers over Tehran's nuclear programme was "very troubling". "I don't know how to interpret it at this point in time, except to take it at face value, that...

If President Barack Obama and other world leaders hoped the nuclear agreement with Iran would lead to normalized relations down the road, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has nipped that prospect in the bud. Speaking Saturday about the deal, the Islamic holy leader denied a wider shift in foreign policy. “We have repeatedly said we don’t negotiate with the U.S. on regional or international affairs; not even on bilateral issues. There are some exceptions like the nuclear program that we negotiated with the Americans to serve our interests,” Khamenei said. Iranians are excited about the ramifications of the deal,...

Saudi Arabia is pumping more crude oil than ever before. In June, it produced 10.6 million barrels a day. That’s the highest on record, . . . . .. And it’s pretty clear that Saudi Arabia is settling in for the long run. The country borrowed $4bn on the bond markets this week, selling bonds for the first time in eight years.

Amman, Jordan — The nuclear deal that will lift tough sanctions on Iran is mobilizing Saudi Arabia to turn the tide against its regional rival in Yemen and Syria before it makes an economic recovery, military officials and analysts say. According to the sources, the military component of the Saudi offensive will include the use of special forces on the ground in Yemen, and a potentially widened use of Saudi and allied Sunni air power in Syria. The Saudis have signaled their intent to employ ground forces in Yemen previously, but have not done so. But the potential military initiatives,...

Obama favored Iran in the negotiations because he has many ties to Shia Islam and Iran, regardless of his actual faith.