AFP: The Senate’s Democratic leadership is shielding US President Barack Obama from potentially embarrassing fallout by refusing to vote on new sanctions against Iran, the chamber’s top Republican warned Wednesday.
Top Republican: Senate leader coddling Iran for Obama
Netanyahu warns Chinese foreign minister against nuclear Iran
AFP: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday that Iran must not have the “capability” to develop nuclear arms, during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
U.S. fingers Iranian commandos for kidnapping raid inside Iraq
Foreign Policy: U.S. intelligence officials believe that Iranian commandos took part in a deadly attack on a compound of dissidents inside Iraq and then spirited seven members of the group back to Iran.
U.S. pessimism sets in over Iran nuclear talks
Los Angeles Times: Three weeks after President Obama hailed a landmark deal to suspend most of Iran’s nuclear program for the next six months, the mood among U.S. officials about the next round of negotiations has shifted from elated to somber, even gloomy.
Camp Ashraf in Iraq: Spanish court investigates a close ally of Maliki
AFP: A Spanish court has decided to extend an investigation into murderous raids in 2009, 2011 and 2013 against Iranian refugees camp Ashraf in Iraq to include Faleh al-Fayad, security adviser to the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Second worst year for journalists in jail
AFP: The number of journalists killed and imprisoned fell in 2013 but it was still the second worst year on record for reporters in prison, a US-based watchdog said Wednesday.
Saudi ready to act alone on Iran, Syria: ambassador
AFP: The West’s policies on Iran and Syria are a “dangerous gamble” and Saudi Arabia is prepared to act on its own to safeguard security in the region, a top Saudi diplomat said.
Reid on Iran sanctions: Wait and see
The Hill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) declined Tuesday to commit to a vote on a tougher Iran sanctions bill in January when the Senate returns from its Christmas recess.
Iran nuke deal quietly collapses
New York Post: Less than a month after it was hailed as “a great diplomatic coup,” the so-called Geneva accord to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions seems to have come unstuck.
U.K., U.S. pledge no let-up in Iran sanctions enforcement
Wall Street Journal: Western powers won’t relax their enforcement of Iran sanctions, U.K. and U.S. officials pledged Monday, as European Union foreign ministers said they weren’t yet ready to ease the bloc’s sanctions regime in line with last month’s nuclear deal.
