- WSJ: Iran Launches Air-Defense Exercise
Iran launched a five-day air-defense exercise Sunday, flexing its military might amid Western pressure over its nuclear program, and threatening retaliation against Israel if it were to target Iran...(Full Article).
- WSJ: U.S. Enlists Allies in New Surge
The Obama administration is in advanced talks with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for a coordinated rollout of a new Afghan war strategy, which U.S. officials hope will include a commitment by European allies to send several thousand additional troops...(Full Article).
- WSJ: Iraq Fails to Resolve Vote Issue
The Iraqi parliament on Sunday failed to resolve an impasse threatening to delay the country's election in January, which could affect the U.S. military's plans for a partial pullout next year. There are only a couple of days left for parliament to address Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi's veto of an election law, as the law must be passed 60 days before a vote and Jan. 23 is viewed by Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims as the last possible date in January for the ballot to take place...(Full Article).
- WASHPOST: Al-Qaeda in Iraq regaining strength
- ALJAZEERA: Yemen weighs rehabilitation issue
Yemen is struggling with the possible release of the largest group of detainees at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The release of more than 90 Yemenis still being held at the facility may be delayed due to US fears that Yemen does not have the capacity to ensure the men will not rejoin al-Qaeda. The US has cautioned that if Yemen does not build a rehabilitation centre where former detainees can be coached to abandon all forms of radical ideology, it will transfer the men to Saudi Arabia, something Yemen strongly disagrees with...(Full Article).
- DEBKAfile: Denied Russian S-300 missiles, Iran cannot protect nuclear sites
...For two weeks, high-ranking Iranian politicians and generals bombarded Moscow to make good on its contract to supply the key weapon, to no avail. Saturday, Nov. 21, Iran's air force commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Mighani spoke at length about the highly sophisticated S-300, without which, DEBKAfile's military sources say, Iran has no real defense against US and Israeli aerial or missile strikes against its nuclear installations...(Full Article).
- WSJ: U.N. Official Seeks Global Action on Iran
Mohamed ElBaradei, the departing chief of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency, said Iran's continued refusal to accept tighter scrutiny of its nuclear activities would likely force the international community to impose new sanctions.Though he described sanctions as a "grievous violation of human rights" that "affect the weak" and "do not solve problems," Mr. ElBaradei said Iran's continued intransigence regarding its nuclear program would likely lead world powers to increase their pressure on Iran...(Full Article).
- PRESS TV: China wants Iran nuclear talks to continue
As Iran and the West have yet to come to a closing agreement on Tehran's nuclear case, China says more talks should be held between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany on the matter...(Full Article).
- RIA NOVOSTI: Turkey offers assistance in Iran nuclear issue
Turkey is ready to offer assistance to six world powers negotiating with Iran over its controversial nuclear program to find a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear issue, the Turkish foreign minister said on Sunday. "We believe that a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear issue is achievable and necessary. Given the already volatile situation in the region, diplomacy is the only viable avenue for a solution," Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted by the UAE-based newspaper Gulf News as saying...(Full Article).
- TODAY'S ZAMAN: Turkey gives Israel new ‘deadline' for Herons delivery
Rejecting a news report suggesting that Turkey has cancelled a deal with Israel for purchasing unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül, has announced that Turkey has given Israeli contractors 50 days to fulfill the long-delayed deal for the delivery of the Israeli-made surveillance drones, known as Herons...(Full Article).
- TODAY'S ZAMAN: Turkish parliament speaker leaves for Russia
Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmer Ali Şahin departed Sunday for Moscow to participate in the 34th General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) on November 22-24...(Full Article).
- TODAY'S ZAMAN: Israel, Turkey to mark first ministerial visit since Gaza row
Israeli Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer is today scheduled to commence the highest-level visit between Turkey and Israel since relations between the two countries became strained after the Israeli military launched a deadly offensive in Gaza last December...(Full Article).
- HAARETZ: Syria: No peace talks without Israeli promise to return Golan
Syrian President Bashar Assad said he would begin peace talks with Israel only after Netanyahu "guarantees the full return of land and rights," the Syrian News Service reported. Assad met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris where they spoke about the future of peace talks between Israel and Syria, reported the Syrian News Service...(Full Article).
- NAHARNET: Egypt Resumes Trial of So-Called Hizbullah Cell
Egypt's state security court resumes the trial of the so-called Hizbullah cell on Saturday.
Twenty five defendants are accused of plotting attacks against ships in the Suez Canal and tourist sites...(Full Article).
- THE MEMRI BLOG: Syrian Ministry Trains Preachers In Moderation
- PRESS TV: Azeri, Armenian leaders discuss Nagorno-Karabakh
The Azerbaijani and Armenian heads of state have met to attempt to resolve the longstanding territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. On Sunday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian with hopes of reestablishing Baku's authority over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan lost to Armenia in the 1990s, the AzerTAj state news agency reported...(Full Article).
- THE MEDIA LINE: Mubarak Lambasts Israel in Speech to Parliament
- HAARETZ: Hamas official: Shalit swap could be sealed by Friday
A deal for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit could be sealed by Friday, Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told Haaretz on Sunday. A delegation for the Islamist group is heading to Cairo on Monday to debate the latest list of prisoners Israel is prepared to release. When asked whether the deal could be signed by the end of the week, Taha said: "I hope this will be possible, with the help of God."...(Full Article).
- HAARETZ: Peres: Israel to halt settlements once peace talks begin
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has pledged to halt West Bank settlement construction once peace talks with the Palestinians are renewed, President Shimon Peres said on Sunday during an official visit to Egypt. "The minute we shall start to negotiate there won't be new settlements, there won't be confiscation of land," Peres said at a joint news conference in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, adding that the settlements issue was being blown out of proportion...(Full Article).
- HAARETZ: For Obama, the world doesn't revolve around Israel
One needed to hear Bruce Riedel last week to understand once again that Israel is not the center of the universe. Riedel, who spoke at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said that the most important subject on the foreign affairs agenda of President Barack Obama's administration is the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan...(Full Article).
- NAHARNET: Soaid: We Insist Hizbullah, Iranian Arms be Under Legitimate Control
- NAHARNET: Sfeir: There's a Difference between Resistance and Army Weapons
- REUTERS: Iran's Musavi Tells Government To Stop Intimidation
Iran's opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi said the government should stop intimidating people to try and change their political views, a reformist website reported today. "The government should not intimidate people to change their path...this movement will continue and we are ready to pay any price," Musavi was quoted as saying by his "Kaleme" website...(Full Article).
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