President Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, notes former CIA analyst Paul Pillar, is more obsession than strategy. A not-so-mysterious explosion on the outskirts of Baghdad Monday shows why. Iraqi political analysts are blaming the attack on Israel, saying it follows two attacks earlier this month on facilities of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. According...
Category: Saudi Arabia
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Iran Isn’t Another Iraq. Its a Different Kind of War
President Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran has generated Tehran’s policy of “tit for tat,” and the results worry the world. Drones downed. Tankers seized. Insults exchanged. Yet both countries say—and act—like they don’t want a shooting war. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini said in May, “We don’t seek a war and neither do...
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U.S. Ally Balks at Charge Iran Attacked Its Tankers
So who attacked the two tankers in the Gulf of Oman in June 13, the attacks that brought Iran and the United States to the brink of war? The United States released a grainy video of small ship removing what it said was a limpet mine from the hull of one of the tankers. Secretary...
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Saudis Deploy Israeli Spyware to Target Dissidents
Eli Lake, the pro-Israel Bloomberg columnist, thinks selling Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to Saudi Arabia not a good idea. Lake recently met Palestinian blogger Ayad al-Baghdadi (no relation to the ISIS leader of the same name) who has reportedly been targeted by the Saudi regime. Now living in exile in Norway, al Baghdadi still has to...
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Bolton v. Trump: The Warmonger Leads the War-Wary
When National Security Adviser John Bolton recently demanded military plans to oust the government of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela, Trump demurred, reportedly saying his national security adviser was trying to pull him “into a war.” When Bolton demanded “regime change” in Iran and the Pentagon produced a plan to put 120,000 troops into the region,...