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  • Iran Negotiations
    Crunch Time for Iran Nuclear Talks

    Negotiations formally resume Tuesday in Vienna following intensive talks last week in Oman among Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that apparently failed to achieve a breakthrough. But the gaps between the sides are narrowing. Progress was made on key issues, including agreeing to send out Iran’s stockpile of low enriched uranium to Russia – which would turn it into fuel for current and envisioned civilian power reactors. Meanwhile, an Iranian source told VOA on condition of anonymity that Iran might accept an initial suspension – rather than revocation – of U.N. sanctions that have provided the legal basis for economic penalties imposed against the Islamic republic since 2006.

  • Yemen
    Why the US Is Losing Yemen

    “The Yemeni government is under enormous pressure from multiple fronts,” he said. “And we’re in danger of losing a key partner in our counter-terrorism allies.” It was not the statement itself that was surprising for those who have been paying attention to events in Yemen. Rather, it was a rare admission from a U.S. official that things weren’t going well in the country, which the Obama administration has cast as a key success story in the battle against al-Qaeda. President Obama in September used U.S. counterterrorism strategy in Yemen as a success story worthy of emulation elsewhere, as he laid out his strategy to combat the Islamic State, or ISIS or ISIL.

  • U.S. Anti-ISIS Strategy in Syria
    U.S. weighs expanded CIA training, arming of Syrian allies struggling against Assad

    The Obama administration has been weighing plans to escalate the CIA’s role in arming and training fighters in Syria, a move aimed at accelerating covert U.S. support to moderate rebel factions while the Pentagon is preparing to establish its own training bases, U.S. officials said. The proposed CIA buildup would expand a clandestine mission that has grown substantially over the past year, U.S. officials said. The agency now vets and trains about 400 fighters each month — as many as are expected to be trained by the Pentagon when its program reaches full strength late next year.

  • U.S. - Pakistan
    Pakistani army chief’s trip to U.S. likely to be marked by greater optimism, trust

    The last time a Pakistani army chief visited Washington, he got an earful from U.S. leaders worried that he was not a reliable partner in efforts to combat militant groups responsible for devastating attacks in Afghanistan. Four years later, Pakistan’s newest military chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, is scheduled to arrive in Washington this weekend on his first official U.S. visit. And this time, the most powerful man in Pakistan is expected to be greeted with far less skepticism.

  • ISIS and AQ in Syria
    AP sources: IS, al-Qaida reach accord in Syria

    Militant leaders from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida gathered at a farm house in northern Syria last week and agreed on a plan to stop fighting each other and work together against their opponents, a high-level Syrian opposition official and a rebel commander have told The Associated Press. Such an accord could present new difficulties for Washington's strategy against the IS group. While warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition strike militants from the air, the Obama administration has counted on arming "moderate" rebel factions to push them back on the ground. Those rebels, already considered relatively weak and disorganized, would face far stronger opposition if the two heavy-hitting militant groups now are working together.

  • Saudi-Iraq
    Saudi Arabia, Iraq to bolster ties through security cooperation

    The visit by the Iraqi president to Riyadh can be said to have been successful after years of disputes that had long marked their relationship. Fighting terrorism and drying up the sources of its revenues are the two most prominent themes of Masum’s meetings with Saudi officials, after which an agreement was reached that will be finalized with the upcoming visit of a Saudi security delegation to Baghdad.

  • GCC and Oil Markets
    The New Energy Revolution and the Gulf

    The U.S. boom has a profound strategic impact on the GCC. It feeds an existing narrative of a coming U.S. abandonment of the Gulf and a need to find alternatives to U.S. security partnerships. For the Gulf states, no ready alternatives are apparent. In part as a consequence, the Gulf states are increasingly proactive in the economics and politics of surrounding states, which has its own impact on U.S. diplomatic and security policy in the Middle East.

  • Saudi Falconry
    Business meets pleasure in Saudi falconry

    A falcon’s price depends on its beauty and color. A white falcon with bluish–black eyes is the most in demand, especially if it also has a white head, Labdah says. The Peregrine falcon is the next most-valuable, ranging from 70,000–250,000 riyals (19,000–67,000 dollars). The cheapest, a smaller type of the Lanner Falcon (known as the “Wakari” in Arabic), never fetches anything more than 5,000 riyals (1,300 dollars). The Lanner and Peregrine falcons migrate yearly from Russia and Mongolia, which have the best types of falcons in the world, Labdah maintains.

  • Iran Negotiations
    Final deal in Iran nuclear talks unlikely by deadline: sources

    Despite nearly a year of negotiations, Iran and six major powers are unlikely to meet a Nov. 24 deadline to reach a final deal to lift international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, officials say. Western and Iranian officials told Reuters the two sides would probably settle for another interim agreement that builds on the limited sanctions relief agreed a year ago as they hammer away at their deep disagreements in the coming months.

  • Saudi-Iraq
    Saudi Arabia to open embassy in Baghdad soon: Prince Faisal

    Saudi Arabia will reopen its embassy in Baghdad “sooner than you imagine,” the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told reporters after meeting with Iraqi President Fouad Masoum in Riyadh on Wednesday. Prince Faisal, who met Masoum at his residence in Riyadh, said he was keen to visit Iraq, and emphasized the Kingdom’s efforts to maintain national unity and stability in the neighboring country.