As Pompeo Voices Support for Protesting Iranians, Regime’s Foreign Minister Trolls Him on Twitter

Hitting back at Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s criticism of the regime in Tehran, “moderate” Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Thursday tweaked a statement from Pompeo – for instance, switching “Iran” for “U.S.” – and sent it back, via Twitter. Read

Congress Sends Bill on North Korea Human Rights to President’s Desk

As the Trump administration pursues a deal to shut down North Korea’s nuclear programs, Congress is sending to the president’s desk a bipartisan bill to reauthorize 18-year-old human rights legislation that has long angered the regime in Pyongyang. Read

Bolton: Trump Will Meet With Putin ‘Despite the Political Noise’

Visiting Moscow on Wednesday, National Security Advisor John Bolton lay the groundwork for a summit between Presidents Trump and Putin in the coming weeks, stressed the importance of such an encounter dispute expected criticism, and resisted journalists’ attempts to nail him down on his own previous hawkish comments about the Russian leader. Read

Netanyahu Uses Soccer, Social Media in Outreach to the Iranian People

The unlikely sight of an Iranian goal-keeper denying one of the world’s greatest goal-scorers a penalty in a soccer World Cup game this week gave Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a peg for his latest social media appeal to the Iranian people. Read

Trump’s ‘Travel Ban’ Countries Account For Only 8% of World’s Muslims

The countries targeted in President Trump’s immigration proclamation which the Supreme Court upheld in a 5-4 ruling Tuesday, account for some eight percent of the world’s Muslims, and fewer that one-tenth of the countries that make up the bloc of Islamic states. Read

Iranians Protest Economic Woes But Also Condemn Regime and Its Policies

As an exiled opposition movement prepares to hold its annual “Free Iran” rally in Paris, protests at home by Iranians riled by economic grievances are increasingly featuring slogans condemning the government and expressing frustration at its foreign policy priorities. Read

Ex-E.U. Foreign Policy Chief Runs Into Obama-Era Visa Restrictions

A prominent European politician planning to travel to the United States has run into visa difficulties over a visit he paid to Iran five years ago – the result not of President Trump’s excoriated travel bans, but of restrictions put in place under his predecessor. Read

Russia Violates Ceasefire Deal With US and Jordan, As Fighting Escalates in SW Syria

Jordan has warned it cannot take in any more Syrians fleeing the civil war as the Assad regime, backed by Russia, escalates an offensive to recapture strategic territory near the border with Jordan, in apparent violation of a year-old ceasefire agreement between the U.S., Russia and Jordan. Read

68 Years After Start of Korean War, Post-Summit Goodwill Gestures Move Forward

U.S. and South Korean troops on Monday marked the 68th anniversary of the North Korean invasion that began the Korean War, amid signs that two goodwill gestures agreed upon at the summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un two weeks ago are moving ahead. Read

Erdogan Claims Election Victory: ‘A Lesson to Those Who Wait For Turkey to Kneel’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an Islamist whose authoritarian rule and crackdown on dissent has soured relations with the West, claimed victory in Sunday’s snap election before waiting for official counting to be completed. Read

Venezuela Says UN Human Rights Council Can Now Operate Without US ‘Disturbances’

Venezuela’s Maduro regime says the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the U.N. Human Rights Council means that the body is now free to operate without “disturbances” and “pressure” from the United States. Read

Trump-Putin Summit Looks Likely This Summer

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week he is ready to meet with President Trump “as soon as the U.S. side is ready,” and now the administration has confirmed that National Security Advisor John Bolton will visit Moscow in the coming days “to discuss a potential meeting” between the two. Read

Pro-Iranian Militias Vow to Hit US and Israel After Unclaimed Airstrike Near Syria-Iraq Border

Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq are threatening to attack the United States and Israel after dozens of their fighters were killed in an airstrike early this week on a base inside Syrian territory, near the Iraq-Syria border. Read

Khamenei: Immigrant Family Separations Show ‘How Evil' U.S. Really Is

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday waded into the controversy surrounding separations of illegal immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border, deploring images of crying children and saying the policy shows how “evil” the Americans are. Read

Bolton: U.S.Will Also Stop Funding U.N. Human Rights Council

The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the U.N. Human Rights Council is being accompanied by an end to U.S. funding for both the council and the office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Tuesday night. Read

Haley: We Tried For More Than a Year to Reform UN Human Rights Council, With Virtually No Open Support

Critics of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the U.N. Human Rights Council suggested it was a sign of hostility towards global human rights promotion, but Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said the move came after more than a year of unsuccessful attempts to reform the controversial institution. Read

‘An Exercise in Shameless Hypocrisy’: US Withdraws From UN Human Rights Council

The United States is not willing to lend credibility to the U.N.’s “misnamed” Human Rights Council by remaining a member any longer, Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said Tuesday, joining Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in announcing that the U.S. is withdrawing from the Geneva-based body. Read

Hitting Back at Erdogan’s Policies, Senate Targets Sale of F-35 Fighters

The National Defense Authorization Act passed by the U.S. Senate on Monday night includes a provision preventing the transfer of the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft to Turkey, a NATO ally whose Islamist government’s policies have set off alarm bells in Washington. Read

UN Rights Chief Swipes Trump Over ‘Unconscionable’ Immigration Policy

The outgoing U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, criticized the Trump administration Monday over what he called “recently adopted policies which punish children for their parents’ actions.” Read

Taliban Won’t Extend Ceasefire; Orders Fighters to Resume ‘Operations Against The Foreign Invaders'

The Taliban on Sunday ruled out appeals by Afghanistan’s government – echoed by the United States – to extend an unprecedented three-day end-of-Ramadan ceasefire, saying in a statement that the truce “has to end tonight.” Read

New Human Rights Council Session Begins With Possibility of US Pull Out

A year after Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley gave the U.N. Human Rights Council notice that the U.S. may withdraw, the Geneva-based body opens a new, three-week-long session on Monday, with neither of the administration’s two primary declared concerns addressed. Read

Unprecedented: Haley-Backed Candidate for Key UN Human Rights Committee Fails to Win Seat

United Nations member states voting by secret ballot Thursday to fill nine vacancies on a key human rights treaty body sidelined a U.S. candidate who, as a war crimes prosecutor, successfully secured the first genocide conviction in history. Read

Beijing Reluctant to Say NK Sanctions Should Remain Until Complete Denuclearization

After the Trump-Kim summit, China and Russia both suggested that sanctions relief should be considered for North Korea, but on a visit to Beijing Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China agrees with the U.S. that sanctions should remain in place until North Korea completely denuclearizes. Read

Haley Amendment Condemning Hamas Wins Simple Majority – But Fails to Advance as UN Censures Israel Again

It would have been unprecedented: A decision by the U.N. General Assembly to include strong and direct condemnation of Hamas in an Islamic bloc-drafted resolution critical of Israel. Read

Pompeo: No Economic Relief Until ‘Complete Denuclearization’ of North Korea Has Been Achieved

As President Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un continues to draw flak, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday declared unequivocally that, unlike past agreements with Pyongyang, the one being pursued by the Trump administration will not provide economic benefits until the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea has been achieved. Read

Guam’s Governor to Trump: Summit With Kim Brought ‘Big Sigh of Relief’ for Territory’s 165,000 People

On his way home from his summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, President Trump met briefly during an early morning refueling stopover with the governor of Guam, the U.S. Pacific island territory which Kim last year threatened to target with ballistic missiles. Read

North Korean Media: Kim Stressed Urgency of ‘Halting Irritating and Hostile Military Actions’

North Korean state media said Wednesday that during his summit with President Trump, Kim Jong Un had described as urgent the need to make bold decisions on “halting irritating and hostile military actions against each other.” Read

Kim Signs Document Agreeing to ‘Work Towards Complete Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula’

Predicting a very “different” relationship with North Korea, President Trump joined Kim Jong Un Tuesday in signing a document in which he “committed to provide security guarantees” and Kim “reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” Read

Trump Predicts ‘Tremendously Successful’ Talks as Summit With Kim Jong Un Gets Underway

President Trump and Kim Jong Un have met in Singapore, shaking hands at the start of an unprecedented summit that carries the weight of the world’s expectations. Read

Mattis: ‘I Don’t Believe’ US Troop Reduction is On The Table at Trump-Kim Summit

Defense Secretary James Mattis said Monday he does not believe the reduction of U.S. troop numbers in South Korea will be on the table in President Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un, which is about to get underway. Read

Putin: Happy to Welcome G7 Partners to Moscow; Ready to Meet With Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday gave a cautiously positive response to President Trump’s calls for his country’s readmission to what used to be the G8, and played down what he called the “internal problems” in the G7 following the forum’s tumultuous summit in Canada. Read

‘Fool Trade’ and NATO Defense Spending: Trump Tweets From Singapore

President Trump began his first day in Singapore with a series of tweets in defense of his trade policies, criticizing Canada and the European Union over trade surpluses and saying the Europeans should be spending more on defense. Read

All Eyes on Singapore as Trump, Kim Prepare For Tuesday’s Unprecendented Summit

President Trump has a relatively quiet day scheduled in Singapore Monday, following the weekend’s fractious G7 gathering in Canada and ahead of Tuesday’s historic summit with Kim Jong Un. Read

Pompeo: Congress Should ‘Have a Say’ in Any NK Nuke Deal--Unlike Obama’s ‘Flimsy Piece of Paper’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday the administration would like Congress to “have a say” in any nuclear agreement reached with North Korea, contrasting that approach to what he called the Obama administration’s “flimsy piece of paper” – apparently a reference to the Iran nuclear deal. Read

Putin Likens Trump’s Tariffs to Sanctions; Tells US Allies, ‘Dinner is Served. Enjoy’

On the eve of a G7 summit in Canada that could be awkward for President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin took a dig at members of the bloc that has excluded him for the past four years, seemingly relishing spats over Trump’s trade tariffs and other policies. Read

Trump Hosts Muslim Envoys for ‘a Sacred Tradition of One of The World’s Great Religions’

President Donald Trump on Wednesday night wished Muslims across the globe a blessed Ramadan, hosting ambassadors from Muslim-majority nations for a fast-breaking iftar meal which he described as “a sacred tradition of one of the world’s great religions.” Read

‘Shameless’: Muslim Reform Advocate Criticizes CAIR’s Planned Iftar Protest Outside White House

“Shameless, if not bizarrely against the spirit of Ramadan.” That was American Islamic Forum for Democracy president M. Zuhdi Jasser’s reaction Tuesday to plans by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to hold a protest outside the White House Wednesday, as President Trump hosts an official iftar inside. Read

Top Senate Dems Demand a North Korea Deal That’s Tougher Than Obama’s Iran Deal

In a letter to President Trump, seven ranking Democratic senators have laid out conditions for any nuclear deal with North Korea, including some that were conspicuously absent in the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. Read

Britain, France Join U.S. in Responding to Chinese 'Intimidation and Coercion' in South China Sea

Britain and France are backing U.S.-led efforts to challenge what Defense Secretary James Mattis at the weekend called Chinese “intimidation and coercion” in the disputed South China Sea. Read

Taliban Distances Itself From Suicide Bombing Targeting Clerics

The Taliban on Monday distanced itself from a suicide bombing that targeted religious scholars shortly after they issued a fatwa rejecting the jihad against the Afghan government, but the group continues to maintain that its own jihad is Islamically legitimate. Read

US Marine General on China: ‘Military Has Had a Lot of Experience…Taking Down Small Islands’

Amid simmering U.S.-China tensions in the South China Sea, a top U.S. general on Thursday underlined the military’s readiness to “protect U.S. and allied interests in the region,” and made a reference to the U.S. experience in “taking down small islands” in the Pacific during World War II. Read

Pompeo Cannot Yet Say Whether Trump-Kim Summit Will Happen, But Reports ‘Real Progress’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday he could not yet say whether an envisaged summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un will go ahead, but that his talks in New York with Kim’s deputy had “made real progress towards that.” Read

Haley: US Will Veto ‘Morally Bankrupt’ UN Resolution That Slams Israel, Fails to Name Hamas

Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said Thursday the United States will veto an Arab-sponsored Security Council resolution seeking “an international protection mechanism” for Palestinian civilians, pointing out that it fails to mention by name the Hamas terrorist group at the center of current tensions in Gaza. Read