Iran
The United States on Monday injected a note of caution into the mood of optimism surrounding recently revived talks on Iran’s contentious uranium enrichment program, calling on the Iranians to take “urgent, practical steps” to prove their sincerity in complying with obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. The European Union was more direct, asking Iran to suspend the enrichment, a step that Iran has said it will never take. – New York Times
Any solution to the nearly 10-year-old roller coaster of talks and threats over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which the West suspects are military in nature but Tehran insists are peaceful, would be welcomed here. But experience has taught people like Mr. Mesgaran not to get their hopes up. Instead, he and many others of his generation have resigned themselves to making the best of a bad situation. – New York Times
Days before House lawmakers mark up their version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill, top Republicans are pressing ahead with mandates that would allow Congress to pump billions into weapons programs designed to counter threats from Iran. – DEFCON Hill
Iran’s threat to strangle oil tanker traffic through the Straits of Hormuz has the Navy scrambling to redress its decades-old neglect of mine warfare. Admirals from the Chief of Naval Operations on down have publicly admitted the service is not where it needs to be. – AOL Defense
Iran is accepting renminbi for some of the crude oil it supplies to China, industry executives in Beijing and Kuwait and Dubai-based bankers said, partly as a consequence of US sanctions aimed at limiting Tehran’s nuclear programme. – Financial Times
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaned on India on Monday to cut its imports of Iranian oil further, and said Washington may not make a decision on whether to exempt New Delhi from financial sanctions for another two months. – Reuters
Syria
The Syrian government held parliamentary elections on Monday, calling them an important step toward reform, while virtually ignoring public demands for sweeping democratic change that have rocked the country for the past 14 months. – New York Times
[T]he increasingly bloody tumult in Syrian cities beyond the horizon is sending forceful ripples through mountain villages on this side and into nearby Israeli military barracks and government halls three hours away in Jerusalem. – Washington Post
Bombarded by a mass of conflicting information from the two sides, these people suspect they are not being told the full story but feel that the safer option is to retreat from the reality and let the fight go on around them. Members of this unquantifiable so-called silent majority of Syrians who are neither regime zealots nor opposition diehards are staying quiet for now – even if they secretly want to know more. – Financial Times
Syria is finding it increasingly hard to buy grain on international markets because sanctions have blocked its access to trade finance, while growing numbers of its citizens are struggling to obtain food after more than a year of conflict. – Reuters
The 14 months of bloodshed in Syria that has continued despite an April 12 ceasefire and claimed more than 9,000 lives is a “totally unacceptable and intolerable situation” that must stop so political dialogue can begin, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday. – Reuters
Fighting has been so intense in parts of Syria that at times the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad has qualified as a localized civil war, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday. – Reuters
North Africa
Some big oil companies hoped regime change in Libya, and a sense of political opening elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, would bring relief in some of the tough terms they had agreed to in partnership deals with national oil companies. That hasn’t happened. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
When Nebil Karoui chose to air “Persepolis” on his Tunisian channel, he thought it was “a nonevent.” Now the television station owner is surrounding himself with bodyguards and battling the courts, terrified that the religious fervor unleashed after the so-called Arab Spring will cost him his livelihood or even his life. – LA Times’ World Now
Months after rebels brought down the extravagant dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi, the disarray in Libya’s state finances at the end of last year was so bad the new leadership did not know the size of state assets, how their money was being spent, or what had happened to more than $2 billion transferred from the sovereign wealth fund. – Reuters
In Algeria, even those who owe their livelihoods to the government find it hard to muster enthusiasm for a parliamentary election this week that few believe will change anything. – Reuters
Moderate Islamist parties should emerge the winners of a parliamentary election in Algeria on Thursday but they are unlikely to push for substantial change in a country ruled by the same elite since independence half a century ago. – Reuters
Egypt’s presidential elections committee said it would stop its work in preparation for presidential elections due later this month after what it said was an insult to the committee by members of parliament during its session on Monday. – Reuters
Interview: Nancy Okail, director of Freedom House’s Egypt office in Cairo, is one of dozens of activists being prosecuted by the Egyptian authorities as part of a crackdown on independent civil society groups in the country….In the following interview, Okail discusses the case and its implications for Egypt’s ongoing political transition. – Freedom House’s Freedom at Issue
Bahrain
Tom Malinowski writes: Bahrain is a small country: The protagonists on both sides know each other, and there still seems to be room for compromise. But the window is rapidly closing, and once it shuts — as in Syria — it will be hard to turn back. Preventing this outcome by holding Bahrain to the commitments it made to the Bassiouni Commission, and encouraging political compromise, is America’s paramount interest in Bahrain. – Foreign Policy
Jordan
Protests demanding political reforms, but not the fall of the monarchy, are small and generally well-behaved, and the security forces have mostly refrained from using force to suppress them. But the civility masks deep and growing tensions that call into question the stability of this strategically significant kingdom of 6 million people, a bedrock of American influence in the region and Israel’s last reliable Arab ally since the fall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak – Washington Post
Some 10,000 troops from the U.S., Jordan and 15 other countries in the region are preparing to launch the first-ever live-fire drill involving air, land, marine and special forces operating as a joint task force. – Defense News
Iraq
An Iraqi court has ordered the release of the last detainee handed over to Iraqi custody by the departing United States military, citing insufficient evidence to prosecute him on accusations that he orchestrated a deadly 2007 assault against American forces, his lawyer said Monday. – New York Times
Global police body Interpol called on Tuesday for help in arresting fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on suspicion of planning and funding attacks in Iraq. – Reuters
Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the chairman of the opposition Kadima Party struck a deal early Tuesday morning to form a unity government, a surprise move that staves off early elections and creates a new coalition with a huge legislative majority. – New York Times
Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday rejected appeals for the release of two Palestinian prisoners who have been on a hunger strike for 69 days to protest their incarceration without formal charges, sharpening concern for their lives and raising the specter of widespread unrest in the event of a death. – New York Times
Israel’s Supreme Court upheld a demolition order Monday against five Jewish apartment buildings built without permission on private Palestinian land in the West Bank, but extended the deadline to July 1. – LA Times’ World Now
Ben Birnbaum writes: Fayyad’s state-building project lies in jeopardy….Yet…Two years after Herzliya, Fayyad still seems to believe that he can convince Israeli leaders that his interests and theirs are one and the same. – The New Republic
Turkey
Former Turkish armed forces commander General Ilker Basbug failed to appear among defendants in a mass trial over suspected coup conspiracies, witnesses said, in an apparent protest at the merging of his case with other coup investigations. – Reuters
China
Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said he remains hopeful that he can leave China for the U.S. under a recent deal between Washington and Beijing, but he said barriers remain before the two sides can fully defuse their sticky diplomatic situation. – Wall Street Journal
Chen Guangcheng, the blind activist whose escape last month from house arrest and subsequent flight to the American Embassy here triggered a diplomatic crisis, said Tuesday that Chinese authorities have begun to assist him in applying for permission to travel to the United States. – New York Times
Al Jazeera, the satellite broadcasting network, was forced by the Chinese authorities to close its China news operations of its English-language channel on Monday, the first such action in almost 14 years and the strongest sign yet of fraying relations between the ruling Communist Party and the overseas journalists who cover it. – New York Times
Two groups of specialists have been locked in a battle to dominate U.S. policy toward China for the past three decades, and the camp of hawkish skeptics sharply increased its influence in the last few years, according to a long-time Pentagon specialist on Asian affairs. – Washington Free Beacon
The purge of Bo Xilai as Chongqing Communist party boss has thwarted the prospects for some “princeling” generals to join China’s top military body while giving President Hu Jintao a chance to boost his influence over the armed forces. – Financial Times
The Pentagon hosted China’s Defense Minister Liang Guanglie on May 7 in a bid to boost military ties as the United States tried to contain the fallout from a diplomatic dispute over a top Chinese dissident. – AFP
The woman who drove blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng to Beijing after his dramatic escape from house arrest in eastern China told how she sat down with security officers afterwards to watch the jailbreak movie, “The Shawshank Redemption”. – Reuters
Blind dissident Chen Guangcheng has demanded the central Chinese government punish officials he blames for false imprisonment and years of persecution, saying on Tuesday that relatives remain under threat despite the international uproar over him. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng entered the U.S. Embassy in Beijing last week in such poor medical condition that U.S. officials suspected he might have advanced colon cancer, pushing them to speed up his exit from the embassy and into a local hospital, a senior administration official told The Cable. – The Cable
Afghanistan
A spokesman for the French military here said that about a fourth of French troops were on course to leave Afghanistan by the end of this year, while they awaited word on whether the new French president would speed up their withdrawal. – New York Times
NATO airstrikes killed Afghan civilians in two provinces, local officials reported Monday, and the U.S.-led coalition said it plans an apology in one of the incidents. – Washington Post
Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, on Monday rejected statements made by the heads of the House and Senate Intelligence committees that the Taliban has grown stronger since President Obama’s surge of additional U.S. troops, and he suggested that “sound bites” from Washington were not helping. – National Journal
Private guards and Afghan personnel would be prohibited from providing security for U.S. troops in Afghanistan unless they undergo screening and vetting, under draft legislation proposed by the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee for inclusion in the 2013 defense authorization bill. – Military Times
The senior Democrat of the powerful Armed Services Committee has criticized the Obama administration’s State Department for failing to designate a deadly insurgency group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a foreign terrorist organization and is challenging Pakistan to do its part to help bring an end to the growing criminal clan. – Washington Examiner
The Afghan government on Monday condemned the recent Taliban announcement of the start of their annual “spring offensive,” calling it cowardly and un-Islamic and pledging the country’s forces would thwart any attacks. – Associated Press
The strategic pact sealed by President Barack Obama last week in Afghanistan is at risk of becoming “meaningless” if Afghans do not feel safe, President Hamid Karzai said on Monday, referring to recent civilian casualties inflicted by NATO. – Reuters
South Asia
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter announced to his staff Monday morning that he was stepping down this summer after serving less than two years on the job. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urged Pakistan to do more to make sure its territory is not used as a launchpad for terrorism, underlining the prickly relationship with a key ally in the war on militancy. – Reuters
Neil Padukone writes: Sitting astride the Indian Ocean, democratic India may be what President Obama has called a “natural” ally—but any alliance must be based on mutual interests. What these are and how they translate into points of cooperation for Washington and New Delhi will largely depend on what unites them: China’s strategy. – The National Interest
Koreas
South Korea and the U.S. on May 7 launched a major joint air exercise to deter North Korean provocations amid high cross-border tensions, officials said. – AFP
Southeast Asia
A retired truck driver whose 20-year prison term for sending text messages insulting Thailand’s monarchy highlighted the harshness of the country’s lèse-majesté laws died in prison on Tuesday, his lawyer said. – New York Times
The International Monetary Fund urged Myanmar to implement “incremental” changes to its economy as the Southeast Asian nation opens up under a new government. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Myanmar is the poorest country in Southeast Asia, but its government is rich – and getting richer –in hard currency, thanks to billions in revenue from selling natural gas. – WSJ’s Southeast Asia Real Time
TPP
Myron Brilliant writes: The longer we take, the more the U.S. risks falling behind. With a clear pathway toward ensuring fair and market-based competition among TPP partners—and with jobs at stake—now is the time to be bold. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Greg Rushford writes: To be fair, Mr. Obama also is hardly the first U.S. president to bow to domestic textile interests. But with the TPP, he’s demanding America’s trading partners summon the political will to dismantle their protectionist rackets. As long as he’s unwilling to do the same, we shouldn’t expect much progress toward this trade agreement. – Wall Street Journal Asia (subscription required)
Russia
In the lustrous, vaulted throne room of the czars who came before him, Vladimir V. Putin on Monday reclaimed the Russian presidency. A 30-gun salute cracked over the eerie quiet of the city, and Russia’s defense minister returned to Mr. Putin the black suitcase that contains the controls to a vast nuclear arsenal. – New York Times
The Election Day appearance [of Lyudmila Putin] was a reminder of the nearly impenetrable secrecy that has enveloped them and their two daughters since Mr. Putin, a former K.G.B. agent, rose to power 12 years ago. The longer he rules Russia, the more discussion of his family life seems taboo. – New York Times
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree stating that Moscow will seek closer ties with Washington, but will not tolerate interference in its affairs. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Russian police have detained two prominent leaders of the country’s opposition movement after they staged an overnight sit-in protest close to the Kremlin. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
The U.S. should stop blaming Russia for every problem, that country’s ambassador to the U.S. said Monday. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Masha Lipman writes: Putin continues to react to [the protester’s] challenge with authoritarian policies and hypocritical rhetoric, which are, in turn, bound to broaden their ranks and further erode his legitimacy. The emergence of a cohesive opposition force will be only a matter of time. – Washington Post
Lilia Shevtsova and David Kramer writes: In preparing for his departure, Medvedev said, “Everybody should relax: This” — his tandem with Putin — “is for a long time.” Such cocky sentiments suggest that neither he nor his boss has learned any lessons from their time in the Kremlin, let alone any lessons from Russia’s long history. – Foreign Policy
France
Peter Feaver writes: Sarkozy may well have been the indispensable figure in two of the more prominent talking points on Obama’s brag sheet. If his French partner had been more of a spoiler in the mold of Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, is it plausible to think that President Obama would have intervened in Libya or secured new rounds of multilateral sanctions on Iran? – Shadow Government
United States of America
Josh Rogin reports: Hundreds of CATO Institute members, friends, and guests who attended the think tank’s May 4 gala dinner event got quite a surprise when a Chinese protester ran through the event screaming to protest Chinese economist Mao Yushi. – The Cable
Latin America
Washington increasingly is pouring funds and other resources into counternarcotics efforts in Peru, which has become a front in the global drug war as Colombian cartels step up their operations in the northern part of the country. – Washington Times
Following a solid — if beaten and battered — performance at his first debate, the presidential front-runner from Mexico’s major opposition party, Enrique Peña Nieto, survived his biggest test yet, showing Mexican voters that the telegenic former governor could think on his feet and defend himself and his party against allegations of corruption and cronyism. – Washington Post
After controlling the comings and goings of its people for five decades, communist Cuba appears on the verge of a decision to lift many travel restrictions. – Associated Press
President Hugo Chavez broke a week-long silence on Monday to deny he had left Venezuela rudderless during cancer treatment in Cuba and to promise a resounding re-election win in October. – Reuters
Mali
An attack by Islamist rebels believed to be linked to al-Qaeda on a local saint’s tomb in Timbuktu is set to increase concern about the fate of centuries-old religious monuments in the Malian city, a Unesco World Heritage Site. – Financial Times
East Africa
A top South Sudanese official on Monday said Sudan is violating a U.N. ultimatum to halt the fighting that has brought the two African neighbors to the brink of an all-out war. – Washington Times
Somali pirates captured on the high seas and prosecuted in other countries are now being transferred to a new prison in Somalia. It’s a significant change for countries combating piracy but are seeing their own jail systems overwhelmed as the U.S. and other countries continue to catch and turn over pirates to countries willing to prosecute them. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Gerard Prunier writes: The rebels battling Mr. Bashir’s government are waging a real battle for freedom, and their de facto alliance with southern Christians could finally bring Sudan’s endless conflict to a close. War is a tragic affair, but the brave Sudanese men who have chosen it as a last resort deserve to be allowed to find their own way toward a Sudanese Spring, even if it is a violent one. – New York Times
