Iran
Senior inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog renewed talks with Iran on Friday aimed at securing access to restricted sites where the agency believes scientists may have tested explosives that could be used as triggers for nuclear warheads, officials at the agency said. – New York Times
Russian missile manufacturers provided goods to Iran’s ballistic missile program, but U.S. intelligence agencies claim the proliferation is not part of an official Moscow policy of backing Tehran weapons programs. – Washington Free Beacon
Senior EU officials expressed concern on Thursday that international dialogue over the Iranian nuclear programme is close to collapse, amid signs that Tehran is preparing for the failure of a forthcoming round of key talks. – Financial Times
World powers will insist on Iran curbing its production of high-grade uranium at the next round of nuclear talks in Moscow, a senior European Union negotiator told her counterpart in Tehran on Thursday. – Reuters
The United States will announce a new list of countries that will receive exceptions to financial sanctions on oil trade with Iran as soon as early next week, a government official said on Thursday. – Reuters
France’s Bureau Veritas, which verifies the safety and environmental standards of ships, has stopped its marine work in Iran, the classification society said in a new setback for Tehran as it faces growing pressure from Western sanctions. – Reuters
Even though the military option should remain on the table, Israel should not be the one to use it. Only the United States, with its much larger bunker-busting munitions and the ability to prosecute a sustained military campaign, would be capable of meaningfully delaying Iran’s program. – Foreign Policy
Sohrab Ahmari and James Kirchick writes: There is something deeply pernicious about the attempt to whitewash the grossly anti-Semitic ideology of Iran’s leadership—as if nitpicking over repeated mistranslations of one statement could exonerate Iran when nearly two dozen other choice utterances refer to Israel in eliminationist terms. Reasonable people can disagree about what should be done with respect to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but not about the overt hostility embedded in the Iranian leadership’s rhetoric on Israel. – The American Interest
Syria
With the Syrian conflict escalating perilously after government troops and civilian supporters prevented unarmed United Nations monitors from investigating a massacre, fresh fighting was reported elsewhere on Friday as the authorities sought to extend their writ in an area under stubborn rebel control. – New York Times
Employing his gloomiest assessment to date, United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan acknowledged Thursday that his six-point peace plan was not working and warned that Syria was headed down a path of “brutal repression, massacres, sectarian violence and even all-out civil war.” – Los Angeles Times
The Obama administration’s policy of pursuing diplomatic solutions in Syria while vaguely maintaining the option for military response has put Pentagon planners in a strategic bind, according to the Defense Department’s top military officer. – DEFCON Hill
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) took to the Senate floor on Thursday, slamming the White House’s position on the crisis in Syria and renewing calls for military support to anti-government rebels in the country. – DEFCON Hill
Read Sen. McCain’s floor speech.
Most Americans say that the U.S. does not have a responsibility to do something about the fighting in Syria, although the number calling for U.S. action in that country has grown from 25% in February to 33% now, according to a new national poll. – CNN
Russia would accept a Yemen-style power transition in Syria if it were decided by the people, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said on Thursday, the latest statement seemingly aimed at distancing the Kremlin from President Bashar al-Assad. – Reuters
From humble beginnings as a smuggling and blackmail racket set up by Assad’s relatives in the coastal city of Latakia, the shabbiha have grown into feared militia death squads blamed for the worst atrocities in the revolt. – Reuters
15 months into a rebellion which has become the bloodiest and most intractable of the uprisings which swept the region, Assad has proved more durable than four other Arab leaders toppled by people power or armed revolt. – Reuters
Elie Wiesel writes: I am not sure that armed assistance is the only solution. Economic sanctions have proved to be relatively futile elsewhere. But why not imagine yet another option that might produce a dramatic effect? Why not warn Assad that, unless he stops the murderous policy he is engaged in, he will be arrested and brought to the international criminal court in the Hague and charged with committing crimes against humanity? – Washington Post
Robert Satloff writes: [I]f commentators have mostly been justified in raising the specter of civil war, they have mostly been wrong in assessing its consequences. If Syria descends into the chaos of all-out civil war, it’s not only Syrians who will lose out, as Annan suggests. Very clear American interests are also at stake. – The New Republic
Egypt
Egypt’s military rulers ended a monthslong power struggle over the assembly charged with drafting the country’s new constitution, approving a power-sharing deal Thursday evening that will give Islamists and secular-minded politicians even representation. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The president of the association of Egyptian judges said Thursday that they were abandoning their neutrality toward the coming presidential runoff in an effort to guard against an Islamist monopoly of power. – New York Times
An Egyptian court ruling expected two days before next week’s presidential runoff election could throw the country’s politics into further disarray and ignite widespread unrest if the judges move to disqualify Ahmed Shafik, a loyalist to ousted leader Hosni Mubarak. – LA Times’ World Now
The head of Egypt’s state council for women has accused resurgent Islamists of seeking to roll back female rights on such issues as divorce and custody and undermine the council as a discredited remnant of the Hosni Mubarak era. – Reuters
Shadi Hamid writes: The Muslim Brotherhood’s first experience in governance will be an experiment, and one the organization may not be prepared for. Elections have consequences. We just don’t know what they’ll be. And, for that matter, neither does Morsi. – Foreign Policy
Libya
Retribution is the new law of the land in Libya. Summary executions, arbitrary arrests, torture and indefinite detention have emerged while the judicial system remains in a state of paralysis. – Los Angeles Times
A senior Libyan official told CNN that the U.S. is flying surveillance missions with drones over suspected jihadist training camps in eastern Libya because of concerns over rising activity by al Qaeda and like-minded groups in the region but said that to the best of his knowledge, they had not been used to fire missiles at militant training camps in the area. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Editorial: The sooner Libya can stage elections, the sooner it will have authorities with sufficient legitimacy to complete the work of extending the government’s rule, dismantling militias and providing sufficient security to attract foreign investment. Until then, incidents like Monday’s airport takeover can be expected. Yet even now, the evidence is against those who argue that the overthrow of Libya’s dictatorship has produced only another Somalia-like failed state. Said Mr. Abushagur: “This is a country, and there is a central government operating.” – Washington Post
North Africa
[T]he dictators and their inner circles had spent decades amassing and hiding vast fortunes, and much of the wealth was not easy to find…Investigators in all three countries say they now face formidable obstacles in tracing and recovering the money. – New York Times
The United Nations is deeply concerned about reports of armed groups raiding and looting markets in Sudan’s North Kordofan state, forcing civilians to flee and marking a possible escalation of violence in borderlands. – Reuters
Yemen
The Obama administration now works under the assumption that al Qaeda in Yemen “is coming after America every day,” says a U.S. official familiar with the situation in that country. The official said there are also indications the organization is seeking recruits with specific knowledge of the United States and Western targets. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Yemen’s army engaged on Thursday in heavy gun battles with Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda on the edge of the southern town of Jaar, part of a month-long offensive to retake several towns seized by rebels, local officials said. – Reuters
Iraq
Six months after the last U.S. combat troops left, an Iraq free of Saddam Hussein and overseen by a democratically elected government midwifed by the United States is standing on its own despite ever-present dangers from within and outside its borders. – USA Today
Iraq’s fragile coalition government is pinning its hopes on a network of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to show it can bring some measure of security to Baghdad following the withdrawal of U.S. troops last December. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
One of Saddam Hussein’s closest aides who handed down many of the dictator’s repressive orders was executed in Iraq on Thursday, the justice ministry said. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: The nomination of Brett McGurk to be the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq is now facing increased opposition in the Senate due to allegations he had an affair with a reporter in Baghdad in 2008 while working as a top White House advisor and may have been videotaped while engaged in a sex act on the roof of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Palace with a different woman. – The Cable
Israel
Israel’s plans to build hundreds of new homes in Jewish West Bank settlements have put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at odds again with Washington and the Palestinians, without appeasing settlers furious over the government’s plan to dismantle an illegally built settler enclave. – Associated Press
A special anti-graft court on Thursday convicted an aide of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of embezzling millions of dollars, in the biggest corruption case in the Palestinian Authority’s 20-year history. – Reuters
Pakistan
The U.S. is growing ever more frustrated with Pakistan’s reluctance to go after suspected terrorist camps in its country that are to blame for attacks against NATO forces and civilians in Afghanistan. – Defense News
The Obama administration’s aggressive use of unmanned airstrikes inside Pakistan is now drawing fire from the United Nations, who is considering holding investigations into U.S. policies governing the strikes. – DEFCON Hill
The U.S. is trying to break deadlocked talks with Pakistan over reopening a route for NATO troop supplies into Afghanistan — a deal that has proven elusive due to Islamabad’s demands for more money and Washington’s refusal to apologize for accidentally killing Pakistani forces. – Associated Press
A bomb exploded on a bus on the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday, killing 19 people and wounding several, police officials said. – Reuters
China
To the extent there is a quasi-official version of that meeting…it portrays Mr. Bo as reacting angrily to Mr. Wang’s accusations. Mr. Wang has also told American officials he met in the nearby city of Chengdu and others that Mr. Bo punched him in the face. But a different story has circulated among several people close to the two men, according to those who have heard it described to them. And it is a version of events that paints Mr. Bo in a different light, one that shows him as being less emotional and more calculating. – New York Times
China is proposing a law that puts more pressure on Internet companies to control and monitor the flow of information online, a sign the government will continue to put a tighter grip on social networks and Web discussions it views as destabilizing. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said local officials had destroyed evidence of abuses in his village ahead of a possible investigation there over an issue which has embarrassed Beijing and threatened relations with Washington. – Reuters
The guard posts came down and the hired toughs who manned them melted away this week in Dongshigu, restoring an air of freedom to a village that authorities turned into a prison to keep the activist Chen Guangcheng under house arrest for nearly two years. – Associated Press
Editorial: If Beijing wants a harmonious society, as it professes, the only path forward is to address the root causes of Tibetan antipathy: the government’s near-totalitarian controls on their religion and culture…As the Communist Party faces the worst political turbulence since 1989 on the eve of a national leadership transition, provoking unrest in Tibet is just one more sign that authoritarian rule is failing. – Wall Street Journal Asia (subscription required)
Afghanistan
Chinese President Hu Jintao told his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on Friday that China will provide “sincere and selfless help” to Afghanistan, promising to step up trade, aid, investment and security cooperation. – Reuters
NATO commanders cite security gains, eleven years in the war, ahead of a 2014 withdrawal by most foreign combat troops, but there are still pockets like this, where the insurgent threat is so potent that U.S. soldiers can barely move. – Reuters
North Korea
A senior U.S. State Department official in testimony before a House Foreign Affairs sub-panel on Wednesday said the Obama administration was still open to diplomacy with North Korea so long as it is substantive, the Yonhap News Agency reported – Global Security Newswire
Southeast Asia
A potentially dangerous confrontation with Chinese forces over the use of disputed waters has eased after two tense months, but other brewing conflicts may not be so easily defused, the Philippine president said Thursday. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The story of how Chinese-Philippine relations unraveled shows the way anti-China sentiment is continuing to build in some countries, even as Beijing deploys development aid and soft power around the world. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday that the United States does not intend to establish a permanent presence in the Asia-Pacific area even though the new U.S. military strategy focuses attention on the region. – Washington Times
Three United Nations special rapporteurs have urged the Malaysian government to protect activists calling for electoral reform from harassment and to withdraw a civil suit it filed against the leaders of a group that organized a rally in April that drew thousands to the streets. – New York Times
An escalating political brawl over efforts by Thailand’s ruling party to amend the country’s constitution and facilitate the return of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has threatened to reignite mass protests that engulfed Bangkok in deadly street violence in 2010. – Financial Times
Philippines President Benigno Aquino is in the United States for a visit that will highlight the Southeast Asian archipelago’s growing importance in U.S. strategic thinking, as the White House “pivots” to Asia and both countries worry about China’s intentions. – Reuters
Australia will lift its remaining financial and travel sanctions against Myanmar and double its aid in a move to encourage further democratic reform as the country tentatively emerges from decades of military rule, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said. – Reuters
Myanmar’s government has appointed a minister and senior police chief to head an investigation into the killing of 10 Muslims by a Buddhist mob that has stoked communal tensions in the country’s Westernmost state. – Reuters
Russia
A bill that would impose sanctions on Russians who commit human rights violations moved ahead in the U.S. Congress on Thursday despite resistance from the Obama administration and angry denunciations from Kremlin officials. – Washington Post
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday approved a long-awaited plan to sell stakes in a number of state-owned companies, including oil giant Rosneft, amid growing investor concerns that his government won’t deliver on pledges to open up the economy. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
A senior Russian official has expressed doubt over the necessity for his country to produce a new line of long-range nuclear bombers, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday – Global Security Newswire
Europe
British ministers pledged Thursday to boycott the early games in the Euro 2012 soccer tournament over concerns for the health of Ukraine’s imprisoned former prime minister, despite pleas from Kiev that soccer and politics shouldn’t mix. – LA Times’ World Now
Britain is planning to cut its military logistics forces and rely more on contractors and allies as part of a restructuring of the Army, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told a land warfare conference here. – Defense News
United States of America
Calls for a special counsel to investigate leaks of classified information by Obama administration officials gathered momentum on Thursday after the Justice Department’s national security division partly recused itself from the inquiry, apparently because of the possibility that the department might have been a source of some of the disclosures. – New York Times
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday he thought President Barack Obama ought to give his brother George a “little tip of the hat” for his leadership on national security and foreign affairs. – Politico
Latin America
The Senate’s two Cuban-Americans spent Thursday morning talking past the Obama administration’s top official for the Americas on the issue of U.S. policy toward Cuba. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Jose Rodriguez writes: If Ecuadorean exporters are going to be hurt by the end of ATPA benefits, they need to make their case to their own government, not the U.S. Congress. And they need to hold President Correa accountable — and him alone — if those benefits are lost. – Shadow Government
West Africa
Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou said on Thursday that Afghan and Pakistani jihadis were training recruits for Islamist groups in northern Mali, the latest sign it is slipping into terrorist hands. – Reuters
A former top adviser to Ivory Coast’s ex-President Laurent Gbagbo was plotting to destabilize the West African nation’s government before he was arrested in Togo this week, an Ivorian government spokesman said on Thursday. – Reuters
East Africa
African troops are targeting the Somali port city of Kismayo, the last main town controlled by al-Shabab terrorists, after driving the al Qaeda-linked rebels out of strongholds across a nation afflicted by 20 years of instability, war and famine. – Washington Times
The United States government announced on Thursday $33 million in rewards for information on the location of top terrorist suspects in Somalia in an effort to get residents there to turn in leaders of the Shabab militant Islamist group. – New York Times
Sudan and South Sudan broke off security talks on Thursday after failing to agree on a demilitarized zone along their disputed border to help prevent them slipping into outright warfare. – Reuters
