Iran
China’s oil imports from Iran continued to sharply rebound in May to nearly match 2011 levels following a steep drop-off earlier this year, figures showed Thursday, a day after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Beijing appeared to be taking steps to reduce purchases from Iran. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted Wednesday that China could win exemptions from U.S. sanctions targeting financial institutions in countries that import Iranian oil, according to a news account. – The Hill’s E2 Wire
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautioned that Iran not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon, not only because of own intentions, but because she believes it would spur a regional arms race. – The Hill
Iran’s leaders have accused the West of “enmity” and “bullying” policies after recent nuclear talks with world powers in Moscow ended without progress, according to media reports Thursday. – Associated Press
Iran has detected a planned “massive cyber attack” against its nuclear facilities, state television said on Thursday, after talks with major powers this week failed to resolve a row over Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities. – Reuters
Satellite images indicate activity at Iran’s Parchin site which could affect the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s ability to ascertain whether the Islamic Republic is developing nuclear weapons, its chief Yukiya Amano said during a visit to Budapest on Thursday. – Reuters
Israel has responded to the failure of the latest nuclear talks between world powers and Iran with a familiar refrain: sanctions must be ramped up while the clock ticks down toward possible military action. – Reuters
The Iranian navy has announced plans to build more warships and increase its presence in international waters at a time of growing tension in the Middle East over Tehran’s nuclear program. – Reuters
Syria
A Syrian air force pilot on a training mission flew into neighboring Jordan and defected with his Russian-made fighter jet, Jordanian and Syrian officials said, the first such incident during the nearly 15-month-old uprising. – Wall Street Journal
U.S. intelligence agencies are closely watching Israel’s military for signs it will conduct strikes on Syria’s stockpiles of chemical weapons, amid concerns the deadly nerve agents could fall under the control of Hezbollah or al Qaeda terrorists, U.S. officials said. – Washington Free Beacon
As world powers’ efforts to end Syria’s bloody crisis have faltered, central Damascus has become a place where a little-changed veneer of everyday ordinariness hides growing fear, heightened by a sense that the armed opposition is bringing its fight to the capital. – Financial Times
Experts say the technical characteristics of Syria’s presumed chemical weapons arsenal, which is believed to include a large quantity of warfare agents and delivery devices, create a greater security challenge than Libya did last year, the BBC reported this week – Global Security Newswire
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta defended the Obama administration’s decision not to arm the Syrian opposition, saying the country risked being pushed into an all-out civil war if efforts to secure a smooth political transition fail. – Reuters
As evidence mounts of Islamic militant forces among the Syrian opposition, senior U.S. and European officials are increasingly alarmed by the prospect of sophisticated weapons falling into the hands of rebel groups that may be dangerous to Western interests, including al Qaeda. – Reuters
Aid workers hoping to evacuate trapped civilians and the wounded were unable to enter hard-hit areas of the Syrian city of Homs on Thursday due to shooting and an “unclear” security situation, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. – Reuters
Russia acknowledged on Thursday that it was trying to send repaired combat helicopters to Syria and said it would continue to carry out arms contracts with President Bashar al-Assad’s government despite Western and Arab criticism. – Reuters
The head of the Arab League said on Thursday he expected a meeting of the five big powers in Geneva later this month to produce “practical mechanisms”, not words, to resolve the conflict in Syria. – Reuters
U.S. technologies that may include a mobile phone “panic button” and an “internet suitcase” are being used by activists in Syria and other authoritarian countries to override government communications controls, a U.S. official said on Thursday. – Reuters
Joseph Holliday reports: Syria’s maturing insurgency has begun to carve out its own de facto safe zones around Homs city, in northern Hama, and in the Idlib countryside. The Assad regime seized key urban centers in Damascus, Homs, and Idlib during offensives in February and March 2012. However, the rebels successfully withdrew into the countryside, where they operate with impunity. As of June 2012, the opposition controls large swaths of Syria’s northern and central countryside. – Institute for the Study of War
Egypt
Political tensions continued to rise over last weekend’s election as the Muslim Brotherhood called for a mass demonstration against the military on Friday, and the candidate associated with the military repeated claims that he won and that the Brotherhood cheated. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Thousands of protesters filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square overnight as Egypt’s rival presidential candidates, an Islamist and former general, accused each of trying to steal an election whose result is still not known five days after polling ended. – Reuters
Public frustration has deepened in Egypt after ruling generals acted to retain sweeping powers over the nation, yet a bigger worry for many exhausted Egyptians is that a new political crisis raises the prospect of fresh turmoil on their streets – Reuters
Former Egyptian general Ahmed Shafik said on Friday he was confident of victory in last weekend’s presidential election, stepping up a war of words with his Islamist opponent as Egypt waits anxiously for the delayed result. – Reuters
Four former officers in a now dissolved Egyptian security agency were sentenced in absentia to life in prison on Thursday for torturing to death an Islamist during investigations into the bombing of a church on New Year’s Day 2011. – Reuters
Eli Lake reports: It was supposed to be a routine meeting for Egyptian legislators in Washington, an opportunity for senior Obama administration officials to meet with new members of Egypt’s parliament and exchange ideas on the future of relations between the two countries. Instead, the visit this week looks like it’s turning into a political fiasco. – The Daily Beast
Yemen
Yemeni soldiers have been deployed to protect the gas pipeline feeding the Yemen LNG export terminal, its energy minister said on Thursday, as the country tries to shield its biggest industrial asset from further attacks. – Reuters
Al Qaeda’s Yemeni wing has claimed responsibility for the assassination this week of a military commander credited with driving back allies of al Qaeda who had seized large parts of southern Yemen. – Reuters
North Africa
The amazing generosity of Tunisians who opened their homes and hearts to people fleeing Libya is revealed in the latest issue of Forced Migration Review (FMR), which looks at last year’s Arab Spring revolutions in North Africa. – Christian Science Monitor
Libya’s aspirations to replace Gaddafi’s repressive rule with an ordered, democratic nation are being undermined by increasingly wayward volunteer militias who operate outside the control of fragile state institutions….But it is their less visible activities that have done the most to puncture the sense of euphoria and freedom that followed Gaddafi’s downfall. – Reuters
Sudan’s armed forces clashed with rebels in the oil-producing border state of South Kordofan, the two sides said on Thursday, both claiming victory over the other. – Reuters
Tunisia’s military has destroyed three trucks believed to be transporting weapons from Libya to Algeria, the official TAP news agency reported on Thursday, highlighting growing concerns over border security following the Arab Spring. – Reuters
Kuwait
More than half of Kuwait’s members of parliament have resigned in protest at a court’s decision to annul an election that had given the Islamist-led opposition a majority. – Reuters
Iraq
At least eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded when two roadside bombs exploded in quick succession at a popular market on the northern outskirts of Iraq’s capital on Friday, police and hospital sources said. – Reuters
A nephew of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein who is wanted by Iraq for membership of a terrorist organization has claimed asylum in Austria saying he feared persecution, Austria’s interior ministry said on Friday. – Reuters
Iraq is struggling to restore marshes which were deliberately dried out during Saddam Hussein’s rule and continue to cause fierce sandstorms that pose serious health risks. – Reuters
Fred Kaplan writes: McGurk is not a foreign-service officer, and many in the FSO community do not like it when an ambassadorship—particularly of a big, high-profile embassy like the one in Iraq—goes to someone outside their ranks. They didn’t like it when Obama named Michael McFaul, his special assistant on Russia, as ambassador to Moscow. And they saw the prospect of Brett McGurk as another interloper. – Slate
Afghanistan
At least 15 civilians were killed when seven Taliban militants shot their way into a much-visited lakeside resort here and took scores of hostages during an 11-hour siege, Afghan officials said on Friday. – New York Times
Training Afghan forces to fend for themselves in the defense of their nation is continually hampered by illiteracy, attrition and a shortage of non-commissioned officers, Pentagon officials said. But the overall U.S.-led effort to enable the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to take charge of Afghanistan’s security by 2014 is “on track,” defense officials told a House Armed Services subcommittee on Wednesday. – Washington Times
A third of Afghan national security forces are taking basic lessons in reading and counting as NATO commanders accelerate their training ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops in 2014, the coalition has said. – Reuters
Pakistan
The ruling party nominated Raja Pervez Ashraf, a former minister for water and power, as its candidate for prime minister on Friday morning, making it likely he would lead the government after a parliamentary vote later in the day. – New York Times
Pakistan’s judiciary stepped up its assault on government authority on Thursday when a court, prompted by a military-run antidrug agency, issued an arrest warrant for a close ally of President Asif Ali Zardari, effectively blocking his nomination as the country’s next prime minister. – New York Times
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta all but ruled out an apology over an air strike last year that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and badly set back efforts to improve U.S.-Pakistani ties, saying it was “time to move on.” – Reuters
Pakistani government harassment and obstruction of U.S. diplomats is increasing dramatically, reaching the point where it is “significantly impairing” the work of the American embassy and consulates there, the State Department’s internal watchdog said Thursday. – Associated Press
China
Ai Weiwei, the Chinese rebel artist, said Thursday that his one-year probation had ended but that the police had told him he could not leave China because of continuing investigations. – New York Times
Indulging the whims of the first family of Dalian appears to have paid off handsomely for Mr. Xu, who built a fortune in the city while Mr. Bo was mayor there from 1993 to 2001. Mr. Xu, as chairman of a company called Dalian Shide Group, was ranked a few years later as China’s eighth-richest man. Now he is in trouble. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
China says its prized rare earths, minerals needed to make smartphones, televisions and hybrid cars, are dwindling after decades of excessive mining. In a new government report that argues for continued controls, China said the industry has been blighted by illegal mining, smuggling and severe pollution. – LA Times’ World Now
A political ally of Chinese President Hu Jintao is the front-runner to become the Communist Party boss of Beijing, two independent sources said, allowing Hu to retain some political influence after he leaves office. – Reuters
Southeast Asia
An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced a militant to 20 years in prison for his role in several terrorist acts, including the twin nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. – New York Times
Myanmar President Thein Sein has set an especially audacious goal for his under-developed nation: to triple the size of its economy in five years. – WSJ’s Southeast Asia Real Time
Members of the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday introduced bipartisan legislation authorizing the president to maintain a ban on imports from Burma for another three years. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi became the first non-head of state to address both houses of Britain’s parliament on Thursday in a rare honor she used to ask for help in bringing democracy to the former British colony. – Reuters
M. Syafi’i Anwar writes: There are several potential candidates who may run for the presidency in 2014, such as Aburizal Bakrie, Prabowo Subianto, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Hatta Radjasa, M. Yusuf Kalla, Wiranto, and others. But it remains to be seen whether the Indonesian people will select the best candidate, one who is devoted to the democratic principles enshrined in the constitution, and willing to uphold them in practice. – Freedom House’s Freedom at Issue
Russia
Vladimir Putin gave the first major international speech of his new presidency Thursday, telling an audience of influential businessmen, government officials and economists everything they wanted to hear. – Washington Post
Jamison Firestone writes: Does the United States want to base its relationship with Russia on a failed realpolitik policy that has achieved nothing, and which is clearly not in our long-term interests, or shall we stand upon American ideals? For the sake of a long-term partnership between the people of each country, the United States should place its faith in the brave Russians who are standing up to their government, not their corrupt oppressors. – Foreign Policy
Europe
Evidence that a foreign power was allowed to conduct illicit activities on Polish soil has deeply shaken many Poles’ faith in the United States and in Poland’s sense of itself as a successful democracy born from the ashes of the Cold War. – Los Angeles Times
The Belarus correspondent of a Polish newspaper was detained by police on Thursday less than a year after serving jail time for slandering Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Union of Poles of Belarus said. – Reuters
United States of America
One of the most powerful Republicans in the House fired a shot across President Obama’s bow Thursday, saying a string of leaks about classified national security matters “are coming right from the top.” – DOTMIL
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said he doesn’t plan to try and reinstate “Don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT), the former ban on gays serving openly in the military, if Republicans were to take the Senate and Mitt Romney won the White House in November. – DEFCON Hill
Latin America
With help from U.S. intelligence, Mexican marines captured a son of the Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman early Thursday as the toplogistics coordinator for the smuggling organization was rolling out of bed, according to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials. – Washington Post
A State Department official this week compared the war on drugs in Latin America to baseball games, in which the United States is winning in Colombia, leading in Mexico and just coming to bat in Central America, where there are too many umpires. – Washington Times
Paraguay’s Congress moved to impeach leftist President Fernando Lugo on Thursday on charges he mishandled clashes over a land eviction that killed 17 people last week, and the Senate will decide his fate on Friday. – Reuters
Ilan Berman writes: Brazil’s newfound focus on counterterrorism represents an opportunity for the United States, which should try to expand its dialogue with the Rousseff government regarding regional security across Latin and North America. As Ahmadinejad’s visit has made clear, if Washington doesn’t engage Brazil on those fronts, Tehran surely will. – The Weekly Standard Blog
West Africa
This crossroads town once at Mali’s center has become the country’s de facto northern border since Tuareg separatists and Islamist rebels staged an uprising in late March, partitioning off the northern two-thirds of the republic and renaming it Azawad. – Christian Science Monitor
The State Department’s designation Thursday of three members of Nigeria’s Boko Haram group as terrorists immediately sparked renewed complaints that the Obama administration hasn’t placed the entire outfit on its terror list. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Central Africa
U.N. experts have evidence Rwanda’s defense minister and two top military officials have been backing an army mutiny in the east of neighboring Congo, according to notes of their briefing to a closed-door U.N. committee seen by Reuters on Thursday. – Reuters
South Africa
As the African National Congress, South Africa’s governing party, criss-crossed the country to mark its centenary this year, its core message was simple: “100 years of selfless struggle”. But even as Africa’s oldest and best known liberation movement puts a brave face on it, it is, by its own admission, losing its way. – Financial Times
Rwanda’s former army chief told a court in South Africa on Thursday that President Paul Kagame ordered the killing of a former head of state – an incident that triggered the 1994 genocide. – Financial Times
