Iran
A long and bitter rivalry between Iran’s president and an influential band of brothers in the political hierarchy exploded into the open on Monday, signaling new fractures in the facade of unity as the country confronts worsening economic conditions and isolation over the disputed Iranian nuclear program. – New York Times
Iran said on Tuesday it would stop oil exports if pressure from Western sanctions got any tighter and it had a “Plan B” contingency strategy to survive without oil revenues. – Reuters
Targeted Western sanctions are hurting Iran’s vital shipping industry and if the pressure continues its biggest cargo carrier will face increasingly grave problems, the head of the Iranian line said. – Reuters
Members of the Baha’i community in Iran are the most persecuted religious minority in the Islamic Republic, where suppression of alternative faiths is growing worse, U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran Ahmed Shaheed said on Monday. – Reuters
Iran hanged 10 people convicted of drug trafficking on Monday, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported, part of what rights group Amnesty International called a “state killing spree”. – Reuters
Bret Stephens writes: Maybe the president thinks decency obliges him to give diplomacy another chance. But it is from an excess of decency that 33 years of Iranian outrages have gone unavenged, and Iran now proceeds undeterred. Sensible policy on Iran begins not with the question of how to avoid a war—that war was foisted on us in 1979—but how to win it. Anything less invites further terror and dishonors the memory of Iran’s many American victims. – Wall Street Journal
Henry Sokolski writes: When it comes to Iran’s nuclear program and the presidential election, neither Obama nor Romney has their facts quite right so far. Team Obama’s error — arguing that Iran doesn’t yet have a weapon to put enriched uranium into — though, is a dangerous mistake, whereas Romney’s slip — that Iran does not yet have enough enriched uranium to produce a weapon — is easily redeemable. – National Review Online’s The Corner
Syria
Pro-regime community defense groups are springing up in Damascus, as areas with large populations of religious or other minorities seek to repel a conflict lapping ever closer to them. – Washington Post
That rhetoric and journeys such as Dalgamouni’s are raising alarm in Jordan and among its Western allies, which have cited the roles being played by Islamists and foreign fighters as a reason not to arm the rebels in Syria. – Washington Post
Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League peace envoy for Syria, is hopeful that an Islamic holiday can help bring about to a cease-fire in Syria, but there’s little optimism the cease-fire will take effect. – DEFCON Hill
Syrian rebels cast doubt on Monday on prospects for a temporary truce aimed at stemming bloodshed in the 19-month-old conflict, saying it was not clear how an informal ceasefire this week could be implemented. – Reuters
The United Nations is preparing various contingency plans to send peacekeepers to Syria as part of a ceasefire or political deal, but it is too early say how many would be needed, U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said on Monday. – Reuters
Sanctions imposed on Syria by the European Union, the United States and others over its 19-month conflict are “immoral and illegal” and harming Syrian children, the government wrote in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released on Monday. – Reuters
Editorial: We do not call lightly for the world to undertake such a risky operation. But the stability of the Middle East and countless Syrian lives should not be hostage to Russian obstinacy. As the conflict drags on, month after bloody month, calls to act will mount—as in Kosovo 15 years ago. The sooner the world intervenes, the more lives can be saved, and the greater the chance that Syria can be made whole again. – The Economist
Levant
Lebanon and Jordan moved aggressively on Monday to squelch the spread of violence from Syria’s deadlocked civil war, the most significant register yet of alarm over the strife spilling over Syrian borders. – New York Times
Four people were killed and 15 wounded in overnight gun battles in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in a second night of fighting between Sunni and Alawite gunmen loyal to different sides in the war in neighboring Syria, a military source said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Lebanon has become the third of Syria’s neighbors after Turkey and Jordan to register more than 100,000 refugees from Syria’s civil war, the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday. – Reuters
An influx of Syrians fleeing President Bashar al-Assad’s military onslaught is stoking tension in an area of Turkey known for religious tolerance and setting Turks who share the Syrian leader’s creed against their own government. – Reuters
Firas Maksad writes: The U.S. president was overheard saying he would have “more flexibility” after the election to compromise on some of Russia’s foreign policy concerns. A solution for Syria could conceivably be part of such an accommodation. Until then, more can and must be done to limit Assad’s killing machine, and to set the stage for a positive political outcome in Syria. Meanwhile, Lebanon and the region will remain on a knife’s edge, leaving us guessing whom the next car bomb victim will be. – Foreign Policy
Libya
Families fleeing violence in the besieged Libyan city of Bani Walid said on Monday there were shortages of food and water and the city’s hospital was under fire as militias loyal to the government shelled the former stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: As top Democrats piled on accusations that his actions last week were reckless and placed innocent lives in danger, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) defended his release of sensitive State Department documents containing the names of Libyans cooperating with the U.S. government Sunday. – The Cable
FPI Executive Director Jamie Fly writes: Squabbling over transcripts and who said what when will not win Governor Romney the presidency. Reminding Americans that they — and the world — deserve a president that is willing to unashamedly stand up for our values and interests overseas might. – Shadow Government
North Africa
A case against the assembly writing Egypt’s new constitution was referred to another court on Tuesday in a move that could give the body enough time to finish its work. – Reuters
An Egyptian talk show host faces a four-month jail term after a court convicted him of insulting president Mohamed Mursi, state media reported on Monday. – Reuters
Thousands of secularist protesters accused Tunisia’s Islamist government on Monday of undermining a transition to democracy by failing to stem violence after the killing of a secular politician last week. – Reuters
Kuwait
Kuwait banned gatherings of more than 20 people and gave police more powers to disperse protests, local media reported on Tuesday, in an escalating standoff with the opposition ahead of the December 1 election. – Reuters
Kuwait’s opposition on Monday condemned what it said was the state’s use of excessive force against demonstrators and called for the release of those detained in Sunday’s mass protest against a move to change the Gulf Arab state’s electoral law. – Reuters
Yemen
A man claiming to be al Qaeda’s No. 2 in Yemen released an audio denying reports that he had died in a U.S. drone attack, as Yemeni officials said Monday that another top member of the terror network was killed in a drone strike earlier this month. – Associated Press
Iraq
For all the questions facing Mr Shabibi – who hasn’t been reachable for comment – even more now confront Nouri al-Maliki’s Iraqi government. The handling of the probe into the governor and 15 other bank officials has – not for the first time – revealed what critics argue are the Iraqi administration’s disdain for due process and its roughhouse approach to the rule of law. – Financial Times
Iraqi Kurdistan has begun selling its oil into international markets in independent export deals that further challenge Baghdad’s claim to full control over Iraqi oil after first signing independent exploration deals with foreign oil majors last year. – Reuters
Peter Feaver writes: As a friend of mine might say, if this were just the “lacuna in one academic’s analysis, it would not be much interest.” However, it appears to be a pattern with Obama supporters. Why are they unable to concede the possibility that there might be a situation in the world — any situation — that might be worse because of actions Obama took or did not take? And why are they unwilling to candidly acknowledge the civil-military challenges that their actions have deepened? – Shadow Government
Israel
[A]t 88, Mr. Carter, trying to nudge his agenda without an official platform, no longer filters his words for politics or diplomacy. On Monday, he ramped up his years of criticism of Israeli policy by saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lacked the courage of his predecessors and that he had abandoned the two-state solution that has been the accepted framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades – New York Times
Turkey
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government has waged one of the world’s biggest crackdowns on press freedom in recent years, jailing more journalists than Iran, China or Eritrea, a leading media watchdog said on Monday. – Reuters
Afghanistan
A new Afghan security force hastily assembled from the guards of soon-to-be-banned private contractors began a dangerous new task on Monday: protecting supply convoys driving through the Taliban heartland. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The Army has hired private firms to help improve a $2.5 billion intelligence analytical processor used in Afghanistan by troops who have given it poor reviews in identifying the enemy and deadly buried explosives. – Washington Times
More than 23 years after the hurried Soviet military withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russians are still trying to solve haunting mysteries they left behind: the fate of 265 former soldiers still missing in action, some of them thought to have taken up quiet Afghan lives. – New York Times
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee says that progress is being made in Afghanistan, despite a steady stream of negative news surrounding a spike in “insider attacks” on U.S. and NATO troops. – DEFCON Hill
The ongoing Taliban insurgency against U.S. forces in Afghanistan is being coordinated by one of America’s top allies in the region, according to one House Republican. – DEFCON Hill
A high-level Taliban commander in northern Afghanistan, Mullah Abdul Rahman, has been captured in a joint Afghan-NATO operation, police said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Britain is to double the number of armed drone aircraft flying combat and surveillance operations in Afghanistan, the Guardian reported on Tuesday. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: Note to Joe Biden: Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama support leaving troops in Afghanistan after the full handover of security responsibility at the end of 2014, the Romney campaign confirmed during tonight’s debate. – The Cable
Interview: A few days after his visit to Kabul last week, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke with RFE/RL Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Sultan Sarwar about the challenges facing Afghanistan after 2014 and how the NATO alliance is helping prepare Hamid Karzai for the departure of foreign troops. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Laura King writes: It’s not my country, and it never was. But there was much about it I came to love. Over the last few weeks, as I told people — Westerners and Afghans — that I was leaving, I’d often get the same response: “Oh, you’ll miss Afghanistan!” It was usually meant sarcastically, as in, “Look at this place! Who’d miss it?” But I will. – Los Angeles Times
South Asia
More evidence is emerging that Saudi Arabia is deepening its cooperation with India in cracking down on terrorism suspects, an important trend that has implications for Pakistan’s bilateral relationship with Riyadh. – WSJ’s India Real Time
The Taliban’s horrific attack on a female teenage activist in this scenic corner of Pakistan’s northwest was the latest in a series of assassination attempts by militant sleeper cells in the area over the last year, each carried out with targeted shots to the head. – Associated Press
China
Chinese Internet users who watched live streams of Monday’s U.S. presidential debate heard President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney criticizing China with some of their toughest language of the campaign – which many Chinese assume the candidates will dial down once the election is over. – Washington Post
A Chinese official in the southern city of Guangzhou was fired from his post and detained after investigators confirmed he and his family owned 22 homes, according to state media. He is the latest local official to fall at the hands of Internet activists incensed over local corruption. – Wall Street Journal
An environmental protest in a small fishing town in southern China has turned into a protracted, violent nine-day clash between villagers and police, with stones thrown, tear gas deployed, and dozens injured and arrested, witnesses said Monday. – Washington Post
Just one month after China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was commissioned, photographs are appearing on the Internet of the Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark fighter jet operating over the ship. – Defense News
China has set in motion a major reshuffle at the top of its armed forces with the appointment of a new air force chief and a new top military political officer, as part of the country’s broader leadership transition. – Financial Times
China’s ruling Communist Party will discuss a proposal to amend its constitution at its congress in early November, state media said on Monday, a move aimed at strengthening one-party rule over the next five years. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: President Barack Obama called China an “adversary” of the United States for the first time during tonight’s debate, changing his own administration’s messaging on the U.S.-China relationship and contradicting his own secretary of state. – The Cable
Aaron Friedberg writes: Given the repressive and secretive character of the current regime, it is important to be realistic in our expectations about what can be achieved. China’s rulers are determined to retain their exclusive grip on political power. They must be treated with respect, but not with the kind of undue deference that might encourage them to believe that history is on their side and not on ours. – Real Clear World
East Asia
Activists said on Monday that they had succeeded in sending large balloons drifting into North Korea carrying tens of thousands of leaflets, despite South Korean police efforts to block the action and a threat from the North Korean government to retaliate with a military attack. – New York Times
Japan’s justice minister resigned on Tuesday following an uproar over his past ties to members of organized crime, putting further pressure on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to call national elections. – New York Times
Sometime around 2030, if U.S. Air Force plans come to pass, a fighter that leaps ahead of Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35 technology will enter U.S. service. At about the same time, if Japan’s plans come to pass, a similarly advanced fighter will enter service on that side of the Pacific. – Aviation Week
South Korean members of parliament visited a set of remote islands also claimed by Japan on Tuesday, a move likely to further fray ties between two of the most important U.S. allies in Asia. – Reuters
Southeast Asia
Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) is traveling to Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines this week to promote the dismantling of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Vietnam’s prime minister made a public apology on Monday for mismanaging the economy, extending a wave of self-criticism in the ruling Communist party after a series of scandals and the arrest of high-profile business figures. – Financial Times
Ian Storey writes: This hitherto-isolated country may soon become a critical arena in the competition between America and China for primacy in Southeast Asia. – Wall Street Journal Asia (subscription required)
Russia
A political opposition figure who vanished in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev on Friday after seeking asylum at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reappeared on Sunday evening outside a Moscow courthouse, where he was recorded on video shouting that he had been kidnapped and tortured. – New York Times
Prisoners detained without charges. Prisons operating outside the legal system. Limits on free speech and the Internet. Legitimate voters prevented from casting their ballots. Sanctioned kidnappings. Witch hunts and torture. It’s all part of life, says the Russian government — in the United States. – Los Angeles Times
Milovidov stills struggles to contain his anger as he recounts Nina’s 57-hour ordeal at the hands of Chechen rebels and the botched rescue operation that took her life ten years ago, on October 26, 2002. Like most of the 130 hostages who died in the siege, Nina was killed by the knockout gas pumped into the Dubrovka theater to subdue the militants. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Russian authorities have launched a crackdown on a radical anti-Kremlin group in an apparent effort to dismantle it, part of a heavy-handed approach to combating the country’s street protest movement. – Financial Times
The Russian Defense Ministry has given the go-ahead to plans to begin manufacturing a new liquid-fueled ICBM before 2012 is over, according to a Monday article by the Vzglyad newspaper. – Global Security Newswire
Two female members of Russian punk group convicted of protesting against President Vladimir Putin in a cathedral have been sent to prisons far from Moscow despite requesting to serve out their terms in the capital, a lawyer said on Monday. – Reuters
Opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin elected 45 new leaders on Monday who task will be to turn mass street protests into a more structured challenge to the rule of the former KGB spy. – Reuters
Europe
Yanukovych and many of the oligarchs who support him are unwilling to shut the door completely on further integration with the EU, even though relations with the West have been virtually put on hold over the perceived politically motivated prosecution of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovych’s main political rival. Many Ukrainian oligarchs, analyst say, are also fearful of being dominated by Russian commercial and political interests. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Police in the capital of Kosovo say 63 people have been detained during an unauthorized protest by nationalists that drew volleys of tear gas from police trying to keep the demonstrators at bay. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Mossad operatives have converged on Minsk, capital of Belarus, to prevent attempts by Iran or Hezbollah on the life of their former nemesis, ex-Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who is recovering from a liver transplant in a hospital there. – Washington Free Beacon
Russia will stop Georgia trying to reunite with two breakaway states even after a parliamentary election won by a coalition led by a politician seen as having warmer ties with Moscow, outgoing Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Monday. – Reuters
Georgia’s outgoing defense minister said Oct. 22 that he had left the country as speculation simmered of potential prosecutions of former officials under the ex-Soviet state’s new government. – AFP
United States of America
President Obama and Mitt Romney wrapped up a series of defining debates on Monday night with a bristling exchange over America’s place in the world as each sought to portray the other as an unreliable commander in chief in a dangerous era. – New York Times
A former CIA officer who was charged with repeatedly leaking classified information is set to plead guilty in federal court Tuesday to a single charge of disclosing the identity of an undercover CIA operative, according to people involved in the case. – Washington Post
Analysis: Mitt Romney’s task in Monday night’s foreign policy debate was to demonstrate that he could be a credible commander in chief, prepared to execute American power with more muscle and less compromise than President Obama, but without veering into what Mr. Obama called the “wrong and reckless” policies of the last Republican in the Oval Office, George W. Bush. – New York Times
FPI Executive Director Jamie Fly writes: Tonight, Governor Romney passed the commander-in-chief test with flying colors. President Obama’s national-security trump card is gone, leaving him with few accomplishments to take to the voters in the final weeks of the campaign. – National Review Online’s The Corner
Kiron Skinner writes: America needs a return to the foreign policy consensus of the mid-twentieth century.. That consensus allowed the country to mobilize its resources and combat the Soviet threat. The United States shaped the future then, and it can do so again. That is what our allies want from us and it is what our adversaries fear. That’s the vision of Governor Mitt Romney, which has drawn my support. – Shadow Government
Bill McGurn writes: Too bad we wrote Mr. McCain off as a cranky George W. Bush. Because he was trying to warn us that Mr. Obama would be the new Jimmy Carter. – Wall Street Journal
Central America
The Guatemala military, once one of the most brutal and feared in Central America, is resurging to take on violent crime, forging closer ties with American troops and law enforcement even as worry over human rights abuses and corruption intensifies. – New York Times
A free trade agreement between the United States and Panama will go into effect at the end of the month, the last of three deals passed a year ago. – The Hill’s On the Money
Caribbean
A long, complicated and unique electoral process is under way on this communist-run island, with more than 8 million Cubans going to the polls this weekend for municipal elections. – Associated Press
Cuba seems to be betting that its decision to allow most of its citizens to travel abroad freely will be as good for its economy as it is for its public relations. – Associated Press
Islam has won a growing number of followers in this impoverished country, especially after the catastrophe two years ago that killed about 300,000 people and left millions more homeless. – Associated Press
France will move surveillance drones to West Africa and is holding secretive talks with U.S. officials in Paris this week as it seeks to steer international military action to help Mali’s feeble government win back the northern part of the country from al Qaeda-linked rebels, The Associated Press has learned. – Associated Press
Sudanese rebels shelled the main town in the oil-producing South Kordofan state near the border with South Sudan on Tuesday, rebels and residents said – the third bout of shelling in the past two weeks. – Reuters
Rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai made a joint appeal on Monday for tolerance in reviewing a draft constitution whose adoption will lead to Zimbabwe’s next election, expected next year. – Reuters
