Middle East/North Africa
Iran
A new merging of strategic interests between Saudi Arabia and Israel was on display on Thursday as two former officials from those countries appeared on the same stage to discuss their concerns about Iran’s actions across the Middle East. – New York Times
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is under pressure to prepare for Iran’s full return to the oil market if Western sanctions are lifted, but the group is unlikely to take action on the issue at its meeting Friday, the group’s delegates said. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The White House is advancing a strategy in coming weeks to manage multiple fronts of opposition to President Barack Obama securing a nuclear deal with Iran by the end of the month. But some of the administration’s toughest challenges are likely to come after negotiations are complete, when a deal risks unraveling under domestic political pressures in the U.S. and Iran. – WSJ’s Washington Wire
The Obama administration is scrambling to reassure members of Congress about an impending nuclear deal with Iran amid a still growing controversy that has publicly pitted senior State Department and White officials against the New York Times and veteran D.C. reporters. – Washington Free Beacon
With a June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran approaching, western experts and foreign allies — including a top Israeli official — are urging the Obama administration not to treat that date as sacred for fear of giving Tehran leverage in the high-stakes talks. - Politico
Iran continues to develop technologies that “could be applicable to nuclear weapons,” including ballistic missiles, at the same time it’s working to complete a deal to curb its nuclear program, the U.S. Defense Department said. – Bloomberg
Iran could boost its oil exports by 400,000 barrels a day in the first months after signing a nuclear deal with the U.S. and other world powers, according to Bijan Khajehpour, managing partner of Atieh International, a Vienna-based management consulting firm - Bloomberg
Eli Lake reports: Since the beginning of 2014, representatives from Israel and Saudi Arabia have had five secret meetings to discuss a common foe, Iran. On Thursday, the two countries came out of the closet by revealing this covert diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. –Bloomberg View
Editorial: Under sanctions, the mullahs have funneled some $200 million annually to Hezbollah—largess that doesn’t make sense from a rational economic perspective but advances the regime’s terrorist aims. Imagine what they could achieve with the estimated $50 billion that will be President Barack Obama’s down payment toward a nuclear deal. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Lee Smith writes: Instead of holding Iran to its part of the bargain, the White House makes excuses when Iran cheats—and beats up on U.S. journalists and the U.N. agency that is responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear program. – The Weekly Standard Blog
Ali Alfoneh writes: International companies looking to invest in the Islamic Republic after a deal is inked may find that rather than investing in a new Iran, they are investing in the very organization that helped finance the nuclear program that the deal purports to dismantle. – Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Iraq
President Obama will meet on Monday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq to discuss the military campaign against the Islamic State, White House officials said on Thursday, as the militant group continues to make gains despite an American-led counteroffensive. – New York Times
The 160,000 Peshmerga—the troops of the autonomous Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq—may well be the most dedicated and combat-worthy units confronting Islamic State in Iraq. In a paradox of this conflict, they are also the least armed and equipped when compared with the Iraqi army, the Iranian-backed Shiite militias or, crucially, Islamic State itself. Peshmerga ammunition stocks are running low and whatever heavy weapons they have are mostly of Saddam Hussein-era vintage, commanders say. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Iraq’s growing sectarian schism is neatly displayed across the Bzeibez bridge, now a symbol of the stigma of being Sunni in Iraq, where Islamic State has captured about a third of the country—all if it in Sunni-dominated areas. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
An air strike in the Iraqi town of Hawijah completely levelled one of the Islamic State group's largest car bomb factories, causing heavy casualties and extensive destruction, officials said. - AFP
The United Nations launched an appeal on Thursday for half a billion dollars in international aid to tackle a worsening humanitarian crisis in Iraq triggered by the conflict with Islamic State militants. -Reuters
Islamic State militants have reduced the amount of water flowing to government-held areas in Iraq's western Anbar province, officials said Thursday, a move that highlights the use of water as a weapon of war and puts more pressure on Iraqi forces struggling to claw back ground held by the extremists in the Sunni heartland. – Associated Press
Syria
Al-Qaeda affiliates are significantly expanding their footholds in Syria and Yemen, using the chaos of civil wars to acquire territory and increase their influence, according to analysts, residents and intelligence officials. – Washington Post
The Pentagon's latest salvo in the propaganda war against Islamic State militants features a leaflet depicting a terrified militant awaiting to be chopped in two by the hands of a clock striking midnight. –USA Today
David Ignatius writes: The regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria is facing what U.S. experts say is the most intense pressure since the early days of the four-year conflict . This new squeeze poses some stark choices for the United States, Russia, Iran and Syria’s neighbors. – Washington Post
David Miliband writes: [T]he truly shocking aspect of what is happening in Syria is the extraordinary absence of a political process to seek to solve the problem. Or even any impetus towards a political process. Instead Syria is declining amid a desperate and dangerous silence; and its problems are being exported to its neighbors. – Atlantic Council
ISIS
The British foreign secretary says the U.S.-led air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is not hitting all the terrorist targets it identifies. – The Hill
A general suggested at an event that the Air Force was able to target an attack on a building used by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) based on a single social media post, according to an account published by Defense Tech. – The Hill
When the United States gave more than 3,000 armored Humvees to Iraqi security forces over the past 12 years, U.S. officials could not have imagined that the humble utility vehicles would become a decisive weapon in the hands of Washington’s enemies from the Islamic State. But that is exactly what has happened. – Foreign Policy
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says the administration should publicize the deaths of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces in order to deter potential followers from joining the terror group. – The Hill
Seth Jones writes: A successful U.S. response must now go beyond countering Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It should begin with an accurate diagnosis of the group’s expansion. The U.S. must then work with international partners in endangered countries such as Libya to undermine Islamic State’s ideology, cut off its sources of income, target its key leaders and assist local governments. Failure to do so will result in more Islamic State victories. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Saudi Arabia
Pakistan ruled out sharing its nuclear weapons with Saudi Arabia, insisting Thursday that the atomic arsenal would continue serving solely for Pakistan's national defense even as world powers and Iran near a possible nuclear agreement. – Associated Press
An Israeli college has quietly conducted an opinion poll in Saudi Arabia, concluding that the Saudi public is far more concerned about the threats of Iran and the Islamic State group than Israel, and that the vast majority of Saudis support a decade-old peace offer to the Jewish state. – Associated Press
When Sunni suicide bombers belonging to an Islamic State cell targeted mosques of Saudi Arabia's minority Shi'ite community last month, the government quickly pledged national unity across sectarian lines and offered compensation…The attacks throw the royal family's commitment to diversity into the spotlight just as animosity towards the minority rises along with tensions between Saudi Arabia and regional arch rival Shi'ite Iran - Reuters
Hainer Sibrian writes: The Saudi monarchy’s newly active regional policy is in many ways the result of its domestic insecurities. With little evidence to suggest meaningful reform is in the offing, the pressures building on Saudi Arabia are unlikely to subside. – NED’s Resurgent Dictatorship
Yemen
Yemen's dominant Houthis agreed on Thursday to join United Nations-backed peace talks in Geneva planned for June 14, a day after their opponents in the exiled government confirmed their attendance. -Reuters
Joshua Koontz writes: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) ability to produce and train new leaders remains unabated despite years of Yemeni and U.S. counterterrorism operations. AQAP’s resilience stems from its formalized mid-level leadership structure with three components: a chain of command, a training and education program, and a consistent promotion process. – AEI’s Critical Threats
North Africa
A judge on Thursday ordered former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to again stand trial on murder charges in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising against his 30-year rule. – New York Times
Libyan political factions called Thursday for the urgent formation of a national unity government in their war-torn country, wrapping up two days of talks in Algeria that UN sponsors called positive. - AFP
Emad Shahin writes: The U.S. and E.U. should not reward the coup leaders – neither with rhetoric, nor with financial or military aid. The U.S. cannot have it both ways: arm repression and advocate democracy. It must make up its mind and either admit its support of Sissi and like-minded autocrats or support democracy, human rights, and rule of law. – Washington Post’s Post Everything
Israel
A growing global pro-Palestinian movement to boycott Israel instantly created a national furor on Thursday after the top executive of Orange, a leading French telecommunications company, said he would withdraw from the Israeli market if he could. – New York Times
The Israeli military sees potential security benefits in an expected international deal curbing Iran's nuclear program, a senior officer was quoted as saying on Thursday in an unexpected analysis of the issue. - Reuters
Turkey
Facing a weakening economy and a revitalized opposition, Sunday’s parliamentary election has emerged as a make-or-break moment for Mr. Erdogan’s bid to overhaul Turkey’s constitution and create a super-presidency that could help him rule for another generation. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
[T]outed by diplomats and experts as a role model who set an example for the Middle East by integrating Islam, democracy and economics, [Erdogan] long ago veered off the democratic course, spending more than a decade silencing political dissent and amassing power. – New York Times
Voters are signing up by the tens of thousands to safeguard ballots in Sunday’s parliamentary election, the most uncertain in a decade, highlighting eroding faith that the vote will be conducted fairly. – Wall Street Journal
If the HDP, a Kurdish-dominated party, wins at least 10 percent of the electorate — a minimum requirement for a party to enter parliament — it will command enough seats to check Erdogan’s ambitions, and enough clout to push its own agenda. – Washington Post
More than 3,000 Syrians fleeing clashes between Islamic State and Kurdish fighters have crossed into Turkey since Wednesday, a Turkish government official said. - Reuters
A new merging of strategic interests between Saudi Arabia and Israel was on display on Thursday as two former officials from those countries appeared on the same stage to discuss their concerns about Iran’s actions across the Middle East. – New York Times
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is under pressure to prepare for Iran’s full return to the oil market if Western sanctions are lifted, but the group is unlikely to take action on the issue at its meeting Friday, the group’s delegates said. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The White House is advancing a strategy in coming weeks to manage multiple fronts of opposition to President Barack Obama securing a nuclear deal with Iran by the end of the month. But some of the administration’s toughest challenges are likely to come after negotiations are complete, when a deal risks unraveling under domestic political pressures in the U.S. and Iran. – WSJ’s Washington Wire
The Obama administration is scrambling to reassure members of Congress about an impending nuclear deal with Iran amid a still growing controversy that has publicly pitted senior State Department and White officials against the New York Times and veteran D.C. reporters. – Washington Free Beacon
With a June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran approaching, western experts and foreign allies — including a top Israeli official — are urging the Obama administration not to treat that date as sacred for fear of giving Tehran leverage in the high-stakes talks. - Politico
Iran continues to develop technologies that “could be applicable to nuclear weapons,” including ballistic missiles, at the same time it’s working to complete a deal to curb its nuclear program, the U.S. Defense Department said. – Bloomberg
Iran could boost its oil exports by 400,000 barrels a day in the first months after signing a nuclear deal with the U.S. and other world powers, according to Bijan Khajehpour, managing partner of Atieh International, a Vienna-based management consulting firm - Bloomberg
Eli Lake reports: Since the beginning of 2014, representatives from Israel and Saudi Arabia have had five secret meetings to discuss a common foe, Iran. On Thursday, the two countries came out of the closet by revealing this covert diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. –Bloomberg View
Editorial: Under sanctions, the mullahs have funneled some $200 million annually to Hezbollah—largess that doesn’t make sense from a rational economic perspective but advances the regime’s terrorist aims. Imagine what they could achieve with the estimated $50 billion that will be President Barack Obama’s down payment toward a nuclear deal. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Lee Smith writes: Instead of holding Iran to its part of the bargain, the White House makes excuses when Iran cheats—and beats up on U.S. journalists and the U.N. agency that is responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear program. – The Weekly Standard Blog
Ali Alfoneh writes: International companies looking to invest in the Islamic Republic after a deal is inked may find that rather than investing in a new Iran, they are investing in the very organization that helped finance the nuclear program that the deal purports to dismantle. – Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Iraq
President Obama will meet on Monday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq to discuss the military campaign against the Islamic State, White House officials said on Thursday, as the militant group continues to make gains despite an American-led counteroffensive. – New York Times
The 160,000 Peshmerga—the troops of the autonomous Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq—may well be the most dedicated and combat-worthy units confronting Islamic State in Iraq. In a paradox of this conflict, they are also the least armed and equipped when compared with the Iraqi army, the Iranian-backed Shiite militias or, crucially, Islamic State itself. Peshmerga ammunition stocks are running low and whatever heavy weapons they have are mostly of Saddam Hussein-era vintage, commanders say. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Iraq’s growing sectarian schism is neatly displayed across the Bzeibez bridge, now a symbol of the stigma of being Sunni in Iraq, where Islamic State has captured about a third of the country—all if it in Sunni-dominated areas. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
An air strike in the Iraqi town of Hawijah completely levelled one of the Islamic State group's largest car bomb factories, causing heavy casualties and extensive destruction, officials said. - AFP
The United Nations launched an appeal on Thursday for half a billion dollars in international aid to tackle a worsening humanitarian crisis in Iraq triggered by the conflict with Islamic State militants. -Reuters
Islamic State militants have reduced the amount of water flowing to government-held areas in Iraq's western Anbar province, officials said Thursday, a move that highlights the use of water as a weapon of war and puts more pressure on Iraqi forces struggling to claw back ground held by the extremists in the Sunni heartland. – Associated Press
Syria
Al-Qaeda affiliates are significantly expanding their footholds in Syria and Yemen, using the chaos of civil wars to acquire territory and increase their influence, according to analysts, residents and intelligence officials. – Washington Post
The Pentagon's latest salvo in the propaganda war against Islamic State militants features a leaflet depicting a terrified militant awaiting to be chopped in two by the hands of a clock striking midnight. –USA Today
David Ignatius writes: The regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria is facing what U.S. experts say is the most intense pressure since the early days of the four-year conflict . This new squeeze poses some stark choices for the United States, Russia, Iran and Syria’s neighbors. – Washington Post
David Miliband writes: [T]he truly shocking aspect of what is happening in Syria is the extraordinary absence of a political process to seek to solve the problem. Or even any impetus towards a political process. Instead Syria is declining amid a desperate and dangerous silence; and its problems are being exported to its neighbors. – Atlantic Council
ISIS
The British foreign secretary says the U.S.-led air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is not hitting all the terrorist targets it identifies. – The Hill
A general suggested at an event that the Air Force was able to target an attack on a building used by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) based on a single social media post, according to an account published by Defense Tech. – The Hill
When the United States gave more than 3,000 armored Humvees to Iraqi security forces over the past 12 years, U.S. officials could not have imagined that the humble utility vehicles would become a decisive weapon in the hands of Washington’s enemies from the Islamic State. But that is exactly what has happened. – Foreign Policy
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says the administration should publicize the deaths of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces in order to deter potential followers from joining the terror group. – The Hill
Seth Jones writes: A successful U.S. response must now go beyond countering Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It should begin with an accurate diagnosis of the group’s expansion. The U.S. must then work with international partners in endangered countries such as Libya to undermine Islamic State’s ideology, cut off its sources of income, target its key leaders and assist local governments. Failure to do so will result in more Islamic State victories. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Saudi Arabia
Pakistan ruled out sharing its nuclear weapons with Saudi Arabia, insisting Thursday that the atomic arsenal would continue serving solely for Pakistan's national defense even as world powers and Iran near a possible nuclear agreement. – Associated Press
An Israeli college has quietly conducted an opinion poll in Saudi Arabia, concluding that the Saudi public is far more concerned about the threats of Iran and the Islamic State group than Israel, and that the vast majority of Saudis support a decade-old peace offer to the Jewish state. – Associated Press
When Sunni suicide bombers belonging to an Islamic State cell targeted mosques of Saudi Arabia's minority Shi'ite community last month, the government quickly pledged national unity across sectarian lines and offered compensation…The attacks throw the royal family's commitment to diversity into the spotlight just as animosity towards the minority rises along with tensions between Saudi Arabia and regional arch rival Shi'ite Iran - Reuters
Hainer Sibrian writes: The Saudi monarchy’s newly active regional policy is in many ways the result of its domestic insecurities. With little evidence to suggest meaningful reform is in the offing, the pressures building on Saudi Arabia are unlikely to subside. – NED’s Resurgent Dictatorship
Yemen
Yemen's dominant Houthis agreed on Thursday to join United Nations-backed peace talks in Geneva planned for June 14, a day after their opponents in the exiled government confirmed their attendance. -Reuters
Joshua Koontz writes: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) ability to produce and train new leaders remains unabated despite years of Yemeni and U.S. counterterrorism operations. AQAP’s resilience stems from its formalized mid-level leadership structure with three components: a chain of command, a training and education program, and a consistent promotion process. – AEI’s Critical Threats
North Africa
A judge on Thursday ordered former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to again stand trial on murder charges in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising against his 30-year rule. – New York Times
Libyan political factions called Thursday for the urgent formation of a national unity government in their war-torn country, wrapping up two days of talks in Algeria that UN sponsors called positive. - AFP
Emad Shahin writes: The U.S. and E.U. should not reward the coup leaders – neither with rhetoric, nor with financial or military aid. The U.S. cannot have it both ways: arm repression and advocate democracy. It must make up its mind and either admit its support of Sissi and like-minded autocrats or support democracy, human rights, and rule of law. – Washington Post’s Post Everything
Israel
A growing global pro-Palestinian movement to boycott Israel instantly created a national furor on Thursday after the top executive of Orange, a leading French telecommunications company, said he would withdraw from the Israeli market if he could. – New York Times
The Israeli military sees potential security benefits in an expected international deal curbing Iran's nuclear program, a senior officer was quoted as saying on Thursday in an unexpected analysis of the issue. - Reuters
Turkey
Facing a weakening economy and a revitalized opposition, Sunday’s parliamentary election has emerged as a make-or-break moment for Mr. Erdogan’s bid to overhaul Turkey’s constitution and create a super-presidency that could help him rule for another generation. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
[T]outed by diplomats and experts as a role model who set an example for the Middle East by integrating Islam, democracy and economics, [Erdogan] long ago veered off the democratic course, spending more than a decade silencing political dissent and amassing power. – New York Times
Voters are signing up by the tens of thousands to safeguard ballots in Sunday’s parliamentary election, the most uncertain in a decade, highlighting eroding faith that the vote will be conducted fairly. – Wall Street Journal
If the HDP, a Kurdish-dominated party, wins at least 10 percent of the electorate — a minimum requirement for a party to enter parliament — it will command enough seats to check Erdogan’s ambitions, and enough clout to push its own agenda. – Washington Post
More than 3,000 Syrians fleeing clashes between Islamic State and Kurdish fighters have crossed into Turkey since Wednesday, a Turkish government official said. - Reuters
